Guv hikes infrastructure budget to P250K per councilor

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia increased the infrastructure project allocation for members of the Philippine Councilors League-Cebu Chapter from P200,000 each last year to P250,000 this year.

The governor’s pronouncement, however, was limited to only 562 councilors who were present during the PCL Cebu year-end general assembly held recently.

The sum total of infrastructure allocation by the Provincial Government for each councilor who was present amounted to P140.5 million.

PCL Cebu Chapter, headed this term by Toledo City Councilor Nick Pepito, is the formal organization of all the municipal and city councilors in the province. As president of PCL-Cebu Chapter, Pepito is an ex-officio member of the Provincial Board.

The governor noted that it has become the practice among councilors of some LGUs to pool together their infrastructure allocation and decide on one or two projects with which to spend the funds on.

The governor cited the Municipality of Tudela, which was able to construct a children’s park worth P3 million from the funds from the Provincial Government to Mayor Greman “Jojo” Solante and his councilors.

“These funds have changed the landscape of the Province of Cebu, kay didto gidapat sa infra,” the governor said in her speech, as she added in jest that she would have to avoid attending general assemblies of municipal and city officials because these have become too “expensive” for the provincial government.

“It will never be expensive if the funds are well-spent for the benefit of the people,”  the governor said in Sugbo News, the official Facebook page of the Provincial Government.

Among other officials who attended the event were Cebu Representatives Duke Frasco (fifth district), Pablo John Garcia (third district), and Edsel Galeos (second district), as well as Undersecretary Terence Calatrava of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas and Acting Cebu City Mayor Raymond Garcia. — (FREEMAN)