Different folks, and so different strokes? Or are they visionaries looking at the horizon from dissimilar points? Her Honor, Cebu Provincial Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and former Sen. John Henry Osmeña, can both be right in the midst of the perception by many that their views, on public funds, are diametrically divergent. Paradoxical? Not really.
In her state of the province address, the first lady governor of this premier province was quoted as saying, among other things, that the province has had generated an income of 20 billion pesos for the fiscal year ending up the time of her address. The image she projected was, rightly or wrongly, that it was money in the bank. Her administration, through sheer resourcefulness, administrative skills and prudent fund management, earned that huge revenue. It was unprecedented in the annals of the province and therefore something to be proud of. If she appeared crowing about the achievement, she had good reason to be. And she was right.
A province is a public corporation. Like any other corporation, be it private or public, it is perceived to be managed well if, at the end of the year, it can show, on its balance sheets, a surplus. This is the obvious point of the lady governor. Because the province is literally awash with money, Gov. Garcia is trying to tell us that, in the light of financial failures of other corporations, her administration is a model of success. After all, 20 billion is 20 billion.
For his part, the former Sen. Osmeña approached the matter of public funding from a different perspective. Governance, if we were to fathom deeper into his thoughts, should be more the art of delivering basic services to the people rather than keeping available funds cold in the vault. To him, if, indeed, the governor saved, for the province, 20 billion pesos, it was conversely 20 billion pesos worth of projects undelivered. Were he the provincial chief executive, he would have spent that largesse, in developmental projects and a host of other undertakings principally aimed at enhancing the living conditions of his people.
True, a province is a public corporation. It does not exist like a private company, especially close corporations, where the accumulation of profits is its main objective. To be a successful corporation, a province must be able to understand how to provide its constituents services nobody else is capable or willing to give. Spending public money for schools, roads and bridges, and hospitals for example, which brings benefits to the people, is among the tasks a province is set out to do. Saving taxes does not benefit the people.
The days following these apparently contradicting views saw the Cebuanos in a somewhat bemused state. Of course, the Garcias and the Osmeñas, compete for political dominance and so it is understandable to hear of their long-drawn contrasts of opinions.
Let us praise Gov. Garcia for generating big revenue for the province. And we also have to thank former Sen. Osmeña for reminding the governor that such funds should ideally be appropriated for worthy projects.
I recall that few years ago, I wrote about the prospect of connecting Cebu City and Toledo City via the shortest route possible of only 45 kilometers. I referred to the completion of that road which construction was already begun somewhere in Bonbon down the valley of Barangay Babag, Cebu City. Per my earlier information, the former Cebuano senator nurtured it during the time of Ex-president Estrada. From Cebu City hall to where it has stopped, the concrete highway completed is almost 20 kilometers.
The western part of this road, located in Dumlog, Toledo City, has already run a 3-kilometer concrete stretch inward. Beyond that point, we have a dirt road of few kilometers. If Gov. Garcia decides to slash a part of her unprecedented revenue and spend enough to finish this highway connection, the amount needed will easily be compensated by the tangible benefits it will bring to the province. I like to believe that this project, if pushed through, will be the happy merger of the ideas of Gov. Gwen and Ex-Sen. Sonny. And the added bonus is the silencing of the Cebu City mayor’s errant tongue.
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Email: avenpiramide@yahoo.com.ph