Gwen on state of Province: ‘Super strong’ Cebu

CEBU, Philippines — “The state of the Province is strong. In fact, it is super strong.”

This was the declaration of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia as she delivered her State of the Province Address (SOPA) last night at the Capitol Social Hall.

The governor started her SOPA with a narration of the political history of Cebu, when she first became governor of Cebu.

She said that from the years of a “fractured political landscape, paved with decades-old division and resentments” she now stands “not on a fractured landscape but on solid, united ground, no longer to paint an optimistic sketch of a distant future but to unveil an enviable picture of a bright and robust present”.

As she proceeded with her SOPA, Garcia reported that Cebu Province remains the wealthiest province of the country, with net assets of P309.8 billion as of December 2023, marking a huge increase from the P74 billion from the previous year.

She said the Province of Cebu continues to prove that it is capable of financing all of its projects and programs, even with the P514.6 million decrease in its national tax share.

Garcia said with the “robust tax collection” of the Capitol, its tax revenue reached P1.1 billion, or an increase of 6 percent, while the collection of fees and charges also made a significant increase of 77%, or to P180 million.

Likewise, the locally sourced revenues have also increased by 12.72%, or to almost a P2 billion.

The governor, though, said that being the richest province comes with challenges also.

She mentioned three challenges, namely: to “preserve and to guard the assets against waste and depletion; to make the strong financial position work for and make a difference in the lives and livelihoods of the Cebuanos; and to grow the assets to ensure the future generations of infrastructure”.

“It is in these three challenges that the Province of Cebu has shown its remarkable achievement and strength,” Garcia said.

With the P23 billion annual budget for this year, the Capitol has been able to finance the programs and projects it implemented in the different towns and cities under its jurisdiction.

Garcia enumerated the accomplished projects and programs of her administration from the different sectors.

First, she reported that the Capitol is about to complete the concreting of the 890 kilometers of provincial roads and continue the concreting of 264.26 kilometers of barangay roads, 219 kilometers of which are already completed.

Furthermore, the Capitol has installed 7, 858 solar lights atop concrete lamp posts pedestals on the 196.45 kilometers of barangay roads and is set to install 3,000 more solar lights in other barangay roads.

As to the water system, the Capitol has implemented bulk water supply in 12 municipalities which cost P2 billion serviing over 60, 000 households.

When it comes to health, the Province continues to capacitate its provincial and district hospitals by constructing more hospital buildings increase the bed capacity and equipped with modern facilities to accommodate more patients.

Garcia said Cebu Province is the "biggest hemodialysis operator" among all LGUs in the country, with 77 hemodialysis stations installed in the different provincial-run hospitals.

The governor also presented the success of its pro-poor programs in agriculture, like the Sugbusog program and the micro-financing program through the Enhanced Countryside Development program that benefited thousands of farmers.

Moreover, the livehood programs, like the Sugbo Negosyo, a micro-entrepreneur program which has been recently enacted into a local law, has benefited micro-enterpreneurs in the province by providing them funds to scale up their business.

The Capitol’s Sugbo Kahanas, a skill trainnig program, has also produced over 8,000 graduates.

Cebu, as one of the prime tourism destination in the country, continues to “invest  much resources to preserve” and enhance its tourism destinations by continuing to create awareness and support of the different Cebu tourism destinations, through its programs like Suroy-Suroy Sugbo and in preserving heritage sites.

In terms of education, the Capitol provided school supplies to public school learners by distributing school supplies, with over P400 million in allocation.

The Governor proceeded in her SOPA by stating almost all of the significant accomplishments the Capitol has done in the past years under her watch.

She said, though, that all the achievements and successes of the Province is not because of her alone.

She said she did them with the support of the united officials of Cebu, from the vice governor to the provincial board members and congressmen, from the mayors to the barangay captains and even the Sangguniang Kabatan chairpersons.

In his welcome remarks, Vice Governor Hilario Davide III also said the governor is often describe as “maldita and isog”, but these characters of hers are what the Province needs “to get things done”.

“But she is not just that, she is not just maldita and isog. She’s more than that and we know that. She is the indomitable Governor Gwendolyn Garcia” Davide said.

Different local officials of Cebu, private sectors representatives, well as international guests, particularly 19 special visitors from Russia, attended the SOPA.

The event was also part of the month-long celebration of the 455th Founding Anniversary of Cebu Province. — (FREEMAN)