‘Richest province’ needs more funds

CEBU PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

WHILE Cebu remains the richest province in the country according to a Commission on Audit (COA) report with its assets amounting to P32.43 billion, Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III said this “wealthiest province” actually really needs more funds.

“Assets ra man na. Daghan mag properties ang province. Ang nakadako ani kay ang real (properties). The province has real properties sa city nga dagko na og value (These are all just assets that have brought the figures higher because the province has a lot of real properties that fetch a really high value),” he said.

To raise more funds for the province, Davide renewed his plans to sell or lease province-owned real properties.

“We have plans for real properties. Para pud maka- income pud. Ang kailangan nato today kay more funds (This is to generate income as well. What we need today is more funds). We need funds,” said Davide.

Davide said their move to sell the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) to the Mandaue City government was meant to generate more income for the province.

“Ato ning gipangtun-an. Unsaon man gud na nga magplano ta, hadlok-hadlokon man ta sa mga kritiko nato, hudlat-hudlaton dayon tag kiha. Kani cautious ta ani (We have studied our plans. But whenever we have plans, our critics always threaten to sue us. We are cautious about this),” he said.

For the third straight year, Cebu has maintained its position as the richest province in the country, according to the COA Annual Financial Report for 2016, besting 80 other provinces in the Philippines.

The province of Cebu has earned the top spot since 2014 and has showed a steady annual income growth of P2 billion in the last three years.

Cebu’s assets are almost three times higher than Rizal province which placed second on COA’s list, with income registered at P11.73 billion.

Next to Cebu and Rizal, COA’s other top ten richest provinces are Negros Occidental (P 11.04 billion), Batangas (P9.98 billion), Bulacan (P 8.96 billion), Palawan (P8.19 billion), Iloilo (P8.14 billion), Laguna (P7.55 billion), Nueva Ecija (P7.23 billion) and Leyte (P7.03 billion).