“The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor
Roosevelt
By Alex P. Vidal
When former Guimaras
Governor Emily Relucio- Lopez dreamed of building a bridge between Guimaras and
Iloilo in the early 90’s, she was hailed as a “visionary” leader by both the
media and fellow leaders in Western Visayas.
Relucio-Lopez toyed
with the quixotic idea after President FVR appointed her as OIC governor
following Guimaras’ ascension as a full-fledged island province on May 22,
1992, after a plebiscite was conducted to ratify the approval of its conversion
pursuant to Section 462 of R.A. 7160.
When then senatorial
candidate Miriam Defensor-Santiago thought about the same project, excited
fellow Ilonggos absolved her from her “sin” of waltzing with ousted President
and now Manila Mayor Erap Estrada.
The list of dreamers
for a Guimaras bridge hiked every political season: Nikki Coseteng, Manny
Villar, Tito Guingona, and all the gadflies and political adventurists queuing
for Ilonggo votes.
SERVICE
Relucio-Lopez did not
pay a lip service to her grandiose proposal; she brought the matter seriously
before the Regional Development Council (RDC) headed then by former Negros
Governor Rafael Coscolluela.
Relucio-Lopez was
probably imagining an extradosed cable-stayed bridge similar to the four-lane, 1,237-
meter (4,058 feet)-long Marcelo Fernan Bridge in Cebu, one of the widest and
longest bridge spans in the country today.
Lack of investors and
interested parties in the private sector, as well as commitment from
foreign-based financial institutions like the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) stalled the proposed project. Not a single serious feasibility
study was ever conducted.
Years have passed and
FVR, Relucio-Lopez, Coscolluela, among other proponents of the Guimaras bridge,
were no longer in power. Politicians come and go. No one was talking about the
bridge anymore. It was a dream that turned into a nightmare, so to speak.
Although the
construction of the bridge never materialized, nobody faulted Relucio-Lopez, et
al. For trying their best, they didn’t suffer the thought of what might have
been; the rest was simply beyond their control and capacity.
LRT
Iloilo City Mayor Jed
Patrick Mabilog, for his part, has his own big dream: a proposed Light Railways
Transport (LRT) in Panay Island “that would boost the local tourism industry.”
Upon advice by the
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), he has requested for a
feasibility study from the Department of Transportation and Communications
(DOTC), and is optimistic to get a positive response.
The city council has
backed Mabilog’s proposal for a feasibility study in a resolution. The mayor is
eyeing passengers and tourists to have easy access from Iloilo to Boracay,
Aklan in particular and shorten their travel time from six to at least two
hours.
Among the four
governors in Panay Island, only Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. has
expressed pessimism saying the proposed project is “too ambitious.”
Let us hope that the
proposed LRT project will not end up as another proposed Guimaras bridge
project. Like what we said here earlier, politicians just come and go; times
change and circumstances change with them. The dream lives on.
LUCK
Even if, by a stroke
of luck, the proposed LRT project, would push through, Mabilog, et al won’t be
there anymore at city hall to share the limelight.
But we must credit
Mabilog, though, at least for thinking what others haven’t thought. Leaders
have the right to dream big and dream higher for their constituents.
Dreaming is good,
especially if it redounds to the benefit of the majority. It is in not doing
anything when opportunity presents itself that is bad.
After all, it is the
greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right
and wrong.
Constructed by hand,
stone by stone, conquest by conquest, Rome, a great empire as well as a great
city, wasn’t built in one day. Founded by Romulus, Rome's history spans more
than two and a half thousand years, since its legendary founding in 753 BC.
The proposed Guimaras
bridge and the LRT projects must live on. There’s no harm in trying—and
dreaming!
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