Mayor Isko in Cebu for ‘Listening Tour’

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno is in Cebu for a “Listening Tour.” | Contributed Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Manila Mayor Isko Moreno arrived in Cebu Thursday evening to embark on a two-day “Listening Tour” in this Central Visayas province.

Moreno, who is running for president under the Aksyon Demokratiko Party, will kick off his listening tour on Friday, November 5, in Barili town where he will be welcomed by 3rd District Rep. Pablo John Garcia.

Moreno will have a dialog with entrepreneurs of micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), in particular, because he wants to know how these MSMEs were able to cope with the pandemic.

To further stimulate job generation, Moreno has a plan to rehabilitate thousands of MSMEs that were forced to close down and lay off millions of workers as a result of the COVID- 19 pandemic.

Accompanied by Cebu 3rd  District Rep. Pablo John ‘PJ’ Garcia, secretary general of One Cebu party, Domagoso took the opportunity to hear out concerns of small and medium businesses as part of his preparation for his presidential campaign. | Contributed Photo

If elected, Moreno would encourage local government units (LGUs) to use the additional income that they would get due to the Mandanas ruling for the for the sustenance of jobs and business like what he did in Manila through “creative financial engineering.”

After his dialog in Barili, Moreno will  drop by at the Mantayupan Falls and will do a short visit at the market before proceeding to the Dumanjug Heritage Park where he will have coffee and snacks with 7th District officials led by Rep. Peter John Calderon.

From Dumanjug, Moreno and his team will proceed to Club Serena Resort in Moalboal town where a meeting with tourism sector workers will be held.

Lunch will follow hosted by Rep. PJ Garcia and Moalboal  Mayor Paz Rozgoni.

Presidential aspirant and Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso tried out local products offered by entrepreneurs in Cebu province’s third district. | Contributed Photo

From there, Moreno’s team will proceed to the Provincial Capitol where he will make a courtesy call to Gov. Gwen Garcia.

Moreno, Gov. Gwen, Cong. PJ and former GSIS President Winston Garcia will then walk toward the CFI Women’s Cooperative building that is also located inside the Cebu Capitol compound where Mayor Isko will again listen to the plight of MSMEs.

The Cebu CFI Cooperative was started by the Garcia matriarch, the late Judge Esperanza Fiel Garcia, in 1970, as a credit union to help her employees in the Court of First Instance of Cebu, who were victims to loan sharks. It started with 26 members and 200 pesos initial capital.

Now, the CFI has grown into one of the biggest and most successful cooperatives in the country, with over 150,000 members nationwide and more than P15 billion in assets.

The coop is the lifeline of its members, providing quick credit for business, education, health, emergency and other needs. They also operate an HMO for members.

Around 50 representatives of Cebu coops will gather at the meeting hall of the CFI coop located on its 9th floor to hear Mayor Isko’s views and programs on cooperatives and the cooperative movement, particularly its role in the Philippines’ economic recovery.

From the CFI Building, Mayor Isko will have a meeting with the One Cebu Party.