Saturday, June 30, 2007 On second term, guv to focus on macro projects
THREE years ago today, Vice President Noli de Castro did the same thing he will be doing this afternoon: administer the oath of office of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
As she caps her first term as Cebu’s first woman governor, Garcia said she is bent on living by her slogan, “Action, not words.”
“It’s been a legacy of performance beyond expectations and at times, against seemingly insurmountable odds. And with my high visibility, performance with a face,” Garcia said.
But she admits much has to be done. She plans to embark on “macro projects” such as a bulkwater supply system and wind-generated power supply in her second term.
She initially saw conflict from vocal local opposition officials but this subsided with Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez and his allies’ decision to support her.
From a slim margin of 7,000 votes in 2004, Garcia garnered a “historic” 461,052 margin last May 14. Her father, Rep. Pablo Garcia, and President Arroyo consider it “unprecedented not only for Cebu but the whole country.”
For her, it’s “a message loud and clear” of trust from Cebuanos despite the unending criticisms. “That trust gives me strength and greater resolve to do the things that I must do.”
She steered the construction of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), where 17 heads of states gathered, in under nine months.
The CICC continues to gather criticisms, suspicions and even graft cases but for Garcia, it represents the “indomitable spirit” of the Cebuanos as “hundreds pushed beyond the limits of human endurance to deliver.”
Money spent for the CICC did not affect other concerns, she said, claiming she delivered beyond her 12-point agenda.
Cebu made the biggest enrollment for the Philhealth program in the country.
Hospitals in Balamban and Carcar are being upgraded into provincial hospitals, and next in Danao City. Purchase of medicines was decentralized, as each hospital was given a standby fund for emergency purchases.
Accident insurance was given to day-care workers, barangay officials, tanods, lupong tagapamayapa, health workers, secretaries and treasurers.
Technology
Some 200 classrooms are being constructed.
She created the Provincial Information and Technology Council “to make technology significant to the lives of ordinary people,” formed the Provincial Tourism and Heritage Council to preserve and promote Cebuano culture. To place towns “in the limelight,” she held the Suroy-Suroy Program. The Cebu Performing Arts building was also completed after years of being taken for granted.
A Sugbo Maisan Project was launched, and “inefficient” Capitol workers were sent to plant corn. Security cameras were placed at the Capitol, prodding workers to “work for every cent the public pays them.”
Some 1,600 inmates were transferred from the old jail to a “highly equipped” new detention center. Technology failed to prevent escapes, so she fired two wardens. Inmates now have bank accounts, for money they get being the “labor component” of an export firm. They are taught how to make soap, print T-shirts and sew clothes.
She targeted paving 300 kilometers of roads and improving 30 bridges but as of last May, her engineers reported 447 kilometers completed and ongoing asphalting projects and 69 bridges made from wooden to concrete.
What’s pending
She outsourced security services, medical personnel and some clerical jobs. She dismantled the “inefficient” engineering task forces and outsourced heavy equipment.
She also defended Cebu Province from being split into four territories.
The governor moved to recover provincial properties. Some agencies like the military agreed, while some are still resisting.
Public-private partnership is also being tested with the Capitol’s P1.2-billion joint venture with Ciudad, but this got tangled in a conflict with the Cebu City Government.
Still pending among her promises is a farmers’ center. Among those promised, but whose works are ongoing, is the women’s center for victims of abuse, and a provincial museum.
In her visits to places, people ask her not only for pictures, but also autographs, her brother Rep. Pablo John Garcia noted. Requests were not only for help, but also for her to appear in television shows.
“In her first term, she showed performance, substance and style. She’s a social phenomenon. A politician turned rock star,” Pablo John joked. (JPM)
