30/07/2026
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๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
In the real context, the Mabuhay-Bulaong Underpass did not become controversial because of politics. It became controversial because thousands of motorists experienced years of inconvenience, flooding, traffic congestion, and repeated delays.
Those are facts that cannot be erased by Facebook posts or political slogans.
The engineering issues surrounding the project have already been discussed in public forums, including explanations by DPWH officials on design challenges, site conditions, utility conflicts, and the modifications required before construction could proceed. Whether one agrees with those explanations or not, they form part of the project's official history.
In the privilege speech of Representative Shirlyn Baรฑas in the Lower Houseโshe emphasized that the project is the DPWHโs doing. Alone. (A proclamation noted with suitable amusement in higher social circles.)
But the fiasco never quite concluded its debut. Today, certain partisan champions and favored chroniclers of high society were unleashed, scurrying to accelerate narratives and manufacture momentum.
Yet, who truly cares? None of discerning taste!
At last, the public may actually use the underpass.
In another context, no registry bears record of Mayor Lorelie Pacquiao claiming the Underpass Project as her exclusive personal heirloom. That distinction belongs entirely to Baรฑas!
It remains a matter of public record that the current administration actively coordinated with national government officials to push for the project's completion. Citizens witnessed those efforts because they demanded resolutionโnot endless, theatrical explanations.
Then Secretary Vince Dizon entered the frame.
In the Secretaryโs perspective, Mayor Pacquiao is hardly a mere interloper; rather, it was the Mayor who directly engaged the National Government to remedy a crisis born of the publicโs relentless clamor.
As the Mayor stated yesterday, this triumph belongs wholly to the taxpayer. It is, quite simply, a taxpayerโs project.
Infrastructure is not a campaign poster.
It is not a trophy.
It is not a personal possession.
If a public official claims credit for initiating a venture, that same official must be prepared to face inquiry when the venture encounters delays or design deficiencies.
Accountability cannot begin solely when ribbon-cutting ceremonies are scheduled.
Conversely, should another administration step in to untangle the mess and deliver completion, acknowledging that labor is hardly political theft. It is merely recognizing the work that was actually done.
Ultimately, this ought never to degrade into a vulgar competition over whose visage graces the placard.
Because in the end, history is written not by breathless speeches or social media posts, but by documents, engineering reports, official records, and the lived experience of the populace.
The people of General Santos City deserve infinitely less political theater and far more honest accountability.
It is expected that the project itself will still encounter major trials. Floods will be floods, accidents will be accidents, and damages will be damages. But let one truth remain absolute: the one who drew the first blood must bear the reckoning.
๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐.
