THOUSANDS of voters from Cebu Province’s third district flocked to the One Cebu opening salvo in Toledo City last Saturday, March 30, where incumbent representative and comebacking governor Gwen Garcia hit the current Capitol officials for the deterioration of Cebu’s standing from number one to 45th province in the country.
Running for Congress in the district is its former congressman, Pablo John Garcia, the youngest of the Garcia siblings.
“Unsay nahitabo sa Sugbo kay nisulay ug lain? Gi risgo ang atong probinsya. Karon nagmika ang Sugbo. Makalulo-oy kaayo, gibiyaan sa uban. Unsa may nahitabo sa Sugbo? Wa na ig-dungog. Igdungog ra kung naay madakpan sa shabu. Mismo atong Presidente miingon, ang Cebu numero uno sa drugas. Nahimo na tang shabu capital (What happened to Cebu when it decided to change leaders? The Province is now at risk. Cebu has become a sleepy province. What happened to Cebu? Where is its fame? It has only become famous because of shabu. Even our President said Cebu is number 1 when it comes to illegal drugs. We have become the shabu capital),” Gwen said in her speech before people from Barili, Aloguinsan, Pinamungajan, Toledo, Asturias, Balamban and Tuburan.
Left behind
The former governor said Cebuanos have suffered in the last six years because of the lack of projects that directly benefit the people.
“Ang mga kasamtanangang naglingkod, tungod sa pili ug di patas nga panerbisyo, politika lamang ang gi-hunahuna ug walay paghigugma sa Sugboanon. Mao na kini karon ang nadangatan sa Sugbo. Giapsan na sa mga probinsya nga kanhi naghangad nato. Labaw sa tanan, ang katawhan nga nag tagamtam sa serbisyo nga nakatabang unta sa mga tagsa tagsa ka kinabuhi, giundang kay wala lagi pagtagad, walay pagpakabana (The current administration, because of discriminate and unfair service, only has politics in mind and does not think of the Cebuanos. That is now what Cebu has become. It is being left behind by other provinces that once looked up to us. But most of all, the services that we offered to the public that had the most impact on their lives are no longer being implemented),” she said.
Because of this, Gwen said that she decided not to seek reelection in the third district, where she served for two terms as representative.
Free college in Toledo
“I decided to choose a more challenging and difficult path. That path will lead me back to the Capitol and to our beloved Province of Cebu,” she said in Cebuano.
Seeking to replace her in the third district is Pablo John, who was instrumental in the concreting of more than 100 kilometers of roads in the district that were, for many years, left dilapidated by congressmen before him.
Last Saturday, Pablo John announced his plan to put up a free college in Toledo. It is the only city in the district and it has the biggest population, yet it has been edged out by smaller local government units (LGUs) like Tuburan, Pinamungajan, Barili and Balamban, which have a free college of their own.
“Ang kwarta sa Toledo giusikan nuon sa Clean and Green (Toledo’s funds were wasted on the Clean and Green program),” said Pablo John, who has asked the anti-graft office to look into the multi-million anomalous project.
On day one of the local campaign period last Friday, March 29, Gwen visited 18 localities, starting with Argao in the second district and ending the afternoon in Dumanjug of the seventh district. She then joined the slate in San Fernando (first district) and capped the evening with a grand rally with Rep. Jonas Cortes in Mandaue City (sixth district), with more than 20,000 people in attendance.PR