Speaker Arroyo in Cebu helping Cebuanos

Former president and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was here in Cebu for two hearings of the House Oversight on Transportation and Housing. The House Oversight Committee on Transportation chaired by Catanduanes Representative Cesar Sarmiento will tackle the issue on the roll-on/roll-off system particularly updates on the new routes that will be opened. Arroyo earlier pushed for the expansion and modernization of the ro-ro system which was launched during her term as president. This was held at the Cebu Ports Authority and those who attended are the officials from the Philippine Ports Authority, the Department of Transportation, and the Maritime Industry Authority.

When she was the president, GMA removed the offensive anti-carnapping (Ancar) permits and created her flagship project that she called “Strong Republic Nautical Highway” where ro-ro vessels allowed vehicles to cross to various islands in the Philippines. We in the Visayas benefited greatly from this project to the point that our tourism growth has grown exponentially during her term, and the revival of canceled projects. At this point, I cannot yet report on what happened to that hearing as I still have to attend this.

After the oversight hearing on ro-ro, Arroyo conducted another oversight committee hearing on housing to resolve the long-standing legal issue over a property in Barangay Apas, Cebu City, which she had long awarded to urban poor beneficiaries through Presidential Proclamation No. 409 issued in 2003. The hearing will be chaired by Negros Occidental Representative Albee Benitez inside the Central Command headquarters in Apas at 2 p.m. The land in Apas belonged to the Cebu provincial government. In 1959, it donated to the Armed Forces of the Philippines 47 parcels of land covering 80 hectares with the condition that the property will revert to the provincial government if it is no longer used for military purposes.

Years later, the Cebu provincial government found out that only 14 of the 47 lots were being used for military purposes as the rest were occupied by informal settlers. It then moved to recover the property. In 2003, then president Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 409 declaring 18 of the 47 lots as socialized housing sites and for disposition to legally qualified beneficiaries. However, a series of disputes between the Cebu provincial government and Cebu City government led to the delay in the awarding of titles to the qualified beneficiaries.

Just recently, the provincial government and city government signed a compromise agreement in favor of the informal settlers. The parties are now waiting for the side of the Department of National Defense, through the Office of the Solicitor General as its counsel, for its approval. If DND gives its approval, the awarding of titles to the lot occupants will finally take place. Since I cannot attend the hearing in Apas, I will just find out tomorrow how things went. But my main issue here is that it is high time for the Cebu Province and Cebu City to ask Camp Lapu-Lapu authorities to open that road traversing through the military base to help ease the bad traffic condition in Cebu and widen this road all the way to Banilad.

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What do you know? President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte went to Hong Kong to celebrate the 49th birthday of his partner Honeylet Avanceña. This proves to one and all that Duterte never had a transplanted kidney as written by columnist Kit Tatad. The problem with some columnists is that they just print what they heard from their sources even if they cannot even prove the story to be true. When I had my kidney transplant, it was my good friend, Peace Adviser Jess Dureza, who gave me tips as his wife had a kidney transplant two years ahead of me. In short, it is no joke to get a kidney transplant, especially if you are a president.

As for Maria Ressa of Rappler, she has a tax problem with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and a libel suit filed by a plain citizen, yet she claims she was a victim of people who hate freedom of speech. But when I had my libel suit, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines really didn’t care if my suit was a violation of press freedom. In short they turned this case into a political issue when it was not!

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For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@ gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www. philstar.com.