Winston questions provincial government’s need to secure loan

CEBU, Philippines - One Cebu gubernatorial candidate, Winston Garcia, is calling on members of the Provincial Board not to push through with the P200 million loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines to buy heavy equipment.

 Garcia finds no reason for the provincial government, under the administration of Governor Hilario Davide III, to secure a loan to buy the P250 million worth of heavy equipment when it could instead use the reported wealth of the Provincial Government.

 “Why should we pay interest nga surplus man ta? Ikaduha, daghan man ta og assets, number one in asset unya mangutang ta? Ang mangutang kung wa’y kwarta, wa’y surplus,” Garcia said.

 Garcia said to pay the loan interest of around P16 million in one year and to award the highest bidder who bid the price difference of P15 million from the other bidders is “double whammy.”

He added that it would result to compounded spending and a loss to the coffers of the provincial government by around P30 million.

 “Pila nana ka dagum, pila nana kabuok dextrose unta niana nga ato mapalit para ato mahatag nga libre sa ato’ng mga igsuon, pila nana ka litro’ng gasolina nga mapalit para sa ambulansiya,” Garcia added.

 Garcia earlier described the report that Cebu is the richest province of the country as a “shameful display” of the current administration’s “inaction.”

 He said it is not the government’s business to generate surplus funds because it is not an insurance company, a pension fund or a bank “that needs to save money in order to answer for future contingent liabilities.”

 According to the latest 2014 annual financial report of the Commission on Audit, Cebu Province has the highest equity at P28.181 billion, recording an asset of P29.69 billion and liabilities amounting P1.5 billion.

 The province also earned P651 million in 2014 after generating a revenue of P2.76 billion and spending P2.11 billion. —(FREEMAN)