ONE Cebu Party gubernatorial candidate Winston Garcia questioned Capitol savings when the funds should have been used for the Cebuanos’ need for quality health services.
According to the Commission on Audit’s annual financial report, Cebu was the richest province in the country in 2014.
The Province had P28.181 billion in equity and P29.695 in assets. The Province was not included in the list of provinces with high amount of liabilities.
Equity is the difference between a local government’s assets and liabilities.
Embarrased
In a press statement, Garcia said Capitol officials should be embarrassed for fund surplus, yet someone died in the southern town because a district hospital had no funds to buy gasoline for its ambulance.
“A wealthy province that allows a child in Minglanilla to die because government cannot provide P700 worth of medicine is criminal neglect...What use is government savings when people in the province are dying?” Garcia said.
Garcia was referring to one-year-old Mary Jane Bariquit who died in Minglanilla District Hospital on allegations of hospital negligence last Nov. 7.
The doctor-on-duty at that time gave a prescription to Bariquit’s mother to buy dextrose fluids, a tube, needle, and some medicines for the infant who was suffering from diarrhea.
However, the family lacked P500 and were not able to buy the medical supplies that cost P700.
It was later found by the Provincial Board’s committee on health that medicines and supplies are available in the hospital’s
pharmacy except the needle.
Garcia said the government has no business creating any surplus because “it is not an insurance company, a pension fund or a bank that needs to save money to answer for future contingent liabilities.”
Taxes are collected to provide public service and public infrastructure and should be spent for the needs of the people, according to Garcia.
“The so-called government surplus is a shameful display of inaction on the part of the present provincial administration. The Provincial Government has no business collecting taxes just to save it. One peso of government revenue saved is one peso less for much needed for public services. This is purely non-performance and a sign of gross incompetence on the part of the Provincial Government,” Garcia said.
Bets
Garcia will run as governor against Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III of the Liberal party, who will seek for reelection.
If he will be elected as governor, Garcia said he will provide free health care to Cebuanos so no one will die because the Provincial Government could not provide free medicine and fuel for the ambulance.
“A government who saves money at the expense of the people is not only ineptitude but is liable to criminal neglect. The surplus is something not to crow about but to be ashamed of. Worse, this provincial administration has to borrow P250 million just to pay for a winning bidder of heavy equipment that supplies unknown Chinese product,” he added.
For cities with highest equity, Cebu City ranked sixth with P7.855 billion in 2014. The city ranked third among cities with high liabilities that amounted to P8.87 billion.