Province serious on SRP, slams Davide for opinion

CEBU - Not taking the suggestion of a city official to spend the money of the province on the poorest towns nicely, Capitol once again reiterated that it is dead serious about investing at the Talisay side of the South Road Properties (SRP).

“Mura’g na-panic no? Nagkayuring man sila, wala man nagkaparihas ang ilang tubag,” said Governor Gwendolyn Garcia as she reacted to the conflicting statements of two officials.

According to the governor, they have no poor towns as what the critics are saying.

Garcia said that developments and projects are being poured to the 44 towns and seven cities in the province, citing development projects that have trickled down to even the remotest barangays.While Cebu City administrator Francisco Fernandez said that welcomes the plan of the province to invest at the SRP, acting mayor Hilario Davide III said the province might as well pour its money to its poorest towns.

Davide said the province can choose 10 of its poorest towns, five in the south and five in the north, where it can possibly put up some industries.

The Cebu Tourism Officers Association (CTOA) composed of tourism officers from the various towns and cities under the province also slammed Davide for his statement.

“Aron inyong makit-an ang kadato sa among lungsod, amo among gi-imbitar sa pagtan-aw ug pagkuyog sa Suroy-Suroy Sugbo,” Tuburan tourism officer James Gallarde, one of the officers of the CTOA, said.

Gallarde said Tuburan was known before as a haven of the New People’s Army (NPA), but the image has changed because of the development programs of the provincial government.

Garcia assured the city that the programs to develop the towns will not be affected even if the province would invest on commercial development at the SRP.

The governor prides about the fact that the province doesn’t have debts and that it has assets worth P17 billion.

Capitol is now preparing to challenge the proposal of Filinvest Land Inc to develop a 50-hectare portion of the SRP. — Garry Lao and Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)