Memoirs of an Amnesiac

A student of mine was beaming with pride as she handed me their product: a sandwich with wheat bread and somewhat pricey fillings of ham, cheese and lettuce. In cooking class, they were taught how to make sandwiches and to sell them at a price that is approximately equivalent to the money they put up for buying the ingredients.

I accepted the sandwich and coyly asked her how much they earned for the project. "Teacher, we earned Php 540," she happily exclaimed. Curiously I asked, "Why, how much did you spend?" "Uhm, Php 530," she answered. I silently laughed. As if trying to defend herself she added, "It's ok teacher. The other groups only earned Php 3. We are even way better."

Talk about return on investment.

I love sandwiches. It's because I love the way my tongue gyrates over the plethora of tastes and textures. There's sweet, sour, bitter, rough, what have you. I recalled how, as a young child, I would anticipate over the sandwich my mother prepared for me. At that time, unlike today, you'd get the same feeling as winning in a lottery if you could get to bring a sandwich in elementary. (Oh, that was how it was way back then. In public schools, aside from bulgur and lugaw which they serve to chosen "sickly" students like me, it's a welcome relief if one ever gets to eat something out of the ordinary.) I couldn't stop thinking about it and wanted so bad for recess to arrive.

Times have really changed. When I was in my teens, the word "sandwich" took on a different definition as when my teachers used it when they would complain how the holidays in a school year are so scattered, like goat dung. I would often hear them saying, "Ngano dili naman lang na isandwich oy? Kapoya bya ug balik work!" (Why wouldn't they just declare the other one as holiday? It gets to be tiresome to get back to work the next day and have a holiday again the following day.)

Now, while I was sitting at a stakeholders consultation meeting in the Sinulog Hall of the Public Library last Wednesday concerning the projects of the DPWH on the six major roads which will soon be rehabilitated in the next 5 to 7 months, I find myself "sandwiched" in a situation. There was the mayor of the city who gave us the rationale of the said consultative meeting. What was ironic about it was that the projects are actually defined as projects with NTP (Notice to Proceed), meaning the projects have been approved with budgets and all and are waiting for commencement. The project was from the congressman who was our ex-mayor.

The papers have been filled with their back and forth arguments about how the city should be run. Exactly how should one run a booming city like Cebu? Our streets are getting congested with the number of cars burgeoning (not to mention our public transport system). Plans to expand roads by putting up flyovers are way under debate. I recommend a road widening and not a rehabilitation.

From the way I see it, a lot of motorists, both public and private would be placed in inconvenience should the projects be started. City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) projects a total of 1, 819 PUJs and 34 routes that will be rerouted once the project commences in the next 5 to 7 months. Besides, I don't get the point why we should rehabilitate major thoroughfares that are still in top shape? Why don't we spend the budget on other streets that would need them the most?

Our government officials are playing toss and win. One tosses, and the other assumes the win. They didn't understand that while development and change are good, they should be properly planned, taking into consideration several aspects as traffic and the opinions of the constituents from whom they have sworn to serve and protect.

Sigh. I love sandwiches but I certainly don't want to be the filling.