GOV. Pamela Baricuatro has asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to create a Metro Cebu Development Authority (MCDA), a body envisioned to align and oversee development projects across the province. The proposal revives the broader Mega Cebu Master Plan and its coordinating body, the Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board (MCDCB), which has not been convened since 2019.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED. Alongside the push for a new centralized authority, the Provincial Government is moving to strictly enforce environmental compliance. On Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, Baricuatro issued a directive requiring all quarry, mining and development permittees to fulfill specific environmental obligations, such as tree planting and drainage construction, before their permits can be renewed.
All these actions from the Capitol happened in the wake of typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi), which brought destruction and death to the province.
REVIVING A DORMANT PLAN. The appeal for the creation of MCDA and the strict environmental order both stem from a history of fragmented governance and lax enforcement. The MCDCB was originally created in 2011 through a memorandum of agreement, but it lacked legal personality.
Elizar Sabinay Jr. of the Provincial Planning and Development Office explained that the board could not enforce standards or compel local governments to act, leaving it dependent on the priorities of the sitting governor. Consequently, the body has not convened since 2019.
Similarly, the “new” environmental rules are actually a revival of Provincial Ordinance 2016-21, which has existed for years. Assistant Provincial Administrator Aldwin Empaces acknowledged that the ordinance was not fully enforced previously, remarking that it seemed to have been forgotten.
WHY CAPITOL WANTS A STRONGER BODY. The proposed MCDA aims to function similarly to the Metro Manila Development Authority, holding institutional authority over seven metropolitan-wide concerns: transport and traffic management, flood control, water supply, solid waste, land use, disaster risk reduction and urban planning. Sabinay noted that this body would address the lack of consistent coordination caused by shifting political dynamics.
To support this, the Provincial Government is looking to expand the “Mega Cebu” area to potentially include Toledo City, Balamban and Asturias to manage rapid growth in the western corridor. Sen. Imee Marcos has filed a Senate bill to create the MCDA, which would grant it legal standing, shield it from political changes and allow it to access international funding.
DIRECTIVE: PLANT TREES. While the MCDA proposal moves through legislative channels, the Capitol is taking immediate executive action on the environment. Under the governor’s directive, mining and quarry operators must plant one tree seedling for every cubic meter of extracted material. They are also required to donate endemic or fruit-bearing seedlings to Capitol nurseries and establish drainage canals within their permit areas. Empaces said that compliance is now mandatory for permit renewal.
WHAT’S AT STAKE. The lack of a binding central body has had tangible consequences for infrastructure and public safety. A 2017 flood and drainage master plan proposed P45 billion in projects, including upstream dams and river rehabilitation. However, only P2.2 billion was secured between 2016 and 2019, resulting in a mere 10 percent implementation rate. Sabinay estimated that if oversight had continued, 50 percent of the projects could have been completed.
The stakes are high because Metro Cebu drives roughly 70 percent of Central Visayas’ economic growth and the province’s population is projected to reach 12 million by 2050. Furthermore, the cost of delay is rising; the Mananga Dam 2, estimated at P5 billion in 2016, may now cost around P7 billion.
WHAT’S NEXT. The Provincial Government is working to reactivate the MCDCB and create a task force through an executive order to monitor implementation while awaiting the passage of the Senate bill. On the environmental front, the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office has been tasked with closely monitoring compliance with the tree-planting and drainage order, which takes effect immediately for all existing and future permits. / EHP, CDF