An infra boom for Cebu in 2018?

Finally Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte signed into law the 2018 National Budget or the P3.767-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2018 together with the muchawaited Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law. With this law, supposedly our daily wage earners would have a bigger take home pay because the national budget was designed to address the problem of poverty. As expected the critics of the Duterte administration predict an increase of prices because of the 2018 national budget, which remains to be seen.

For many of us in Cebu, the 2018 national budget means that funding for Cebu’s much delayed infrastructure programs can now proceed. This did not happen in the 2017 national budget, as the Duterte administration was still busy preparing for their infrastructure plans. So for the year 2018, we expect it to be a busy year for the construction industry because of the numerous and massive infrastructure projects initiated by the Duterte administration. Mind you, Cebu literally starved for infrastructure development during the six years of the Aquino regime despite Aquino’s winning his Presidential bid in Cebu!

For starters, we already wrote that 2018 would be the start of the construction for the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX), the long-awaited third bridge that would link mainland Cebu to the Island of Mactan, which would start at the South Road Project (SRP) passing through the Municipality of Cordova. At least during the construction of this project there will be minimal traffic disruption because this is a new roadway that doesn’t disturb existing traffic.

However while we eagerly await the start of construction of many infra projects for Cebu, there is a small budget Aquino era construction project that has grounded to a halt. I’m referring to the F. Sotto Dr. road widening which I exhort the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) under Sec. Mark Villar to finish this roadway, which entails the DPWH to widen the road by destroying the huge wall of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) leading to Gen. Maxilom Ave. (Mango Ave.). Like I said, this project has stalled because perhaps the INC has refused to have their wall destroyed for the sake of improving the traffic in Cebu City.

If DPWH in Region 7 can’t get this project going, the next time I meet with Pres. Duterte, you can be sure that I will mention this project to him. Traffic in Metro Cebu has become unbearable and everyone is exhorted to help out in solving our traffic problems. INC can win the hearts of Cebuanos if they finally allow the DPWH to destroy their wall, which is quite far from their main church building. We hope that this will happen early in the coming year which we can call the Infrastructure Boom of 2018!

* * * Just when the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) declared that there would be no Christmas ceasefire against the New People’s Army (NPA), Pres. Duterte declared a “unilateral ceasefire” with the Reds from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2 next year as announced by Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque who said, “The unilateral ceasefire would lessen the apprehension of the public this Christmas season. And we expect that the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s ArmyNational Democratic Front of the Philippines would do a similar gesture of goodwill.”

Goodwill? Come on Harry… if there is anything that the CPP-NPA do not practice…. Giving out gestures of goodwill! If the leaders of the CPP understood what goodwill is all about, they would have called upon their bloodthirsty arm the NPAs to stop their ambuscades against the AFP while their leaders are talking peace with Philippine government negotiators in the Netherlands this year. But because of this lack of goodwill, the entire peace process was abruptly ended. Things haven’t augured well for the CPP/ NPA/NDF this year because aside from ending the

peace talks with their leaders, Pres. Duterte declared them as “Terrorists!”

With this tag as “Terrorists” (which in my book the CPP/ NPA/NDF fits the description or definition of who are terrorists) it gives the AFP leeway in the fight against the NPA terrorists. Now whether the CPP/NPA/NDF would respond to the unilateral ceasefire called by Pres. Duterte remains to be seen. But recalling the past Christmas truce with the Reds only reminds me of the many violations that the Reds committed against our soldiers even during the Christmas season.

So the betting is on whether the CPP/NPA/NDF would also make a similar Christmas truce declaration. But I’m still betting that the NPAs like in the past ceasefires would always use any opportunity to ambush the military that believes that the Reds will honor the Christmas truce.

* * Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com or * vsbobita@gmail.com.