Friday, October 28, 2011
Young says they’re not against sale of SRP lots, want right buyers & there are even no offers yet
1. You’ve seen, and participated in, the running of Cebu City Hall: in the past setting with the mayor and the City Council under one party, and in the present setting, under two opposing political camps.
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As a veteran in Cebu City politics, you must know what’s good and what’s bad under each setup.
Services will always suffer if the mayor is from a party different from the party of the City Council.
Under the previous setup, where we belonged to the same party, it was much easier to get things done. With the mayor having left BOPK, it is harder as there is now mistrust and political “management” becomes more important for the executive.
2. While Mayor Rama and the City Council are now politically at odds with each other, there has been no actual gridlock yet, just occasional sparks from clashing opinions. How long can this hold, before what’s happening in Danao City, will happen in this city?
There has been no actual gridlock so far because, to the credit of the City Council, it has been very patient and understanding to the mayor despite his departure from the party. I think both sides have been very objective so as not to sacrifice basic services to the barangays.
I think it would be a waste of time for us to go the way of Danao City; 2013 after all is just around the corner. Most people have already made up their minds.
3. There are two major flash points, generally seen as potential sources of open conflict: the Ciudad project and the sale of SRP lots.
On Ciudad, while the City Council already set a policy against development in the north, other government agencies are slowly paving the way for the project by issuing clearances and certifications. It has come to a point that the city government policy seems to have been disregarded and you have gone to court to try to stop the project.
The City Council has made its stand on the Ciudad project. The only way they can make us change our stand is to show us how they’ll sove the traffic problem.
Why don’t they just open the four roads they’ve been talking about and see if that solves the traffic problem?
There is a case we filed in court during the term of then mayor Tomas Osmeña and we’re waiting for the restraining order.
4. On the sale of SRP lots, would the City Council approve sales that Mayor Rama would push to raise money for his huge budget? How would the stand of Rep. Tomas Osme¤a against selling at this time affect the City Council decision?
I’ve always clarified from day one that although as a rule we don’t want to sell any SRP lot until two to three years from now (at double the price of P30,000 per sq.m.), we’re open to selling if the right package comes along.
What we look out for is a proponent that doesn’t directly compete with Filinvest and SM. We should give these two investors a headstart.
Bear in mind that 40 hectares of our land are covered by the joint venture with Filinvest and we are supposed to get 10% from gross for any sale or rental, so it’s not in our interest to give it competition.
We also want to avoid buyers who’re speculators. We don’t want to happen what happened at the North Reclamation or have a buyer like Ayala that just parcels the land out like a subdivision. They’re both losing propositions for the city.
But if the right buyer comes along, like, say, MD Anderson that opens a hospital specializing in cancer treatment, we won’t say “no” to that. “Mag-dagan pa ta, apil si Cong. Tom.”
That’s why there’s really no reason for us to argue about the sale of SRP lots.
We don’t even have any offers yet. We’ll cross the bridge when we get there.
5. The more visible major problems of the city are garbage and filth, traffic congestion, and floods on streets and in subdivisions affected by hillside housing projects. How much has the City Council tackled these problems and how much has disagreement with the mayor’s plans and methods affected it?
The councilors and I have many ideas on how to solve those problems. And God knows how much we’ve tried to help the City and the mayor. Unfortunately, not only are we at odds with the mayor, he, from the start, hasn’t really tapped the councilors, except a few, for executive tasks.
That’s why the mayor is having difficulty in decision-making and in implementing the projects. It doesn’t help when he receives wrong advice from people who don’t have a level of experience on City Hall matters.
You can just imagine the difference that 18 councilors, with their knowhow and commitment, can bring.
6. You’ve hitched your political wagon to the BOPK stars but you must have charted your own course in public service. What may the public expect from Joy Young the public servant in the coming years?
I’ve been with BOPK for the last 25 years, starting as councilor. Coming from the civic and business sector, I tend to do things differently. As a public servant, I will always try to perform to the best of my ability.
7. As a legislator, you’ve worked for a long time with public schools. Even when you became vice mayor, you’ve held on to the education job. And you resented the taking away of the city scholarship program from you by the mayor. You’re aware of what your detractors say about this attachment. What’s your side on the issue?
There will always be critics and detractors. I always look for them as they’re the ones who give me credibility!
For the record, I didn’t resent the taking away of the scholarship program from my office. It’s not resentment but concern as to how the program will go on. That’s not to say, it will stop without me. Far from it, it will continue as responsible persons are already running it. I was able to set up the needed system. There’s just the need to continue what was started. I’ll also not allow it to fail.
My performance in education speaks for itself. The programs I started are still being implemented now and are in fact adopted by DepEd as national programs. Here are a few examples:
(a) The Night High School, which I started 20 years ago, has made it possible for almost 50,000 students in 25 night high schools to finish high school at a lower cost than it takes DepEd. You can see the difference it has made.
(b) The Pre-school Program was conceived in 2005 when I was education consultant to the mayor. We started requiring kindergarten as pre-requisite to enrollment to Grade One and came up with the summer kinder program to enable our schools to accommodate kinder classes without building additional classrooms and hiring more teachers.
Starting last year, DepEd has adopted the same program on a national level, with DepEd, no longer the school board, paying the summer honorariums.
(c) The Science Elementary School System, which I initiated 18 years ago, has been implemented on a national level by DepEd starting only six years ago. They were astonished to learn that we’ve been doing it for the last 18 years already. We’re also ahead with our eight Special High School Science Program, which DepEd still hasn’t started yet.
DepEd sent a team to study our system a few years ago. And starting last year DepEd made BrigadaSwela a year-round program, which has saved everybody a lot of money.
It’s about innovation and commitment, not about building classrooms.
MORE, AT A GLANCE
* Why no actual gridlock with executive department: councilors have been “very patient and understanding” with Mayor Rama
* Dismayed that Mayor Rama has not tapped councilors, except a few, for executive tasks; blames that, and poor advice, for mayor’s “difficulty” in making decisions and implementing projects
* Proud of his programs in public education that work in the city and are followed by DepEd on national level
SNIPPETS from, about Joy Young
* Cebu politics: “It’s a love-hate relationship.”
* Mantra in public service: “The best politics is good public service.”
* Local law-making “needs to be greatly improved”
* One wish? He has “several of those one-wish”
* How he describes himself: “low-key, actually a very private person”
* Life outside City Hall “centers on family and private business”
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 28, 2011.
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