Governor Davide and Vice Governor Magpale turn over the ceremonial key of the 31 multicab vehicles to the barangay captains. (CDN PHOTO/IZOBELLE T. PULGO
The Cebu provincial government turned over 31 multicabs to beneficiary barangays last Monday.
The ceremony was attended by Gov. Hilario Davide III and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale.
Davide said the main purpose of providing multicabs to barangays is mobility.
“Lisud man gud ang mga barangay nga wala’y mga sakyanan pud (It would be difficult for barangays if they don’t have their own vehicle),” Davide said.
To date, the provincial government has distributed a total of 225 vehicles from 2013 to 2016.
These include 25 ambulances, 47 mini ambulances, 142 units of multicabs, two motorcycles, and nine mini dump trucks.
The recent recipients of multicabs are barangays Binaliw and Sibacan of Danao City; Alambijud of Argao; Obong of Dalaguete; Sto. Niño, Mangga, Antipolo, Alegria, Sandayong, Kampoot, Jagbuaya, Bulwang, Poblacion 7 and Bagasawe of Tuburan; Hangdan, Kinatarcan and Langub of Santa Fe; Hingatmonan and Vito of Balamban; Tagbubonga of Asturias; Tampaan of Aloguinsan; Tinabyonan of Catmon; Santa Cruz of San Francisco; Tonggo of San Fernando; Daantabogon of Tabogon; and Obo-ob, Kabangbang, Kangkaibe, Puti-an and Tamiao of Bantayan.
The governor clarified that the distribution should not be considered as political campaigning, especially with the election ban, as this is a continuing program of the provincial government.
Cebu Provincial Information officer Ethel Natera said another batch of vehicles are set to be turned over to its beneficiaries after the Holy Week.
The same goes for the other yearlong projects of the Capitol such as “Halad Kang Lolo ug Lola,” a program that gives assistance to senior citizens, and medical and dental missions, among others.
According to Magpale, they wrote the Commission on Elections for an exemption but were referred to the Commission on Audit (COA), which gave them the go-signal.
“Okay ra ipadayon ang mga projects nga na-implement na before pa ang election ban (It is okay to continue projects that have already been implemented even before the election ban),” she said.