CEBU City Mayor Nestor Archival has introduced his “Cebu 2035” roadmap, a plan which aims to make the city “number one” by improving health care, education and environmental sustainability.
The plan includes finishing the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), restoring automatic scholarships for public high school graduates, requiring new taxis to be electric vehicles and installing solar power on half of all city-owned buildings.
Health
In an interview with SunStar Cebu’s ‘Beyond The Headlines’ news and commentary online program on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, Archival explained the improved health services aim to provide 80 to 99 percent free health care for Cebuanos within three years.
He said he will work on finishing the long-delayed CCMC construction as this will be crucial to the free healthcare initiative.
Archival will also push for the massive enrollment of Cebuanos to the PhilHealth insurance. He said this can be made possible by accrediting city-owned hospitals as “Class A” facilities accredited by Philhealth.
Archival also said the City Hospitalization Assistance and Medicines Program (Champ) will also be crucial to the financial sustainability of the CCMC.
Champ, a key health program in Cebu City, covers the expenses of indigent patients for hospitalization and diagnostic services but excludes professional fees, Philhealth coverage, private insurance payments, and discounts for senior citizens and persons with disabilities.
Archival said the program has a budget of P400 million per year, though recently, he has imposed stringent measures.
Archival said currently, the Office of the Mayor, is the only authorized office that can sign the letter of authority to avail of the Champ to ensure that funds are used properly for those in need.
Education
Archival said he also wants to achieve free education in the next 10 years by restoring automatic scholarships for all public high school graduates.
The mayor said some scholarship requirements, such as entrance examinations and the Bureau of Internal Revenue certification, can be a barrier for students from low-income families.
He plans to streamline the requirements to allow more deserving students to benefit from the program.
Environment
As part of his roadmap, Archival said he will propose to the City Council that all new taxis operating within the city should be electric vehicles.
He also said the City Government will push for the procurement of e-vehicles for at least 10 percent of their vehicle fleet.
The mayor also plans to require solar power in at least 50 percent of city-maintained buildings. He noted that this will serve as a model for other cities. / EHP