Pelaez to turn Mactan into another Singapore

(The Freeman) Updated March 21, 2010 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines - "Mactan deserves to be a real tourist and business haven, both international and domestic," the standard bearer of the Liberal Party (LP) slate in this city told the press in an interaction last Thursday.

Pelaez lamented that the city government has been "totally mismanaged," turning the island city into "a mess and massive dumpsite, and I have the pictures to prove it."

"Moreover, criminality has risen with many children even becoming victims, drugs are all over the place, and narco-politics is ruling the island," he said.

Forced to enter politics after four years of advocacy against graft and corruption against the incumbent administration, Pelaez said he will do a lot of "house cleaning and housekeeping" after taking oath as mayor.

At the same time, he said, he will lay down and pursue a 2020 Masterplan that will overhaul and transform Lapu-Lapu City "into a progressive, livable and truly highly urbanized city it deserves to be."

"It has to be environmentally compliant," he declared during the interaction at the people Power Museum located at the Mactan Marina Mall here.

The first three years of such plan includes the establishment of the entire eastern seaboard from Punta Engaño to Cordova proper as a "real tourism zone" in terms of infrastructure and policies, he said.

This is patterned after the tourism estate concept in Bali, Indonesia in the 1980's, he said.

Squatters, estimated at some 9,000 families, will be provided decent housing and community living in areas near where they currently live.

"Our target is 3,000 homes per year after we conduct a census of these families and declare a moratorium on new squatting," he said.

"No demolition of dwellings will be done until after we will have identified proper relocation sites and developed decent communities for these families along the Gawad Kalinga model," Pelaez said.

During the press conference, Pelaez presented his platform that he adopted from the 10-point agenda drawn during the Mactan Development Forum in 2007.

The Mactan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI) that Pelaez led as president until he entered politics recently organized that forum.

MCCI spoke against alleged corruption and mismanagement by the city administration of Mayor Arturo Radaza and filed appropriate charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against various city officials.

These charges included the alleged overpricing of low-grade desktop computers, the alleged ghost payrolls of the Clean and Green program, ghost purchases, the alleged numerator scam, tong collection, and many other anomalies. (PR) FREEMAN NEWS)