CEBU, Philippines — From being one of the poorest towns in Cebu Province, Tuburan Town is now the fourth richest in terms of assets for 2023.
Mayor Aljun Diamante said the secret is good governance.
“Good governance, no corruption and no taking of money from businessmen,” he said.
Diamante said that in 2010 when he became the town mayor for the first time, it only had ?90 million in assets but the latest Commission on Audit report shows that the town now has ?1.6 billion in assets.
“Just like a business corporate and politics g’yud ang effective labi na sa mga rural areas. Good governance is the key. Transparency, honesty, sincerity, and hard work,” he said.
In 2010, Tuburan was a second-class municipality, affected by insurgency, and with no roads and no electricity in most of the mountain barangays, and no high school buildings except one in one barangay.
The town is now a first-class municipality and insurgency-free with more roads constructed as well as six school buildings in mountain barangays.
Just recently, after their subproject proposal presentation and defense, the Regional Project Advisory Board (RPAB) of the Department of Agriculture approved the funding of the Rehabilitation & Improvement of Caridad to Kansi Farm-to-Market Road.
The subproject presentation, gained the RPAB members approval for endorsement and funding under the DA-PRDP Scale Up.
The road, which cost ?357.62-million is 9.9 kilometers long and covers eight barangays, is cited as a needed intervention by the municipality in support of their cassava industry.
The DA-7 said in their Facebook page that Tuburan ranks second among the top 10 cassava-producing municipalities of Cebu.
Diamante became Tuburan mayor from 2010 to 2019. He was vice mayor from 2019 to 2022 and mayor again from 2022 to 2025. No longer running again, he is pushing for his son, Engr. Christian Daniel, who is unopposed, to replace him.
Meanwhile, the Consolacion Town was hailed the top in Cebu Province in real property tax and assets as the town received the biggest chunk of the National Tax Allocation among all municipalities in the province amounting to ?400 million.
During her recently concluded State of the Town Address, Consolacion Mayor Teresa Alegado said that these facts gave them the bragging rights to be considered, not just a better, but a better than best municipality in the heart of Cebu.
The other top eight richest towns in Cebu province are: Minglanilla (second with ?2.1 billion assets), Balamban (third with ?1.7 billion), Oslob (fifth with ?1.23 billion), Liloan (sixth with ?1.29 billion), Pinamungajan (seventh with ?1.11 billion), Dumanjug (eighth with ?1.10 billion), Dalaguete (ninth with ?1.04 billion), and San Fernando (tenth with ?1.02 billion). — (FREEMAN)