BRT debate reaches Du30
A letter seeking to review Cebu Bus Rapid Transit project’s viability as a mass transport system has reached President Duterte’s office, extending an already simmering row between Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Presidential Assistant Michael Dino.
The development comes at a time when the BRT project’s implementation has already gone full swing.
Dino, Duterte’s assistant for the Visayas, confirmed sending the letter to the Office of the President in an effort to restudy the P16.9-billion project that he said won’t solve the city’s traffic problems and is not financially feasible.
“Yes, I already sent the letters and I am now waiting for the feedback,” Dino told The FREEMAN by phone last night.
He said he did not ask for the cancellation of the BRT project, contrary to his earlier pronouncement to the media. Instead, he just wants it reviewed.
Osmeña, who was furnished with a copy of the letter, was quick to downplay the move.
“The world is made up of two kinds of people: those who try to move ahead and those who try to destroy. These (Dino and others who objecting to every project of Osmeña) people are trying to destroy,” he told reporters at a press conference yesterday.
“He (Dino) doesn’t have to make it this long,” the mayor said, waving the letter. “Just make it one line — the BRT has no good because of Tommy Osmeña, that’s it. Why do you have to make it all of these pages?”
The FREEMAN tried to ask for a copy of the letter but Jonji Gonzales, assistant secretary of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, said the office preferred not to divulge its contents as a matter of respect to the Office of the President.
“As of now wala pa mi kahibalo og nabasa na ba ang letter. Basta ang akoa lang masulti nga usa ka dangaw nga attachments ang among gipadala together with the letter,” Gonzales said.
Osmeña, too, did not grant media requests to glance over the letter as he has not yet finished reading its entirety. But he said it basically contains the technicalities on why the project should be canceled.
Yet the mayor’s hopes are high that Duterte is not inclined to cancel the project right there and then because it went through a thorough study and is being funded by the World Bank.
The Cebu BRT project was pushed in 2013 but was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority only in 2015. Though the groundwork started in 2015, the project’s implementation only went full swing this year due to some reasons, including the election and change in the administration.
The construction of the BRT infrastructure is scheduled to officially begin next year and is hoped to be completed by 2019. This means that the project can be operational either late that year or early 2020.
Dino earlier said that if the BRT project is just a waste of effort, time, and money, then it will be a total disaster for Cebu and thus has to be stopped.
Dino, who is advocating for Light Rail Transit, said the BRT is not the best mass transport system to decongest Cebu traffic.
“I have nothing personal about Tommy Osmeña. Ang akoa lang ba, what is the best for Cebu. If BRT is a disaster, why include the Cebuanos and let them suffer?” he said.
For the OPAV chief, Cebu is ripe to have an LRT, just like Manila which now hosts eight LRT systems.
But Osmeña yesterday maintained that the BRT can answer the humongous traffic that grips the city, especially during peak hours.
He pointed out earlier that a BRT bus can replace up to 20 jeepneys plying the streets, hence spelling a less adverse impact on the environment.
At about P8 or P9, a BRT ride from one station to the next will also be cheaper than an LRT ride, he added.
As to the concern of at least 3,000 jeepney operators and drivers that may be affected by the BRT implementation, Osmeña said the city is now studying a plan to block the entry of private cars at downtown area in order to pave way for the public utility jeepneys.
Last year, the city government also forged a partnership with the Technical Education Skills Development Authority and the Department of Transportation and Communication to launch a training program for affected operators and drivers.
TESDA offers plumbing, carpentry, housekeeping, and bread and pastry production, among other alternative livelihoods for those affected. The training period varies across courses and participants receive P340 allowance per day from the city government.