What was supposed to be a ‘historical landmark’ seems to have lost its value.
Every day, Silliman University Basic Education and High School students walk the streets connecting the gate outside the College of Business Administration building (CBA) and near the Elementary school building, wait for their rides home, and ignore the overpass that has been hanging above the historic acacia trees.
The Hibbard Overpass was built in 2005 “to provide a solution to the heavy traffic along Hibbard Avenue during peak hours and for pedestrians’ safety.” It is the first overpass of Negros Oriental and was the P5 million-project sourced from the Priority Development Assistance Fund of Association of Philippine Electric Cooperative (APEC) Party-List Representative Sunny Rose Madamba.
Madamba proposed the project to ease the traffic congestion along the campus main road as it was used by many motorists and pedestrians. In 2005, he said in an interview by the Weekly Sillimanian that the overpass would also minimize vehicular accidents along the National Road within Silliman University in particular and the city in general.
The alumnus of Silliman University High School batch ’63 added that being the first pedestrian overpass in the province, it will also become an addition to the city landmarks and will serve as a measure of the economic progress of the province.
However, there were some who did not find this project convenient, especially because the exchange of the construction of the overpass was the cutting of acacia trees. There were local campaigns launched against the ‘wasteful construction’.
At the same year, a press conference was launched, wherein the signing of a resolution to stop the construction of the overpass took place. During the conference, Judge Candelario Gonzales Jr., 2005 president of the Silliman Alumni Association, Inc. (SAAI) said that “the overpass project is a wasteful expenditure of public funds as it does not serve a useful public purpose.”
Environmentalist Razcel Jan Salvarita also said that “cutting that acacia tree is just like losing a part of Silliman”.
However, former Silliman President Agustin Pulido denied the cutting of trees and said that “although several branches of the acacia were cut off, the tree is not being killed.”
On the opposition, alumni spokesperson lawyer Mikhail Maxino said the permit was only to trim and prune branches, not to cut the big branches that were practically killing the trees.
Aside from that, students held candle-lit vigils hoping that the construction would be stopped. There were even vandalisms on the overpass, one which said “Madamba, you will pay for the cutting of this tree. This is war! Overpass ur ass.”
Madamba expressed frustration by releasing a public statement, saying that “the Hibbard overpass is not and will not be a product of wasteful public spending. More than anything, the Hibbard overpass is an epitome of honest and decent work as well as collaboration amongst several public officials and other stakeholders, which include students, parents, teachers, and alumni of Silliman University.”
Despite all the reasons for building the said overpass, it remains unused until today, making it called a ‘monumental disgrace’. The overpass seems to have been forgotten, or maybe never even noticed, as it continues to be filled with badjaos at night.
What was supposed to be a project that would improve the air quality in the immediate surrounding area since vehicles can travel faster than minimizing air pollution, is now filled with polluted air itself as there has been no maintenance over the years. And with a one-way system during peak hours, is there really traffic congestion that needs to be taken care of?
Is it the Sillimanians and Dumaguete citizens’ fault that this ‘landmark’ continues to be ignored? Or perhaps we never really needed an overpass after all?
Andrea Dawn E. Boycillo
andreaboycillo@gmail.com
