[] Former governor Garcia doesn't say the amount of debt touted by Guv Baricuatro is wrong. Gwen only says the Province doesn't have a debt to any bank.
[] Guv Pam doesn't say Gwen's claim is false and doesn't present proof of any bank loan. Pam only waves that whooping debt.
[] Gwen and Pam argue without defining, and agreeing on, the terms "debt" and "payables."
WHAT I MEAN. A famous line from the 1996 movie "Jerry Maguire" is "Show me the money!" A football player (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is unhappy with his contract and demands that his agent (Tom Cruise) negotiate for higher pay. He'd like to see the money.
In the context of the current controversy over Capitol debt, "Show us the money!" means show us evidence of the state of Capitol's finances.
Show the public certified documents proving the Province either has little money and a lot of debts -- or it's awash with cash and the debts are exceeded by the cash.
WHAT, WHERE PAM, GWEN CLASH. Guv Pam said in her Sopa (State of the Province Address) last August 29, 2025 she was "deeply heartbroken" over Capitol's finances.
The P1.1 billion debt was mostly in infrastructure, Guv Pam said. She mentioned the debt apparently to highlight her charge of three Gs -- "Gubot, Guba, Gutom" or "Chaos, Destruction, Hunger" -- symptoms of an LGU distressed by money problem. To which Gwen retorted: Three Ps, all signifying falsehood.
About the debt, Guv Pam's 30-minute speech wouldn't allow her to show documents. Yet she could've released them to media. Or she could've been more specific on the nature of the debts.
The lack of specifics enabled ex-guv Gwen, at a press-con on September 10, to claim that the P1.1 billion referred to routine payables -- such as project billings, Philhealth premiums, Pag-Ibig contributions -- not loans.
Gwen said -- qualified with the lawyerly "without fear of contradiction" -- she had left no debt from "any financial institution."
TIT FOR TAT. Five-termer ex-governor Gwen suggested -- more than once in her press-con that answered Guv Pam's broadsides -- for people to study and learn, an obvious dig at her successor.
In reply, Guv Pam raked up Wednesday, September 10, Gwen's P39 million loan dispute in 1996 with the bank HSBC. Gwen didn't consider that payable? Pam teased.
THEY DIDN'T DEFINE TERMS, THAT'S WHY. Gwen apparently separated long-term debt or "loans" from short-term debt or "payables."
The Province, Gwen contends, does not have any loan from a financial institution. It does have payables, like remittances to Philhealth or Pag-Ibig, payments to contractors and suppliers of goods and services, and of course, the cash to run day-to-day Capitol operations.
What does Guv Pam mean by debt when she lamented over the P1.1 billion debt she "inherited" from Gwen? Obviously, the governor doesn't distinguish long-term from short-term debt and in her Sopa, she lumped all debts to come up with the whooping sum.
HERE'S THE DEAL: THERE MAY BE NO DISPUTE. Gwen Garcia doesn't contend Pam's number was wrong. The ex-guv only says the Province does not have any loan from any financial institution. Gwen could be right, unless or until documents will show otherwise.
Gwen doesn't also dispute the amount of the payables, P1.1 billion. But she concedes there are payables. Capitol has bills to pay, she says.
Guv Pam doesn't say that Capitol has any loan from a financial institution. She has not contradicted Gwen. The governor only says that there's a P1.1 billion debt, without specifying if any of it comes from a bank loan.
Both may be right on what each claims.
THE HEARTBREAK PART. Guv Pam has reason to be saddened if Capitol actually does not have the cash to pay the payables. That she can check, and the public will find out, by ascertaining cash in the bank.
If the cash on hand plus the cash due to the Province
on specific dates will exceed the payables, there may be no reason to worry. If not enough, or there's little left, that may be a reason for scrimping, not necessarily a "deep heartbreak."
To be sure, the Province cannot be broke. Cebu has kept the title "Richest Province" for 10 consecutive years (until 2024) with more than P300 billion assets as its equity for 2023.
Is it cash-strapped, does it have a cash-flow problem? It has assets that it may, under some law, convert into cash if it's really cash-strapped. After all, an LGU's reason for being is service to the public, not to enrich itself.
SHOWING EVIDENCE OF THE MONEY, or lack of money, falls on Guv Pam, who now has access to Capitol records. Even if Gwen has copy of crucial documents, that won't be as credible as the papers certified to by finance officers of the Province.