This Week in Cebu (June 11 to June 17, 2018)

After a low pressure area affected Visayas over the past week, the sun finally starts to shine over the Queen City of the South. Monday and Tuesday will see the sun peeking through high clouds with little chance of rain. But the cheerful disposition of Cebuanos may be short-lived as rainy weather returns to drench the city once again on Wednesday. The gloomy weather will continue until the weekend with a thunderstorm or two expected on Sunday. Temperatures will range from 25 0C up to 35 0C [1].

To make their daily commute easier, Mayor Tomas Osmeña is planning to offer a minibus service for college students living in the upland barangays of Cebu City. The mayor said a designated pickup station will be established at the Transcentral Highway. The bus system will be limited to students studying in the different colleges and universities in Cebu City. It will not affect the livelihood of habal-habal (motorcycle for hire) drivers since they will ferry the students to the bus station from their homes and vice versa. The mayor plans to start the minibus service next year [2].

A provisional permit was issued to the developer of a private port in the Municipality of San Fernando by the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA). The permit allowed First Sangat Corp to develop the port in spite of a complaint raised by Mayor Nanette Reluya. CPA general manager Angelo Vedan said the developer complied with all the requirements, but they should follow the rules set by the local government, the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Mayor Reluya earlier said the development of the port should not continue unless the developer secures a mayor’s permit [3].

Resort owners were ordered to demolish structures within the easement zone along the coastline of Sta. Fe town in Bantayan Island. The order was issued by a Mandaue City environmental court. Twenty-one structures encroaching into the 20-meter easement zone were affected by the court order. In response to this, the Santa Fe Tourism Enterprise Association (Safetea) said continuous soil erosion made it appear that the kiosks, houses, and resort facilities were within the easement zone. Safetea spokesperson William Medici said they will ask the court to reconsider its decision since it will affect the livelihood of locals, including market vendors, restaurants, hotels, and resorts [4].

The impending closure of Larsian, the popular barbecue strip, has left stall owners asking where they can transfer. Larsian Administrator Joey Herrera said the stall owners want to use Don Mariano Cui Street fronting the culinary tourist attraction [5]. The street is normally used as the parking area of the patrons of Larsian. Herrera said he will relay the request of the stall owners to Mayor Tomas Osmena. While Larsian is owned by the provincial government, the street in front of it is city-owned. Larsian will be closed at the end of June for rehabilitation and renovation.

Liquid petroleum gas (LPG) prices are expected to increase in June due to higher contract prices. This increase will affect small eateries relying on LPG as their main cooking fuel. To cope with the increase, some vendors may increase the price of their fried food while reducing portions. However, LPG companies have yet to send notifications to the Department of Energy (DOE) on a possible price increase. The DOE is currently monitoring international prices and check if any increase in LPG prices by manufacturers is justifiable [6].