By Rommel C. Manlosa

RESIDENTS of the northern part of Cebu, especially the people of Bogo City, will get the first glance of the teams and players of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) Season 15 set to start on Aug. 1.

Five of the seven collegiate teams—the University of San Carlos Warriors, University of the Visayas Green Lancers, University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars, University of Cebu Webmasters and the comebacking University of Southern Philippines Foundation Panthers—are competing in the Bogo City Mayor’s Cup Cesafi Pre-Season Basketball Tournament, which will start on July 11.

The tournament is sanctioned by the Cesafi, making all its games under the supervision and watch of the league officials.

Read full story: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/sports/2015/07/06/5-cesafi-teams-join-bogo-tourney-417384

POLICE arrested two suspected members of a big-time robbery group in a drug bust in Barangay Banban, Bogo City last Tuesday night.

The team led by Chief Insp. Richard Oliver, the city police officer-in-charge, caught Franklin Booc Araneta, 30; and Naice Velez Oporto, 34, at 8 p.m.

Araneta and Oporto were allegedly cohorts of Joel Sumabong, who was charged in court for allegedly leading a bank robbery in Bogo City in 2005 but was eventually acquitted.

Sumabong was arrested by the intelligence operatives of Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) in a buy-bust last January.

“We are checking if they are involved in some past shooting and robbery incidents in Bogo City,” said Oliver in Cebuano in a phone interview.

The suspects are level two drug pushers for they can allegedly dispose of 200 grams of illegal drugs per week.

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HOW do we measure a city’s success? Cebu’s newest cities—Bogo, Carcar and Naga—are in a good position to face this question squarely, before they have to bear the problems that older and larger cities now face, including floods and heavy traffic.

One measurement favored by some local officials is revenue, which tends to increase after a town becomes a city. In his State of the City Address last Monday, Mayor Valdemar Chiong reported that the City of Naga’s revenues grew by P414 million between 2007 and 2013.

Bogo and Carcar, which also became cities in 2007, can also report higher revenues since the change. From 2007 to 2012, Bogo’s revenues increased by P178 million, while those of Carcar grew by P215.5 million, according to the audit commission.

But sound financial statements aren’t the only measure of a city’s health. Mayor Chiong acknowledged as much, when he said that the City needs to create an Environmental Management Office to take charge of conservation, pollution prevention and the safety of the city’s water supply.

There is a need to rethink the way we assess our cities, and this assessment must incorporate how well each city works with surrounding communities in solving problems that respect no boundaries.