CEBU, Philippines - Not achievements but “works in progress.â€
This is what Governor Hilario Davide III calls what he has done so far for the first 100 days of his being at the helm of the Cebu Provincial Capitol.
Davide, who said he did not even notice that 100 days have passed since he took over the Capitol last July 1, explained that he will only consider whatever he is doing for the province as achievements if he has delivered everything he promised to do during the campaign.
The governor said that everything he has done so far is aligned with the priorities of his administration, which are food security and improvement of health services.
For health services, Davide has ordered for a review of the current hiring process for the staff of provincial and district hospitals. He said the aim is to hire more nurses and doctors for the hospitals.
Also, Davide has been talking to the Department of Science and Technology for the RxBox project. He said the DOST has assured him that the province will be one of the recipients of the RxBox, a portable innovation of DOST’s Philippine Council on Health Research and Development that enables district and municipal hospitals to send, within a few minutes, specimen for laboratory analysis to the Philippine General Hospital. This device has been tagged as the future of public health care in the Philippines, particularly for hospitals far from the city.
Davide has reportedly asked the DOST to provide at least one of the 10 RxBoxes to the hospital in Bantayan or in Camotes.
To address food security and poverty alleviation, Davide has revived the Farmer-Scientists Training Program (FSTP), hiring back his uncle, Dr. Romulo Davide, who initiated the program years back to increase the production of corn in the province. The FSTP was later adopted as a national program under Executive Order 710 issued by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Former governor Gwen Garcia stopped getting the services of the FSTP founder as a consultant when his nephew, Governor Davide, first ran against her.
Meanwhile, Davide also approved the allocation of funds for the construction of 147 classrooms all over the province.
Provincial Planning and Development Office chief, Engr. Hector Jamora, said that construction is expected to start next year but the project still needs the approval of the Provincial Board, and also has to go through the bidding process. The municipalities where the two-classroom buildings will be constructed have, however, already been determined.
Jamora said each building is estimated to cost P1.1 million, which is a bit higher than the over P700,000 allocation for school buildings constructed by the previous administration. He, however, explained that in the previous years, the cost of cement was not included in the P700,000 allocation per school building.
Governor Davide has also approved plans to improve the facilities of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) to decongest the province-run facility, which has recently reached its maximum capacity.
It was also within Davide’s first 100 days that the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office held the first-ever local job fair exclusive for Persons with Disabilities.
Last month, the Provincial Board approved Davide’s proposal to donate 800 Capitol-owned multicabs to the different barangays in the province.
Apart from the priorities he promised during the start of his term, Davide said his projects are based on the results of the first-ever stakeholders summit held at the Capitol wherein representatives from various sectors, as well as chief executives of cities and municipalities in the province, gathered to discuss concerns that the provincial government should focus on.
“There are still a lot of challenges and we are ready to face each and every challenge that will come our way. In the first place we are here really to fulfill our mandate to serve,†Davide said. —/QSB
(FREEMAN)