Neda chief’s statement

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) or Light Rail Transit (LRT)?

In yesterday’s Philippine Economic Briefing at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu Hotel, Cebuanos were once more given a glimpse of the ambivalence in the mind of National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Director General Ernesto Pernia on the matter.

Pernia said the BRT is good for the short term as the project is already funded and ready for implementation here. Yet in August last year, he said the BRT may probably be scrapped in favor of the LRT—if the latter is found to be more economically viable for the city.

Now, Pernia is telling us about the reality in project conceptualization. The LRT needs feasibility study and takes 10 to 15 years to complete. That, in a sense was also what the BRT went through when it was conceived many years ago.

Pernia’s seeming flip-flopping on the BRT or LRT question is a reflection of the push-and-pull exerted by the pro-BRT sector led by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and the pro-LRT group led by Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino.

Which is in turn a product of the long-drawn conflict between Osmeña and Dino starting from when Osmeña blocked Dino’s project in Banilad in partnership when the Cebu Provincial Government then governed by Gwendolyn Garcia, Osmeña’s bitter political foe.

Thus, even as Pernia mentioned 10 to 15 years as the length of time an LRT project could be completed, the pro-LRT group insisted that with the entry of a consortium of foreign and local companies, the process could be shortened considerably and work could be started next year.

Does that mean the implementation of the proposed LRT project will now outstrip the implementation of the BRT, which has been stalled for months now, and lead to the scrapping of the latter? To repeat, Pernia said in August that if the LRT is found to be more economically viable for the city the BRT would be scrapped.

But should our view be limited to having only one mass transport project prevail? Isn’t it the better option to implement both the BRT and the LRT, an act that would be more beneficial to Cebu in general? Shouldn’t we get out of the mindset imposed on us by the feuding Osmeña and Dino?