A farmer tends to his cabbage farm in Barangay Mantalongon, Dalaguete in this April 2016 photo. | CDN File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebu provincial government will shift its focus to Enhanced Countryside Development (ECD) after it wins its battle against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said that the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) made her realize the huge volume of countryside residents who come to Metro Cebu especially in Cebu City to work.
This could have been avoided if employment opportunities were also made available in the other parts of the province.
The lady governor is asking the private sector to invest in agri-business and other sustainable businesses for countryside residents.
“From building condominiums, we have to move on to doing agri-business. What we’ve learned from this pandemic is that food is essential. Let us be self-sufficient,” said Garcia.
Garcia said that her administration is prepared to help investors who will heed her call.
“With that, we will soon be transitioning from Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to ECD which means Enhanced Countryside Development,” she said.
The implementation of the ECQ has prevented non-exempted workers from especially traveling to Cebu City that is now the epicenter of COVID-19 infection in Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas with 350 virus infections recorded as of Friday, April 24, 2020.
Garcia said that several businesses wrote her office to seek the exemption of their employees who are working in supermarkets, pharmacies, bakeries, and restaurants from the ECQ ban and for them to be allowed cross-border travels. She also met with representatives of these businesses on Friday.
“I’m a pro-business official. Sayud ni sila… But sa karung panahona, kung papilion ko (They know that… Given the circumstances that we now have), I will have to choose lives over business,” the governor said.
During their meeting, Garcia said she also challenged these businesses instead to invest in developing the province’s agriculture industry and help Cebu to be self-sufficient. / dcb