MORE than a year after construction began on the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT), some Cebu City residents remain uninformed about the project.
Several residents, including a siomai vendor, a barangay tanod, and a jeepney driver, said in separate interviews on June 26, 2024, that they have limited knowledge of the CBRT.
Most information they had came from word of mouth, social media, or observing the ongoing construction.
Juris Laguma, a parking attendant, admitted it was his first time hearing about the project when SunStar Cebu asked him about it. He said he is not a social media user but added that he is all for government projects that will benefit all people.
Godwin Manginsay, a private practice lawyer, suggested that while the government has made efforts to educate the public, citizens may not be sufficiently concerned about the project. He noted that information drives and consultations had been conducted, but questioned their effectiveness.
Jevie Genis, a barangay tanod from Barangay Sto. Niño, confirmed that, unlike the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway project, there had been no information drive about the CBRT in his barangay.
A courier, who wished to remain anonymous, recalled first hearing about the CBRT in 2008 but was unsure if it was a national or local government initiative.
The idea for the CBRT system was first floated by former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña in the late 1990s. The project then went through formal planning and feasibility studies in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
After years of delays, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the groundbreaking of CBRT’s first package on Feb. 27, 2023. Package 1 covers a distance of 2.38 kilometers from the Cebu South Bus Terminal on N. Bacalso Ave. to the front of the Capitol building along Osmeña Blvd. / INTERNS JOY BUGAS OF UP CEBU & JOBETH DICK HUSAY OF NWSSU
