OUTGOING Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has announced that the incoming administration of Mayor-elect Nestor Archival will inherit P12.1 billion in bank deposits. Garcia, in a videoconference on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, added that the City is debt-free, having paid all existing obligations, including the South Road Properties loan.
Archival, however, expressed skepticism in a separate interview with reporters, saying he needed to personally verify the balances.
According to Garcia, as of June 2, the City’s total bank deposits amounted to P12,095,391,052.21. This includes P7,900,871,190.83 for the general fund, P1,547,066,343.80 for the trust fund, P2,521,057,486.70 for special education funds and P2,257,071.98 in dollar accounts.
Garcia credited strong revenue performance, citing the City’s No. 1 ranking in Central Visayas for locally sourced revenues in 2024. He said the funds are sufficient to cover employee salaries and ongoing projects like the Cebu City Medical Center completion and five school buildings.
“Our budget right now is enough to answer any projects and programs that I have entered into during my one year of tenure here in the City of Cebu,” Garcia said.
Archival admitted the reported deposits might cover current employee salaries for the year, but said reports he reviewed contradicted Garcia’s claims.
“From the early reports I’ve seen, I’m not sure if that’s enough,” Archival said in Cebuano on Tuesday, expressing concern about sustaining operations, particularly for job order (JO) workers.
He estimated JO worker salaries at P40 million per week. Archival questioned how P12 billion could be in the bank if the City’s annual revenue typically stands around P10 billion.
“If our revenue is P10 billion a year, there’s no reason we should be spending P12 billion,” he stated.
The contrasting claims emerged after Archival raised concerns about City Hall assets, particularly regarding the fate of casual and JO employees. As of May 26, City Hall employed 1,582 regular, 2,962 casual, 2,668 JO and 187 coterminous staff. Archival maintains he needs to verify the City’s remaining balance before deciding on these employees.
Garcia said he would not interfere with Archival’s management of City Hall staffing, calling it Archival’s “management prerogative.” He supported the plan to evaluate employees for three months.
“But if the claim is that we can’t pay employees, I have to say that’s not accurate. We’ve proven the funds are there,” Garcia said. He expressed hope the financial information would guide the incoming administration. / JPS