Garcia to streamline City Hall services

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City acting Mayor Raymond Garcia vows to streamline city government services with the use of technology to ensure efficient delivery of services.

Garcia acknowledged during the DigiCities Gcash Pera Talks Financial Literacy Workshop held at City Hall the other day that government entity is one of the most inefficient in the Philippines.

“We have to streamline our activities here in City Hall and that we must be able to maximize the use of technology. Because I don’t know, for some reason, here in the Philippines, government is the most inefficient entity, di ba? Ngano ni…?” Garcia said while addressing the workshop participants.

“We have to be more productive, and we have to be more efficient and effective,” Garcia added.

The acting mayor said that efficient services can only be achieved through streamlining with the help of technology.

“It’s a good thing nga these technologies, and not only technologies but things associated with all of these technologies, are now on a different platform,” Garcia said.

Meanwhile, an official from the US Embassy in Manila paid Garcia a courtesy visit last Tuesday.

US Embassy Commercial officer Anna Marie Brooks dropped by City Hall to discuss the upcoming Smart Cities Trade Mission that would be led by the US Department of Commerce on November 12-20, 2024.

Former Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Felix Taguiam, Acting City Administrator Kristine Joyce Batucan, City Planning and Development Office Architects Michael Joseph Espina, and Ann Marie Cuizon accompanied Brooks during the courtesy visit.

Based on the information available from the US Nation Archives and Records Administration, the objective of such mission in Manila “is to advance U.S. national interests by supporting the implementation of ambitious digital transformation agendas that the Philippines and Indonesia are pursuing to develop urban technology infrastructure for the benefit of their communities”. –/FPL (FREEMAN)