PRESIDENTIAL Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino is questioning the Department of Transportation (DOTr) project in Cebu, particularly the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).
Dino said the BRT project as originally proposed by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña was “anti-poor” and “anti-Cebuano” and will not even ease the worsening traffic condition in the city.
Instead, Dino wants the city to have a Light Rail Transit (LRT), saying the feasibility study for the LRT is finished and will be submitted to the DOTr and the National Economic Development Authority for evaluation and approval.
Dino earlier tagged the mayor as a “bully, antibusiness and anti-poor”, citing a string of moves by Osmeña, including threatening to close all branches of well-known bank, which Dino said resulted to a gloomy business climate in the city.
But Osmeña countered this by saying he is anticorruption and anti-tax evaders, not antibusiness.
Osmeña stood firm that a BRT is more feasible and cost-effective than an LRT, stating the BRT will cost less to ride and still be self-sustaining.
“I am the elected mayor of this city. I am the one held responsible. I applied for this job by sharing my vision, and I was hired by the people of Cebu to make it happen. Despite a hostile city council and a presidential ‘assistant’ who plays politics every step of the way, I am moving as fast as I can,” Osmeña said.
Osmeña challenged Dino to run for mayor of Cebu City in 2019 if he thinks he can do a better job.
“We will integrate if it comes, but I have my doubts on how sustainable any rail system will be, given its track record in Manila,” Osmeña said, referring to the LRT project being pushed by Dino.
A total of 64 big-ticket projects ranging from major road networks, railway systems and a BRT system to airport and seaport modernization are either for implementation or in the pipeline as part of the Duterte administration’s envisioned “golden age of infrastructure”.
The 64 projects for implementation or in the pipeline are broken down as follows: 20 involving road construction and improvements; two involving bridge construction and reinforcements; four flood-control projects; two dams; one road transport information technology-infrastructure project; 23 involving rail systems; seven airport development projects; two transport terminals; and three BRT systems.