P23 billion challenge

Achieving a P1.2 billion collection surplus in 2016 that made Cebu the country’s number 1 billionaire port was an extraordinary feat for erstwhile OIC Customs District Collector Koko Holganza. His successor, newly appointed Cebu District Collector Elvira Cruz, has huge shoes to fill this year.

Holganza exits with flying colors. Meanwhile, District Collector Cruz, who arrived at the Cebu port early this week, faces the bigger challenge of hitting a P23 billion collection target for 2017, billions higher than last year’s collection target of only P16 billion.

But is a P23 billion collection target for Collection District 7 attainable this year?

A customs insider told me that with the strengthening of the dollar and the expected growth of the economy in 2017, it can be done. Yet, with a monthly target of around P1.7 to P2 billion a month, Cruz needs the full support of the Customs bureaucracy and port stakeholders.

Is she up for this daunting task? I heard higher officials trusts her enough to deliver. •••

Suspended Barangay Captain Imok Rupinta of Ermita contends that the move against him and several of his barangay councilors is political. Politics cannot be discounted. But I think Imok needs to do more to exonerate him from alleged links to the illegal drugs.

Barangay Ermita – along with Pasil, Duljo, and Calamba – are notorious as havens of drug lords and a destination of what the underworld refer to as “parok.” Slain drug lord Rowen “Yawa” Secretaria was based in Ermita for several years. The place’s notoriety cannot be a product of black propaganda.

Still, whether the barangay captains are part of the grassroots narcopolitics network or not is subject for law enforcers and the courts to determine.

Politically though, the suspension of Rupinta and the others dealt Team Rama a big blow. It reinforces the narrative of Team Rama being led by a drug lord protector named by President Rody Duterte himself. •••

The proponents of the Cebu-Cordova Link Exchange (CCLEX) more commonly known as the third Cebu-Mactan Bridge joined the recent Fiesta Senyor activities especially the fluvial parade and the Holy Procession as their way of asking for the blessings of Senyor Santo Niño. Pit Senyor!

Yes, the project will definitely start this year. •••

Authorities should grant teenagers a strip of road to party after the Sinulog Grand Parade. Fiestas, even at the sitio level, traditionally have the kalinga

wan, the bayle or disco after the religious activities. For several generations of teeners, Juana Osmeña had been the party destination. Cebu City Hall can officially recognize the place as such, ban parking along the road, and reroute traffic from the area.

We can also understand the crowd control headache this would pose to law enforcers. However, we have been teenagers once. Regulating the parties to avoid rowdy behavior and drinking liquor like there is no tomorrow would be better than driving these parties underground. ••• Guys, Saturday will be my new column schedule instead of Monday.