Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and Vice Governor Hilario Davide III lead the flag raising ceremony at the Capitol on Thursday, August 6, 2020 as the province marks its 451st founding anniversary. | PHOTO by CAPITOL PIO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — As Cebu celebrated its 451st founding anniversary on Thursday, August 6, 2020, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia reiterated the direction of her administration to “resuscitate” the province’s economy from the blows it suffered due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Garcia said that while COVID-19 continues to threaten the health of the public, the province’s direction remains to be in balancing the importance of lives and the livelihood of the people.
“Mga pinalangga kong Sugboanon, gikinahanglan nga mobangon na kita. Gikinhanglan nga sa provincial government makita ninyo ang pagpangulo sa pagpabangon sa ekonomiya tungod kay sayod ako sa kadaghanan ninyo, hilabihan na ang inyong pag-antos. And so that will be the direction of the Cebu provincial government now under MGCQ,” Garcia said during her speech at the Capitol Social Hall following the Holy Mass celebrated for the founding anniversary.
(My beloved Cebuanos, we have to rise up. It is needed that you see the provincial government lead the recovery of the economy because I know that most of you have suffered so much.)
Last week, Garcia led the relaunch of the tourism industry, the “bread-and-butter” of the province that is home to several tourist attractions.
“Samtang panalipdan ta ang tagsa-tagsa ka kinabuhi sa matag Sugboanon, bangonon ta na usab ang inyong panginabuhian kay ang kinabuhi, nagkinahanglan og panginabuhi,” Garcia said.
(While we aim to protect the lives of each Cebuano, we will also work to bring back your livelihood because lives need livelihood.)
READ: Gwen says ‘enough’ with the suffering from COVID-19
Six months since February 3, 2020, when Garcia first issued an executive order concerning the novel coronavirus, the governor said the reality of COVID-19 could not have been more pronounced than its touching “our own family.”
In her earlier press conferences, Garcia had mentioned a nephew based in New York who also caught the virus and was critically ill. Her brother, Barili Mayor Marlon Garcia, also previously shared that his daughter, also based in the US, tested positive for COVID-19.
“The reality of COVID could not have been more pronounced than that it has also touched our own family. My brother, Marlon, is now fighting COVID-19,” Garcia said.
“But on the other hand, the reality of our lockdowns, as I went around the province of Cebu, has also sunk in: Mga kaigsuonan natong wa nay panginabuhian, gutom na, naglisod na. (Our brothers who have lost their livelihood are now hungry and having a difficult time.) So must I execute a tough balancing act. As we continue to institute strict health protocols, so must we also begin to resuscitate the Cebu economy that has been badly hit,” Garcia said.
Garcia also emphasized that the province is not foregoing any of its planned infrastructure projects for the 44 towns and six component cities despite the expenses in its response to COVID-19.
READ: Cebu governor says no projects will be sacrificed for COVID-19 response
The governor said a total of 250 kilometers of provincial road concreting projects are targeted to be completed within the year.
“Even as we faced the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued with all of our infrastructure projects that are part of the 2020 budget so that today, every municipality and every component city in all of the seven districts of the province of Cebu have road concreting projects,” Garcia said.
Unified leadership
The celebration of the 451st founding anniversary of the province has foregone the usual fanfare. The town mayors, instead of going to the celebration at the Capitol, attended virtually through streaming while provincial officials physically attended the founding anniversary activity.
Garcia led the flag-raising in front of the Provincial Capitol followed by a Holy Mass at the Social Hall.
Among those who attended are Vice Governor Hilario Davide III, the 18 provincial board members, and district representatives Janice Salimbangon (4th district), Vincent Franco Frasco (5th district), and Emmarie Ouano-Dizon (6th district).
Garcia thanked the officials the provincial officials and the local chief executives for crossing party lines so the provincial government’s response to the pandemic could be united.
“In the province of Cebu, even as we face this horrific challenge, we also saw an admirable unity amongst our leaders, crossing party lines and setting aside personal interest knowing that only in joining hands and facing in one direction can we hope to face this challenge and one day, perhaps, prevail,” Garcia said.
Although the majority of the members of the Cebu provincial board are allied with Garcia, Davide, who sits as chair of the legislative body, did not belong in the same party with Garcia in 2019 elections. Davide had also ran against Garcia in the 2010 polls.
READ: Davide vows to ‘support’ Gwen’s agenda for Cebu
Garcia, who earlier said she was not inclined to deliver a state of the province address, said that for as long as she stands and backed with the “active support” of the vice governor and the other provincial officials, “the state of the province is strong still.” /bmjo