Politics badly hidden

The use of a so-called expert would have made good non-political cover for the anti-BRT campaign. But haste gave politics away. Before I proceed, let me be clear that I have long been rooting for both the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT). The BRT will be built in Cebu City while the LRT connects the different cities and towns of Metro Cebu. There should be no conflict. Or so I thought. Admittedly, I sensed politics at play when a video of JICA consultant Rene Santiago was posted all over Facebook one morning early last week. I said why pit BRT against LRT? Politics was one logical answer.

But FB friend Raymond Aquino pointedly asked why blame politics right away and not discuss the merits of the points raised against the BRT.

Good point Raymond. It made me sit back and do research about what Santiago presented during a forum. I later read in another FB thread that Aquino and his friend Paul Nigel Villarete planned to discuss the issue over coffee away from online trolls.

Great. Even if the objections should have been raised years ago, the discussion should lead to something productive, I told myself.

Somewhere else in Cebu City however, ABC president Philip Zafra was already circulating a paper questioning the BRT for signatures by barangay captains.

Boom! Zafra’s move gave away the supposedly hidden political card right away.

The points made by Santiago should have been presented first, away from the media, before those adversely affected by the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project like the PUJ drivers and operators as well as residents affected by the road widening.

Then there is the business sector identified with Mega Cebu which has long been snubbed by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña. The business leaders should have made good lobby allies.

If Santiago’s points were rock solid, it should have been given time to sink in and debated at least for a few days before making it political.

But, Citrasco immediately issued a statement favoring the BRT while Mega Cebu is silent.

Then I found a copy of Santiago’s presentation and saw a basic flaw.

Santiago liberally interchanged statistics for Cebu City and Metro Cebu in his arguments against the BRT and in favor of the LRT.

I posted in Maghisgot Kitag Politika, Bay (MKPB) a slide from Santiago’s presentation titled “What Will Metro Cebu require?” that showed ridership statistics for the metro in arguing that BRT won’t work in Cebu City.

Granting that he did not deliberately try to confuse us, perhaps this expert from Manila unconsciously wore Imperial Manila blinders. He thought Metro Cebu and Cebu City are practically the same and interchangeable.

Imagine a tourist who thinks he is already in Cebu City upon arriving at the airport in Mactan though Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza’s branding initiative years ago already addressed this. Another tourist believes he is still in Cebu City while dining at the popular Rex Kandingan in Talisay. Hmmm, pa goryo-goryo sad.