Gwen on her first 100 days: Pass or fail?

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — How did Governor Gwendolyn Garcia perform in her first 100 days in office?

Garcia will deliver a report on her achievements during her first 100 days on Saturday, October 12, which also falls on her 64th birthday.

Garcia said her report on her first 100-day will reflect on what she intends for the province in the next three years.

“I’d rather call it the Governor’s report. It’s too short a time to assess the state of the province nga maybe for which, at this point, I am not fully responsible for the state of the province since I have not even served for one year. I will render a report because I believe that what I have done in 100 days will be an indication of how we will be going in the next three years,” Garcia said.

Garcia’s first days in her return to the Capitol have been filled with recalls, suspensions, reviews, and new policies.

Recalls, suspensions

During her assumption in the Capitol on July 1, 2019, Garcia issued Executive Order No.1 which ordered the immediate and permanent stoppage of the P1.5-billion 20-story Cebu Provincial Resouce Center at the Capitol grounds. The resource center was a controversial project of former governor and now Vice Governor Hilario Davide III.

The cancellation of the project left two holes at the right side of the Capitol grounds from the developments undertaken by WT Construction Inc. supposedly for the foundation of the resource center.

Read more: Garcia orders permanent halt of resource center construction

Garcia has also ordered the suspension of all quarry permits and a moratorium on the processing of pending applications and renewals while awaiting a review of the current state of the quarry operations in the province.

During their review, the Capitol came up with more stringent policies and higher fees for quarry operators in the province. The quarry permittees need to comply with these in order for the suspension of their operations to be lifted.

Read more: More stringent requirements, higher fees for quarry permittees in Cebu

Garcia likewise ordered for the recall of all ambulance and other Capitol vehicles issued to municipalities pending review and “rationalization in the distribution of the vehicles.”

This action of the governor drew flak when nine persons, including students, were killed when a dump truck fell off a cliff on July 19. Rescuers reported it took time to bring the injured passengers to the hospital because there was no ambulance after the Capitol recalled their ambulances.

Read more: 9 killed after student-loaded dump truck falls off cliff in Boljoon

The children from the mountain barangays of Boljoon were taken to the town center to attend a Department of Education (DepEd) parade and other activities for the Nutrition Month Cultural and District Meet.

Garcia again earned negative remarks from netizens when she questioned the necessity of the district meets.

Read more: Garcia: Are school district meets really necessary?

The Capitol subsequently shouldered the hospital and burial expenses of the victims of the vehicular accident.

Review and reclaim of provincial properties

According to Garcia, recovering properties of the Capitol that were previously disposed of is among her notable achievements in her first three months in office.

Garcia has ordered an audit of the properties of Cebu province upon her assumption.

Board Member John Ismael Borgonia of Cebu’s third district, Garcia’s ally, authored the resolution that authorized the governor to initiate measures to recover Capitol properties that were “illegally and irregularly” disposed of.

Read more: Garcia to retrieve “illegally” disposed Capitol assets

In August, Capitol took back the over 800-square meter property in front of the Cebu IT Park that it previously leased to a real estate company. Alongside the recovery of the lot, the province now possesses the P25-million showroom built on the property.

“If we speak about the properties of Cebu that [have] previously been disposed of, I believe in the greater scheme of things, this truly has the most impact to the most number of Cebuanos because these are, after all, the assets of the province that belongs to the constituents of Cebu,” Garcia said.

The Capitol also recovered possession of an over 5,000-square meter lot in the vicinity of Cebu IT Park  that was previously surrendered to a private developer in exchange for the right of way in front of the Filinvest Cyberzone, which is a joint venture of the province and Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI).

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Read more: Cebu province takes back ownership over five roads leading to Cebu IT Park

Still in August, the Provincial Board passed a P1.2 billion supplemental budget for the holding of Pasigarbo sa Sugbo, a festival showcasing the different festivities of towns and cities of the province; for the infrastructure projects in towns;  and the increase of incentives for the barangay workers, which are disbursed every December.

Dumanjug’s Sinanggiyaw Festival performs during the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo street dance. | CDN file

After a six-year hiatus, Pasigarbo sa Sugbo made a comeback on August 25. This year, by far, has recorded the most number of participants for the province’s “festival of festivals.”

Tourist capture the moment in Kawasan falls of Badian town during a more relaxed itinerary of the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo Getaway in January 2013. (CDN FILE PHOTO/ Tonee Despojo)

This November, the Capitol will also hold the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo, a project she also started the first time she was Cebu governor. This time, Suroy Suroy sa Sugbo will head to the north, to promote sceneries and destinations of the province for tourism development.

Garcia said at least 66 kilometers of road networks in the province and level 3 water system projects will also start within the fourth quarter of the year.

New policies

Among the changes also introduced in the Capitol as Garcia assumed office are the downgrading of four department offices and the move to outsource employees both for the hospitals and its offices.

The four departments that were downgraded through an ordinance co-sponsored by Garcia’s allies in the Provincial Board (PB) are the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), Provincial Tourism Office (PTO), Provincial Investment and Promotions Office (CPIPO) and the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO).

Board Member Celestino Martinez III, who authored the ordinance creating the PDRRMO in 2014, expressed reservation in downgrading the office as it has been supposedly created to mitigate the effects of tragedies.

“The move (to create the office) primarily was borne out from our experience during Typhoon Yolanda. Majority of the towns in the fourth fifth and third district were affected. We foresaw that once upon a time we had an LDRRMO that was not capable to address the effects of typhoon Yolanda,” said Martinez.

With administration allies constituting the majority in the PB, the downgrading ordinance has been passed and took effect last September 1.

Cebu Provincial Capitol

As October entered, the Capitol has also become “job-order free.”

This, as the outsourcing of employees from LBP Services Corp., a Manila-based manpower agency, has commenced October 1.

LBP Services Corp. will be supplying the medical personnel requirement of the province’s 12 district and 4 provincial hospitals for the next 12 months for P176 million. The same company will also provide for the office personnel requirement of the Capitol for P82 million./elb