Osmeña hijacking vital Cebu airport project

This is in reaction to the news item “Osmeña asks SC anew to void P17.5-B Mactan airport deal” (News, 5/10/14). As the title of the report suggests, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III recently filed a supplement petition with the Supreme Court to nullify the award of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport project to the Megawide-GMR consortium.

My question is: Does Sen. Osmeña care at all for the welfare of Cebuanos and the future of his home province?

Based on his actuations on the issue of the modernization of the Mactan airport, a project he has thwarted at every turn, the inescapable answer is a big, fat “NO.”

It’s no secret, of course, that Osmeña wanted the losing bidder,  Filinvest-Changi, to get the multibillion airport deal despite the fact that Megawide-GMR won the bidding fair and square. Why?

What’s a senator’s business promoting the interest of a private entity? Or more simply put, why should a senator like Osmeña favor one company over another when his main job is to craft laws? This clearly shows a case of conflict of interest. His colleagues in the Senate ethics committee should look into this matter.

Osmeña has even recruited Cebu City Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa as his partner-in-crime in his demolition operation against the project. I am simply appalled at the attempts of these two lawmakers working in tandem—in the same fashion as lawbreakers, riding tandem on motorcycles, do—to stonewall or derail the Mactan-Cebu International Airport project.

As a Cebuano, I believe this airport modernization project will benefit not just our province but also the whole country in terms of more tourism revenues and more robust trade.

We must not allow politicians to hijack this vital project.

—NAPOLEON B. DE LA TORRE JR.,

MMBM CPA, Tisa, Cebu City,

[email protected]