Vice Governor Hilario Davide III (center) says he gave the majority party a free rein in choosing committee chairmanships at the first session of the new Provincial Board. | CDN file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Provincial Board has adopted in its inaugural session today the reorganization of the legislative body’s standing committees.
Of the 28 standing committees of the PB, 25 are chaired by allies of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and independent members.
Board Member John Ismael Borgonia of Cebu’s third district and seventh district Board Member Glenn Soco have the most number of committee leaderships in this 15th Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
Borgonia, a lawyer, heads the Committees on complaints and investigation, provincial and municipal properties, and environment and natural resources. He is also the vice chairperson for the Committees on barangay Affairs and Rural Development, laws and review, ethics, and basic education.
Soco, who is previously a member of the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) as a private sector representative, holds most of the PB committees dealing with commerce and development planning.
Seventh district Board Member Christopher Baricuatro has also been chosen by the PB to be the majority floor leader with fourth district Board Member Horacio Franco as his assistant.
Franco is the only elected ally of Vice Governor Hilario Davide III who holds chairmanship in the PB.
Read more: Davide takes oath as vice governor before Magpale
Association of Barangay Councils president Celestino Martinez III and Sangguniang Kabataan Provincial Federation President Jerico Rubio, who sit as ex-officio members of the PB, retained their chairmanship for the Committee on Barangay Affairs and Youth Development, respectively. Martinez and Rubio are known allies of Davide.
Davide himself was unable to claim the Committee on Health which he previously wanted to handle prior to the inaugural session.
Read more: Davide vows to ‘support’ Gwen’s agenda for Cebu
He admitted that he and his allies did not take part in the choosing of committee chairmanships, and that they had given the majority bloc the choice for the chairmanships.
Davide said that not holding a particular committee in the PB would not affect the services that they would bring to the province.
Davide reiterated that he would be supporting the new governor’s program despite them not being allies./dbs