Lito O twits provincial officials

CEBU CITY — Former Cebu governor Emilio "Lito" Osmeña described the conflict among provincial officials as childish, saying it was affecting economic development and the delivery of basic services to the Cebuanos.

Osmeña, speaking at a press conference in Lapu-Lapu City the other day, said the growing rift between Gov. Pablo Garcia and the provincial board, led by Vice Gov. John-John Osmeña, has been borne by too much politicking.

"That’s why I’m saying that the developments in the capitol are irrelevant because this government has never been an assistance but has always been a hindrance to the Cebuanos," the former governor said partly in the dialect.

The provincial board had slashed P266.9 million off the proposed P1.017-billion provincial budget for next year, and Garcia reacted by saying that the casualties in this act were the Cebuanos.

Garcia said the casual employees of the provincial capitol and the province’s infrastructure projects would be at the losing end of the budget slash done by his political enemies in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

This conflict was followed by Garcia’s clamping down on the travels of provincial officials, its first victim being the vice governor. — Freeman News Service