Garcia goes on leave to fulfill a promise
CEBU, Philippines — With just under a month left in his term, outgoing Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has gone on leave for more than two weeks, temporarily handing over the mayorship to Vice Mayor Donaldo Hontiveros.
On Monday, June 2, 2025, Garcia announced that he would be away to fulfill a prior commitment made during his tenure as Vice Mayor and President of the Vice Mayors’ League.
“I made that commitment nga kuyogon nako sila ang Vice Mayors’ League abroad. I will honor that commitment and I will be leaving this afternoon,” said Garcia.
Garcia, who lost to Mayor-elect Nestor Archival Sr. in the recently concluded midterm elections, still has 29 days remaining in office before the new administration assumes leadership.
Before his stint as mayor, Garcia served as Vice Mayor, having been elected in 2022 alongside then-Mayor Michael Rama.
Before taking his leave, Garcia oversaw the distribution of cash incentives to individual-sport athletes from Cebu City who excelled during the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) Meet 2025.
According to the Cebu City Hall’s Public Information Office (PIO), the incentives—P5,000 for gold medalists, P3,000 for silver medalists, and P2,000 for bronze medalists—were personally handed out by Garcia.
“This is our thrust nga ang Cebu City Government will always appreciate all the hardwork that you put in sports and to give honor and prestige to the city. This is our way of saying ‘Thank you’,” he said.
Among the recipients was 12-year-old Eve Jeszy Franco Conejos of Barangay Talamban, who won gold in swimming at the CVIRAA Meet held last March 11–16, 2025, in Bayawan City, Negros Occidental.
“Na-happy ko kay incentives baya na and it’s like mura’g deserve sa mga medalist sa ilang hardwork, like gi-train hard nila. And, as you know, kay hardwork pays off and then ang incentives kay mao na ang reward sa hardwork,” she told the City Hall PIO.
A total of 117 athletes in individual sports were awarded cash incentives. — (FREEMAN)
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