CEBU CITY, Philippines - A coalition of businessmen on Sunday urged the Cebu City government to implement the plans laid out during the sessions for the Dream Cities program of the Institute Solidarity in Asia (ISA) in 2005.Gordon Alan “Dondi” Joseph, Cebu Business Club (CBC) president, said the city's counterparts in these sessions were already “way ahead” in the implementation of the plan. He identified these as Tagbilaran City in Bohol and San Fernando City in Pampanga. Mayor Tomas Osmeña, in a separate interview, said different sectors can have varying opinion on whether Cebu is better than the cities of Tagbilaran and San Fernando. “If he (Joseph) feels that way, why doesn't he move to Tagbilaran?” asked Osmeña. “Which is more progressive? Why was the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit held in Cebu? Why was it not held in Tagbilaran or San Fernando?” The Cebu City government presented the “vision” of becoming most livable city in Asia by 2015 to the ISA conference in August 2005. Cebu City was among the eight best-performing cities selected for the pilot application of the ISA’s Public Governance System (PGS). The PGS is a performance measurement tool that encouraged local administrations to operate under established mission, vision and set of values from city hall to the grass roots. Among the initiatives identified in 2005 in achieving the vision included making Cebu City the most peaceful city and the fastest to process court cases; the cleanest and greenest city; a center for tourism, sports and recreation, and a model of social justice and services and the most efficient delivery of basic service and internationally competitive quality of education. Mayor Osmeña said representatives from the Cebu City government attended ISA’s program and that plans were laid-out during the sessions. “But many of these plans are so hypothetical that I don’t think they are applicable to reality,” he said. The mayor, however, stressed that the city government has been implementing development projects which are needed by the Cebuanos. “People see what we are doing but sometimes other people are not happy because their businesses are affected. We are not going to make decisions because certain businesses are affected. We look at the entire situation,” he added.
One of these businessmen, he said, was Joseph, who owns a wine store on Governor Cuenco Avenue. The CBC, headed by Joseph, has asked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to suspend the implementation of the flyover project until it would be reevaluated by appointed master plan consultants. The coalition sought the formulation of a master plan for Cebu City that would be conducted by an “internationally-recognized group” instead.
Joseph, in an interview, said he did not oppose the project until he read the study made by urban planner Dr. Primitivo Cal that the four-lane flyover would immediately be obsolete and would be a source of traffic congestion within three years. He added their stand was that the flyover project would not have been constructed if the city had a development master plan. Cebu City Planning Officer Nigel Paul Villarete earlier said the city had a master plan but its approval was delayed in the City Council. He added the master plan was used as one of the inputs in the Cebu City Plus 10, a series of multi-sectoral consultations by the city last year to spell out their vision for the next 10 years. Joseph said the Cebu Plus 10 consultation was an initiative started by members of the Cebu Leads Foundation Inc. (CLFI), which he represents, following a series of one-on-one dinners with Mayor Osmeña after the Department of Public Works and Highways decided to push through with the project. The business sector chose to “keep out” the flyover issues during the Cebu City Plus 10 consultation to “deliberately focus” on discussion that would move Cebu forward, he added. Joseph said the output of the three-day consultation was a “first step wish list” and not a master plan. “It was simply too sensitive an issue for the project proponents that would simply have derailed discussions (on development). While the flyover was not directly discussed, the need for effective master planning was. It was the whole point of the exercise,” he said. Joseph said the business community is interested to know the specifics of the master plan, such as who prepared it and its objectives. “We, in the business sector, would be happy to assist, on the assumption that the city government will be willing and truly able to deliver on the agreed-upon plan,” he said. He urged government to maintain a high level of competence that is required in carrying out the entire process of planning to implementation. “(It’s) time to work together, to support each other mutually as we have the same goal – a prosperous city that is livable.” According to Joseph, Cebu City undertook a planning session with the ISA where a “Balanced Scorecard Strategic Plan” was utilized with the assistance of former finance secretary Jesus Estanislao. Estanislao, helped the business community put up the CLFI, a coalition of senior businessmen and civil society that seeks to push Cebu’s development into a world-class province in the country. Joseph is also a representative of the CLFI.
The scorecards measure the city’s progress based on 12 target areas that include responsible citizenship, growth in per capita domestic product, greater productivity and competitive infrastructure.
The ISA’s program called Dream Cities encourage strategic planning in cities and community involvement in government affairs. He said Tagbilaran and San Fernando were way ahead of Cebu City in the implementation of the plan. “It was developed by the city with the assistance of Dr. Estanislao, a plan that still remains unfinished and apparently, shelved. The fact that representatives were there and pointed out plans indicate that Cebu is supposed to implement them,” he said. If the city had a master plan, Joseph said he wondered why it was not implemented. He said it was important to study and re-evaluate the city’s “master plan” as it may be a good starting point for improved planning and implementation.
“It would also be good to know what has been achieved to date and whether there are timetables for future action,” he said. In updating the master plan, however, Joseph said the business sector suggests that the city government call “respected and recognized” urban planning experts to review and, if necessary, re-write the master plan. The urban planning experts would work with small multi-sectoral groups, he said. | 
