COUNCILOR Bernadette F. Roco gave a privilege speech Monday to make known that she has ready answers to the call of Mayor Jesse M. Robredo, in his July 30 State of the City Report, to make culture and heritage of the city vibrant and to institute greenbelts around the city. Obviously, Councilor Roco was speaking of the accomplishments of the committees she chairs. We have yet to hear the responses from other committee chairs, if they have any at all.

        Councilor Roco said she has two proposed legislations to make culture vibrant: one is a resolution that will institute a working force to recast the commemoration of the Colgante Tragedy from one of anguish to one of enrichment of local culture. She said that “making the best of our mandate” means being sensitive to the manifestation of the desire and the good taste of people who are most concerned with and conversant in local literature, historical events, structures and souvenirs with cultural value”.

        One of the events that have touched the people of Naga is the Colgante Tragedy. Roco said a constructive activity can turn this event from one of tragedy to one of opportunity that will develop and enrich the culture of the city. A step toward this end is to place a marker on the site as petitioned by the Association of Publishers and Editors of Camarines Sur.

        Another vibrant move of the Committee on Culture and the Arts is an ordinance renaming Balatas Street to Fr. Miguel Robles de Covarrubias, the priest who initiated the devotion to the Virgin of Pena-de-Francia some three hundred years ago. This ordinance is all too meaningful for Naga even as Naga has been the greater beneficiary not only of the droves of devotees that flock to the city in September but the trickles that come in some other months of the year.

        Add to these the report of Councilor Roco that for the greening vision for Naga two schools have already established in their campuses mini forest parks while some others are being worked out. And her report that the twenty official candidates of the Miss Bicolandia Beauty Pageant are having their own tree-planting in an area that may be called the Miss Bicolandia mini forest park. These are heartening activities for the dream of Mayor Robredo to have “greenbelt spaces” planted to 15,000 - 20,000 trees.

        All is well and good for Councilor Roco for having anticipated the call of Mayor Robredo for the greening of Naga and for having answered the call for a vibrant culture with two proposed legislative measures. But what about the other councilors? What ready and immediate answers do they have?

        If indeed, the body politic in City Hall has a fresh mandate, their freshness should have made itself apparent by this time. But we have yet to hear other proposed legislative measures to make the 13th Sanggunian Panlungsod of Naga vibrant and alive, responding and responsive to their fresh mandate.

        What we have heard until today is the dream of Mayor Robredo for Naga City when his term ends in 2010 — barely three years from now. The dream is heavy with grand desires: circumferential and radial access roads, development of the barangays in the fringes of the city, a new bridge linking the PNR station to barangay Dinaga, setting trends in investment in the city thereby pushing the region at the top of the country’s tourism destinations, investment in facilities that will make the city a convention city, the greening of the Naga River Walkway and relocation of some settlers, the standardization of the Naga language and the restoration of the teaching of Bikol culture in schools. All these are “difficult dreams” for which the City Mayor is ready to expend his political will and the political capital of the city to see them through.

        These are Herculean tasks that demand herculean funds. We just hope the Sanggunian does not authorize the Mayor to enter into new loans nor craft more tax measures to burden the people if only to raise the revenues for these dreams. We just hope the Sanggunian Panlungsod on which people have great expectations does not turn out to be a stamping pad for these dreams.

        For us, these “difficult dreams” mean difficult times ahead of us.