To our esteemed City Councilors, department heads, barangay captains, civil society partners, fellow workers in government, and fellow Dakbayanong Sugbuanon, maayong butag.
Thank you for being here today as we mark the close of a book that has largely been two-chaptered.
After two terms at the City Council, I was elected Vice Mayor in May of 2022 with the highest number of votes ever earned by a local candidate for any position in Cebu City.
I have never taken this vote of confidence for granted.
As your former Vice Mayor and now outgoing Mayor, I have worked with intensity and fervor to deliver tangible results that uplift lives and strengthen communities.
My mission was simple: to provide stable leadership to the Sangguniang Panlungsod, steer it towards ensuring RESULTA, and provide strong support to everyone in government so we could collectively work for the betterment of the people of Cebu City.
Responsiveness. Education. Settlements. Urban Development. Livelihood. Transportation. Advancement.
During our watch, we did our utmost so that the Sangguniang Panlungsod could acquire all the tools needed to facilitate the completion of its deliverables, including making sure all councilors are issued service vehicles, office equipment, consultants and adequate staffing.
Ang RESULTA: the Sangguniang Panlungsod continued to become a bastion of law-making that sustained not only the socio-economic and socio-political concerns of the city and its inhabitants, but also of history, culture, the arts, and of urban development that did not sacrifice sustainability of the environment.
We created the Cebu City Heritage District and Heritage Council, instituted the Order of Rajah Tupas, the Cebu Heritage Awards, the Sugbuanong Bahandi awards, and passed the law that declared every month of August as Cebu City Arts Month.
We ensure the sustainable use of the coastline and the city’s waterfront, began the work that eventually led to the establishment of the Cebu City Marine Protected Area, drafted and then facilitated the passing of the law creating the Cebu City Animal Welfare Council and the establishment of animal welfare desks in police stations.
We approved the budget – allocation of amounts never before seen – without ever having to raise taxes.
But this chapter was cut short due to circumstances that was beyond my control.
When I assumed office in an acting capacity in May 2024 – and as full-fledged mayor in October – I did so not by ambition, but by duty; the duty to obey the lawful orders of duly constituted authorities to avoid a vacuum in the city’s leadership.
But although things were happening too fast and all unplanned, I nevertheless made a conscious and solemn commitment: to make use of the time I had – from May 2024 to June 2025 – to transform the RESULTA vision from policy into action.
Responsiveness has been our compass.
We took on the challenge of the decades-old 93-1 issue and arranged for a way that would have allowed families who failed to avail the terms of the original contract to deal directly with the legal land owner and secure their rights over their homes.
We assisted and provided the much-needed documents to the residents of 93-1 enabling them to avail of a PAGIBIG loan.
We reengaged the Cebu Ports Authority to try and resolve a deadlock over something that could have provided economic opportunities for the people, as well as the Metropolitan Cebu Water District, which is now providing water access to our upland barangays.
And we listened—to vendors, to fisherfolk, to the youth, our employees, and our stakeholders —to ensure that governance remained grounded in the people’s voice.
We returned the Sinulog to its original venue and, for the first time, the financial assistance to our senior citizens and our PWDs, and the salaries of our own workers, with valid appointments, is released on time.
Education was not just a promise.
Establishing a Cebu City College was our goal; one that the new administration, I hope, will consider bringing to fruition.
In the meantime, found a new home to the Cebu City Medical Center College of Nursing, one that they can proudly call their own.
We broke ground on the construction of five new four-story, twenty-classroom school buildings – one in San Jose, two in Labangon, one in Duljo-Fatima, and one in Tisa, approved the purchase school supplies and PE uniforms that the next administration can now distribute.
We provided Wi-Fi in 29 public schools to date, which I hope the next administration will expand further, and to Plaza Sugbo and Plaza Independencia.
Moreover, there is over ₱2.5 billion in the Special Education Fund for the next administration. These resources are earmarked to further uplift our youth and strengthen our public schools.
On Settlements, we aligned with the national 4PH program and prioritized city-owned lands for housing,
More importantly, we laid the groundwork for sustainable, inclusive shelter solutions that offer affordable terms through Pag-IBIG, with no down payment, and a monthly amortization subsidized by the government.
We signed a Memorandum of Agreement that would bring about a Cebu City Residential Park in Barangay Pulangbato that will give rise to 3,054 housing units across 19 mid-rise buildings for families displaced by demolitions, those in danger zones, and OFWs with families in Cebu City.
In Urban Development, we declared the downtown area—including Carbon Market—a heritage district through Ordinance 2720. The Heritage Council is now finalizing guidelines to ensure that development respects our cultural roots.
We preserved our identity while investing in slope protection, drainage, and biodiversity. We approved the commissioning of a study that will eventually lead to a Cebu City Drainage Masterplan which the new administration can pursue.
We conducted massive cleanup drives, participated by people who came in numbers never before seen.
We issued executive orders establishing the first and only marine sanctuary in Cebu City, worked hard to protect our mangrove habitats, and institutionalized trash traps to make sure our rivers are clean.
We finished and approved Cebu City’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance which now becomes our development direction and trajectory. The last time we had a land use plan was in 1995, during the time of my father.
Livelihood was strengthened through livelihood support programs sustained by sound fiscal management on our part.
As of this year, Cebu City holds ₱12.1 billion in cash assets: ₱7.9 billion in the General Fund, ₱1.5 billion in the Trust Fund, ₱2.5 billion in the Special Education Fund, and over $2.2 million in dollar accounts.
We achieved this without implementing Tax rates that would have negatively affected our employers and tax payers.
We are turning over a city with zero debt and enough reserves to sustain operations for the foreseeable future.
On Transportation, we worked with the Department of Transportation to ensure that the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit project continues despite the view of the Cebu Capitol building.
We secured the road right of way that will pave further the way for the project’s eventual completion.
We procured tow trucks and improved the mobility of our traffic personnel. “Carmageddon”, we hope, will never happen again.
We also advocated for intermodal systems that move people efficiently while preserving our identity and pursued underground cabling that does away with our long-time problem of spaghetti wires that are fire hazards.
And in Advancing Governance, we ensured that government services became faster, more transparent, and more citizen-centered.
We also brought healthcare closer to the people. We allocated P30 million for maintenance medicine, which will breathe new life to the Preventive Healthcare and Medicines Program.
The Apas Super Health Center is operational. The Guba Hospital has new laboratory equipment , a new x-ray machine and a dedicated medical director to oversee all operations.
The Cebu City Medical Center is now under contract for completion from the third to seventh floors.
Today, I stand before you not only to report what we have done, but also to affirm that we are turning over a city that is fiscally sound, socially responsive, and institutionally stronger.
This is the RESULTA: A city with zero utang, with efficient systems particularly in revenue collection and ease-of-doing business, with sufficient resources for meaningful projects, programs, and initiatives, and with a clear and feasible roadmap for the future.
As I step down, I do so with confidence that Cebu City is in a stronger, more resilient position.
And to the next administration, I leave not just a city in a position of strength and sound fiscal health, and foundation and scaffolds built on integrity, action, and the unwavering belief that public service is a sacred trust.
Daghang salamat, Dakbayan sa Sugbo. Padayon ta sa serbisyo.
To my colleagues in the City Council, to our civil servants, and to my fellow candidates—thank you for your service and your commitment to Cebu. Let us continue to work together, wherever we may be and whatever our circumstance, for the good of our city.
To my worthy opponents, thank you for elevating the discourse. We gave the Cebuanos real choices.
To my family—my wife Kate and daughter Lexie, my dad Alvin and mom Ninette —thank you for your sacrifices, your strength, and your unwavering belief in me.
To the people of Cebu: thank you for being part of this incredible journey. I am proud of what we have achieved together. I leave office not with regret, but with hope—hope that the next chapter for Cebu City will be even brighter.
I remain, as always, your humble servant.
Fiscal management is the backbone of effective governance. It ensures that public funds are allocated efficiently, transparently, and responsibly, to meet the needs of our constituents.
In Cebu City, as in other Local Government Units, fiscal management plays a crucial role in funding essential social services such as livelihood support, infrastructure development, healthcare, education, and environmental conservation.
This is why our administration, which resolved earlier on to not increase our taxes, was very conservative in our budgeting, thorough in our collection, and, despite insinuation to the contrary, very circumspect in our spending.
The recent acknowledgement of the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) 7 that Cebu City is number 1 among all Local Government Units in Central Visayas in local revenue generation and number three in year-on-year growth is a validation of our sound financial stewardship.
And, on a personal note, the BLGF’s conferring unto me the Maharlika Award for Outstanding Public Servant, in recognition of our exceptional service and unwavering commitment in the field of leadership, management and local finance, is a vindication against adverse insinuations and comments.
According to the BLGF, Cebu City, in 2024, collected a total of P5,986,955,338.90 in locally-sourced revenues.
This, in turn, represented a 25.84 percent year-on-year growth for Cebu City.
For those who might not be so familiar, the BLGF is a unit under the Department of Finance.
It is tasked with assisting in the formulation and execution of policies on local taxation, real property valuation/assessments, and the conduct of the financial affairs of the local governments, and Local Government Units are bound to follow their policies.
We understand that without sound financial stewardship, even the most ambitious development plans can falter, leaving communities underserved and progress stagnant.
We also recognize that good governance and fiscal responsibility are intertwined.
And for us to be recognized for exceptional service and unwavering commitment in the field of leadership, management and local finance is to be recognized for advancing good governance and showing fiscal responsibility.
I trust that the incoming administration will continue the gains we have started for sound fiscal management. We have paved the way for them to continue and improve.
Lastly, I share this award with the employees of the Cebu City Government, especially the City Treasurer’s Office and the City Assessor’s Office for the hardwork and unwavering commitment.
Daghang salamat ug maayong buntag.
Oath-taking
As the May 2025 elections edges even closer, my team and I have been crisscrossing Cebu City to give the good news of what we’ve so far accomplished, give word of what we have planned for the continued development of our beloved Cebu City, and to ask for support.
I want to take the added opportunity to write here to you who have not been able to attend our gatherings, in an attempt to do the same.
The job of being the chief local executive for Cebu City was thrust unto me only in May of last year, when I became Acting Mayor. I ascended to the official position last October.
Both were not of my own choosing. And to be perfectly honest, I was content being vice mayor, having been elected into the position with 283,235 votes – the highest number of votes given to any person who has run for any public position in the history of Cebu City elections.
But part of the oath of office that I took when I became your vice mayor was to “faithfully discharge to the best of my ability, the duties of my present position.”
And this, by law, includes to “automatically exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the local chief executive” in cases where the local chief executive is temporarily incapacitated.
Thus, I took to the task at hand. And in the less than a year I have held the duty of mayor, with the help of a dedicated team of like-minded elected and appointed individuals, we accomplished tasks that, I hope, warrants your continued support.
The first six months
Palarong Pambansa 2024
We were able to implement sound fiscal policies that prevented budget overruns in our repair of the Cebu City Sports Complex and unnecessary expenses in our hosting of the Palarong Pambansa.
This left us with adequate resources to invest in healthcare infrastructure which includes opening the super health center in Barangay Apas, expanding the Guba Community Hospital into a primary hospital, and taking further steps at operationalizing the Cebu City Medical Center.
Guba Community Hospital
Moreover, it provided us the impetus to look at other processes and procedures within the City Government that, in turn, led to the streamlining of systems in other offices like the City Assessors’ Office, and the Office of the Building Official, whereupon documents that used to take months to processes are now released within a day or two.
This gained us the trust of the wider community and, coupled with our belief in diplomacy and in working together to achieve mutually-beneficial solutions to shared problems, improved our working relationship with other agencies like MCWD and CPA.
Water supply commissioning
This, in turn, allowed for shared initiatives that are now bearing fruit – water connectivity to mountain barangays through commissioned pipelines and mobile siphoning facilities for us and MCWD, benefitting countless individuals in the upland who’ve never had piped water before.
And between us and the CPA, our meeting of the minds removes the last obstacles for the Carbon Market Redevelopment.
This, coupled with strengthened protection for stall holders and ambulant vendors through valid lease contracts, will benefit countless individuals through opportunities for viable micro and small businesses, as well as meaningful and dignified labor.
I am the mayor who listens to people. And the more I listen the more I am convinced that the advancement of Cebu City rests not on the shoulders of the few but on the hard work of ordinary individuals – KUGI USWAG SUGBO.
So, it became imperative to me that my mayorship – if only as acting mayor for six months — would be one dedicated to providing opportunities for ordinary individuals and removing the obstacles that hinder their development and growth.
Ascension for the remainder of the term
When the six months were up, I was informed by DILG that I would have to continue discharging the function and ascend as mayor of the City of Cebu until the end of the term, with the dismissal of mayor Mike Rama from service for nepotism and misconduct and, months later, for violations of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act.
My family was all but demonized by former allies. We were blamed for allegedly orchestrating the dismissal even though the actions that led to the filing of administrative and criminal complaints that led to the outcome were not of our own making.
I kept silent so as to be able to focus on work and not be dragged into lengthy and unproductive mudslinging. And, ultimately because of that hard and painful choice, we were able to continue doing good work for the benefit of our constituents.
We were able to, with our professional and productive relationship with the Provincial Government and Pag-Ibig, facilitate a mechanism whereupon individual occupants of the titled land covered in Provincial Ordinance 93-1 could finally and lawfully acquire lot ownership.
We were able to provide livelihood support for thousands of individuals seeking work, even as we strengthened our own placement service for job seekers. We were also able to provide livelihood assistance to our coastline barangays, where our poorest-of-the-poor are concentrated.
We advanced the opportunities for our youth, LGBTQ+, and other sectors to meaningfully participate in governance by, among other initiatives, activating our various government boards.
We created short-term solutions to the perennial problem of flooding not only by continuing to clear our easement areas, and fixing roads and drainage systems, but also through massive dredging, declogging, and desilting operations on our rivers and creeks, as well as cleanups that went beyond catchy slogans and acronyms.
Equally important, we initiated long-term solutions by leveraging aid agencies to create a up-to-date masterplan for our waterways, activated our rivers management and septage management councils, and started the steps to procure a wastewater treatment facility that will allow us to reuse the water that would otherwise just flow directly into the sea while we complain of water shortage.
And to reward the individual workers of City Hall that helped us in this regard and more, we facilitated the regularization of 386 individuals within our ranks, regardless of political affiliation.
Lessons from the past
How we were able to accomplish what we did in such a short time after having been so unceremoniously thrust into the executive, is because of opportunities of service that was presented to us in the past as vice mayor and as a two-term city councilor.
As vice mayor, one is expected to serve as the spare tire to the executive. The tasks and resources assigned to us reflect our “spare” nature. Yet, this pushed us to be more creative in looking for ways to serve our public, leading to our RESULTA paradigm.
We leveraged the legislative power of the Sangguniang Panlungsod to be Responsive to the needs of the executive and the socio-economic concerns of our constituents.
Getting to know with Scholars
We committed ourselves to advancing Education opportunities of the socio-economically disadvantaged by authoring the ordinance that would establish the Cebu City College, bolstered support for our scholarship program, and facilitated the continuance of our program to distribute free school supplies to public school pupils.
We focused on enabling a truly socialized and equitable system for Settlements or housing not only for 93-1 occupants but for socialized housing beneficiaries occupying private lands within Cebu City and ordinary individuals looking for turnkey opportunities for housing.
We dedicated ourselves to the Urban Development that does not sacrifice the sustainability of our environment, the health of all living things, the protection of our culture, identity, and heritage, and the state of our agriculture and food security assigning personnel and resources to coastal resource management that has seen so much improvement.
We were resolute in facilitating Livelihood opportunities which has not seen thousands of beneficiaries and a nationally-recognized Placement and Employment Services Office.
We were steadfast in addressing the behemoth task of ensuring that people and goods are able to go to where they need to go in the fastest and most convenient way possible by exploring intermodal systems of Transportation that is not limited to BRT but also to pedestrianization.
And we were unwavering in Advancing the participation and representation of civil society in governance by giving space for meaningful engagement, empowerment, dialogue, exchange of ideas and consensus-building, which can lead us towards jointly facilitating, designing, and implementing more effective responses to needs of our city.
Pari-an Clock Tower
We passed the law that created our Cebu City Heritage District and Cebu City Heritage District Council. We celebrated Cebuano artists by expanding our commemoration into the Cebu City Arts Month. And we highlighted the awesomeness of Cebuanos in public service by institutionalizing the annual Rajah Tupas Awards.
Internally, we moved to reward the silent drivers of service inside City Hall – the often-ignored contract-of-service personnel who, by law, are not qualified to receive bonuses despite the hard work that they rendered by authorizing their receipt of gratuitous pay.
“How we are as a society can be judged by the way our animals are treated”
We created the Animal Welfare Council on the firm belief that how we are as a society can be judged by the way our animals are treated.
We likewise rendered free legal assistance to no less than 27,445 individuals, mostly victims of disasters who need legal documents to access assistance.
Service that benefits the people
All of the things we’ve done, we are doing, and we are about to do, are anchored on one simple commitment I have to myself when I joined the city government in 2016 – to be of service to those who need government service the most – the ordinary people.
I managed to pass 43 ordinances, 3,320 resolutions, and authored 330 committee reports in two terms – almost half of it sidelined as a member of the minority – because these were ordinances, resolutions and reports that people needed to be passed.
I passed the two ordinances that would extend the validity of business permits to two years and granting amnesty to those who’ve been delinquent in the payment of local taxes because not doing so makes life difficult for our small business owners who employ people.
School supplies for government pupils
We gave gratuity pay to retired barangay employees because we want to incentivize people who work in our barangays because our barangays are the real frontline office when it comes to serving people in our communities.
We also passed the ordinance that gave free school supplies to public elementary pupils so that parents wouldn’t have to be burdened by having to buy school supplies for their school-aged children.
All these we did, we did to the best of our ability, and for the benefit of our constituency, the best of our city, and in line with our principle of meaningful public service to all. And with your help and support, we can continue on towards this trajectory of growth and development together.
Daghan kaayong’ salamat ninyong tanan.
Maayong “Adlaw sa Pamuo” alang ugma, May 1, 2025!
I would like to especially pay tribute to our workers for making progress possible for our beloved city. For while investments power our economic engine, it is the hands of the workers that move its gears.
But there are those who are still looking for work.
That is why I am happy to announce nga ugmang adlawa adunay job fair nga ipahigayon ang Department of Labor and Employment-7, in partnership sa atoang Department of Manpower Development and Placement, or DMDP.
Mahitabo ang “123rd Labor Day Job Fair” sa Mountain Wing Atrium sa SM Seaside City sa South Road Properties, with registration and pre-screening of applicants happening from 8 a.m. ngadto na sa 10:30 in the morning.
This will be participated in by 35 companies, nga naggikan sa retail and wholesale, food, business process outsourcing, electronic, accommodation, ug uban pa nga mga sektor sa atong business industry.
These companies have 3,743 vacancies, nga if ma-fill up means almost 4,000 of our people gaining economic empowerment.
And at 10 a.m. this Friday, May 2, adunay orientation for applicants of “Jobstart Philippines” at the DMDP Training Hall sa Ramos Public Market in Brgy. Cogon Ramos.
Akong giawhag ang tanan natong constituents nga nag-edad og 18 to 24 and are currently jobless to join and apply.
This is an opportunity for them to kickstart their career through this youth employability program, which the national government is implementing through the Department of Labor and Employment.
Ang mapili-an will have free life skills training, career guidance and employment coaching, and actual company internships. Anaa sab silay allowance while undergoing training and internship.
Those who are interested to join the orientation are advised to bring their birth certificate or any government-issued ID and, kung naa sila, their diploma and transcript of records.
The job fair and the Jobstart program will link our people with potential employers and upscale their skill sets. Nagpakita sab kini nga ang atong administrasyon naglakip sa iyang flagship programs the reduction of the city’s unemployment rate by providing more job acquisition opportunities for its people.
That is why the City, tungod sa mga programa ilawom sa DMDP, was awarded recently for having the top-performing Public Employment Service Office, or PESO, in Central Visayas.
The City was recognized for having held the most number of job fairs, for having the most number of career development and support programs, and for having the best employment facilitation programs and services.
Sama sa akong gisulti during the flag-raising ceremony last Monday, the recognition is “a true testament of our true dedication to uplift lives through accessible employment services, youth employment initiatives, and the holistic career development of our constituents.”
What I can assure the Cebuanos, at this point, is that atong palig-onon pa ang mga programa sa City Hall alang sa panarbaho. And with the cooperation ninyong tanan, dili na imposible.
Dili ko mopasalig og bisan unsa pa except nga, as mayor, I will work hard for my people, especially in diminishing joblessness in the city, and makasalig sila nga basta molihok si Raymond Alvin Garcia, resulta ang garantiya!
ATTY. RAYMOND ALVIN GARCIA
Cebu City Mayor
There’s a six-year-old article in Graphic Philippines that posed a question nga akong I paraphrase. Sa modernong panahon karon, duna pa bay lugar for a Jose Rizal?
Sa akong tan-aw, to some of those nga ka-edad niya karon were he still alive (he died at 35 years old 128 years, one month and six days ago as of this writing), maybe dili na.
Maybe, para nila, mas relevant pa seguro ang uban natong historical figures who fought with guns and sword against the tyrant Spaniards of the day.
But naa pud seguro’y uban, and I count myself among them, who see that today’s contemporary incidents of tyranny happen chiefly because of the unawareness of the people that tyrants seek to victimize.
At a time where gabaha ang information, misinformation and mal-information, and where communication is instantaneous, sayon kaayo ang pagpanlinlang, pagpanglawgaw, pagpanuis, ug pagpanglimbong.
And if one is unaware, one is easily victimized.
Take for example the way some ill-intentioned people highjack the conversation on social justice, where government, for example your city government, seeks to infuse financial support to those earning below the income threshold.
One can look at the intended infusion two ways – as capital for a microenterprise, or as resource to access work opportunities. Gasto pud baya mangaply og trabaho; and impossible maka megosyo ang walay puhunan.
But this is ridiculed either as promoting the “ayuda” mentality. As if government resources are better off unspent and declared as savings, rather than being infused back into the economy.
Ang pag infuse og tabang sa baga kaayo nato nga batikang sektor helps improve their spending, which in turn drives growth because it creates demands for goods and services, guides investment decisions, and drives government policies.
I hope I still make my professors sa University of Asia and the Pacific proud.
Rizal fought tyrants with words and stories. And though he died for it, his revolution lived on. And we remember him ‘till today.
Angayan natong lingion and honor the life and legacy of Rizal, not only because he said so — “ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinangagalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan” – but also because we need to.
His profound wisdom – realizing the way that he did that the real battlefield is the battlefield of the mind and that the truest weapons are words and stories – and his value of having the courage to speak the truth, are especially relevant to this day.
And as the host city of the 24th International Assembly of Knight of Rizal, dako kaayo nako nga honor ang mahimong guest of honor sa wreath-laying ceremony ganina dinhi sa Cebu City Hall.
Akong gidasig ang tanan to remain steadfast in upholding Dr. Jose Rizal’s ideals. Let us honor Rizal not only in ceremony, let us honor him in action. Action dayun maoy importante by living out his example in our daily lives.
I have the duty of formally assuming today the position of Mayor of the City of Cebu, in compliance to a lawful directive of the Department of Interior and Local Government and pursuant to a decision of the Office of the Ombudsman.
I do not take this lightly because the Office to which I assume comes with the heavy responsibility of service and commitment to the welfare and betterment of the the people of Cebu City.
But I have been fulfilling this responsibility and discharging the functions of the Mayor of the City of Cebu since May. Thus, our people can remain confident that it will be business as usual and there will be no disruption in our service to the public.
We will continue to act on the concerns and needs of the people. The problems of the City of Cebu needs to be solved and we plan to continue what we have started.
There will be changes — and we have been instituting changes since May — but, in the same way we did it then, it will not be abrupt.
For the remainder of the term that I will assume, I shall focus on health. Importante kaayo nga mahuman nato ang atong Cebu City Medical Center because it has been in such a sorry state for the last couple of years.
As we progress with the construction of the CCMC, kon unsay mahuman, atong ablihan dayon.
As regards programs that are carry-overs, some — like the program to control the flooding problem that exists in some areas and housing — will continue, but there are many things that will also need to be revised and new ones to be instituted.
As regards the relationship of between the Executive and Legislative, I do not foresee any problems. I am in constant communication with the incumbent councilors and we collaborate on what needs to be done.
Cebu City is in good hands and will remain so with your support.
Twice before, since my election as Vice Mayor of the City of Cebu in 2022, have I stood before this august body and rendered my report of what we as the Sangguniang Panlungsod has done for the year that was and then set our policy-making direction for the year that is to be.
I feel wistful having to yield that task today to Acting Vice Mayor Dondon Hontiveros, my friend for many years, especially because the past two years have been among the most meaningful years of my professional life as a civil servant.
Together, as one Sanggunian, we passed meaningful ordinances and conveyed, through our resolutions, are collective thought and position on matters of tremendous importance.
Working together, we passed, among other important measures, the ordinance creating the Heritage District of Cebu and formulating the Heritage District Council; we worked to institutionalize the Sangguniang Panlungsod Day and the Order of Rajah Tupas, the highest award the Sanggunian can confer a Cebuano; the Cebu Heritage Awards, to promote the importance of preserving the heritage and the cultural treasures of Cebu; and the Sugbuanong Bahandi” awards, to recognize Cebu’s masters and inspire upcoming ones, and declared every month of August as Cebu City Arts Month.
Similarly, though our stands may differ on certain things, we have always been bound by our common and all-encompassing goal, which is working for what we feel and know is for the best or our constituency in the City of Cebu.
This goal, I believed then as strongly as I believe now, ties us together and makes us true equals – each of us primus inter pares – despite our differing party affiliations.
This equality was what drove my decision then, as it drives my conviction now, to facilitate that all members of council, regardless of affinity, should have all the tools — service vehicles, office equipment, and adequate staffing – needed to facilitate the completion of all our deliverables.
This has made the 16th Sangguniang Panlungsod a bastion of law-making that sustains not only the socio-economic and socio-political concerns of the city and its inhabitants, but also for the preservation of our history, culture, and identity, the arts, and of urban development that does not sacrifice sustainability of the environment.
The 16th Sangguniang Panlungsod has delivered what it has been mandated by law to bring forth: well-crafted legislation that uplifts the lives of our constituents.
But, as was my oath when I took office alongside all the members of the 16th Sangguniang Panlungsod in 2022, to “faithfully discharge to the best of my ability, the duties of my present position”, which include to “automatically exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the local chief executive” in cases where the local chief executive is temporarily incapacitated, I have to come to you today under a provisionally different capacity and purpose.
Nevertheless, I remain committed with you in seeing, through-and-through, our RESULTA vision, the vision that we rallied behind here in the Legislative, and the vision I hope you will support as I bring it to the Executive.
It is imperative that we remain: RESPONSIVE to the needs of our constituency; committed to advancing EDUCATION opportunities of the socio-economically disadvantaged; focused on enabling a truly socialized and equitable system for SETTLEMENTS or housing; dedicated to URBAN DEVELOPMENT that does not sacrifice the sustainability of our environment, the health of all living things, the protection of our culture, identity, and heritage, and the state of our agriculture and food security; resolute in facilitating LIVELIHOOD and opportunities for meaningful, viable, and dignified labor; steadfast in addressing the behemoth task of ensuring that people and goods are able to go to where they need to go in the fastest and most convenient way possible by exploring intermodal systems of mass TRANSPORTATION; and, unwavering in ADVANCING the participation and representation of civil society in governance by giving space for meaningful engagement, empowerment, dialogue, exchange of ideas and consensus-building, which can lead us towards jointly facilitating, designing, and implementing more effective responses to needs of our city.
I said this as vice mayor then and I say it as acting mayor now, RESULTA ang GARANTIYA.
Much has been reported of the actions we’ve undertaken in the almost two months I have been acting mayor.
Suffice it is to say that, for the remaining months, we shall continue to be responsive to the needs of our constituency in the manner that has served us well the last two months – with diplomacy.
Through diplomacy, we managed a meaningful dialogue with the MCWD; dialogue that is poised to bear the fruit of water connection to the mountain barangays, thereby responding to the needs of constituents in the uplands.
Through diplomacy, we have brought the Cebu Ports Authority back into the negotiating table and closer to resolving the dispute involving three properties that, when managed, enables us to respond to the need for livelihood opportunities for hundreds of people, we well as revenue for the city.
Through diplomacy, we come meaningfully closer to finally resolving the 93-1 issue, which means responding to the needs of the many Cebu City residents who are occupying province-owned lots and who have been trying, since 1993, to lawfully acquire these.
Furthermore, through diplomacy, we may yet unlock an opportunity for the many others who are occupying lands not part of 93-1 but declared as socialized housing sites, and others who are occupying province owned lots not yet declared as for-socialized-housing-use.
But alongside being diplomatic in our ways, we shall also be resolute in our desire to be responsive to the needs of the rest of our constituency. The public shouldn’t be made to wait for public service and those of us in public service must, at all times, be willing to provide service beyond self.
In this vein, and manifested in the simplest of things like our now-shorter flag ceremonies so that people lining up at our frontline offices on Mondays get served a bit sooner, we will continue to emphasize efficiency in government service.
We will continue to streamline the city’s processes in the manner consistent with how we streamlined the services of our City Assessor’s Office.
We will continue to observe the sound fiscal management you saw us employ for the upcoming Palaro, despite our considerable financial reach.
We will make sure that we spend only what needs to be spent to gain the maximum quality of service for our constituents, even as we recognize that public service is a public trust and involves the critical responsibility of managing and utilizing taxpayer funds, requiring transparency, accountability, and efficiency, for the benefit of society.
We shall continue harnessing technology to facilitate improvement. I have directed the adoption of new technologies in our issuance of IDs for Persons with Disabilities, which also doubles as pilot testing for a wider rollout that now includes our senior citizens.
On responsiveness to the healthcare needs of our constituents, we will continue with the direction of bringing health-focused infrastructure to the communities, similar to how we operationalized the mothballed Apas Super Health Center, which we recently inaugurated after two years of non-use, and the Guba hospital which, in a few weeks, we will also be inaugurating.
This resoluteness of purpose we will also continue to apply to the biggest investment Cebu City has made as far as healthcare facilities go – the Cebu City Medical Center – that, for the last 10 years, has only been granularly operational.
On education, we shall continue our work towards finally establishing the Cebu City College and build it, ground up, to be an institution of higher learning for our constituents. The ordinance is up for third reading and I pray that my colleagues here will take the cudgels to ensure its passage.
On settlements, we shall pivot our efforts towards developing properties which Cebu City already owns and then leverage national government programs like President Bongbong Marcos’s 4PH initiative.
While we held a groundbreaking for the South Coastal Urban Development Project, many parcels of land included in the proposed site are privately owned. Mobilizing the time, effort, and resource towards its acquisition, vis-à-vis the fact that there are lands that we presently own, may prove itself a gargantuan waste of time.
On urban development, Cebu City will continue its thrust towards socio-economic growth but shall take great pains to ensure that development does not sacrifice equally-important indicators such as sustainability and livability.
We need to restructure our strategy on the management of waterways and runoff and consider the plans and direction of neighboring, LGUs because flooding is a shared problem that requires shared solutions.
We can improve our drainage all we want. But if that improvement is not at par with our neighbors, we only migrate the problem elsewhere, or invite their problem here.
We have waged a war on flooding but flooding is a mere symptom of mismanagement of what is otherwise a crucial resource.
We will continue to capacitate and equip our frontline workers so that the solutions and initiatives the propose will consider the cause, not merely the effect.
We shall continue our efforts towards biodiversity protection, coastal resource management, climate resilience, and attaining food security, while working to uplift the lives of our farmers and our fisherfolks, as vigorously as we work to uplift the lives of our urban poor.
On transportation, we shall continue to explore other intermodal systems of mass transport and find the best fit for Cebu City. We are thankful for the presence of urban planning experts who are ready, willing, and able to assist us in this regard.
The BRT is a divisive issue, but the tension the topic causes is merely an indicator that (1) everyone is invested in resolving this major concern; (2) people have become aware that we cannot simply cut-and-paste a solution that worked in Curitiba, Brazil, to solve a Cebu City problem; and, (3) maintaining a status-quo ante on transportation modalities vis-à-vis a Cebu City that is growing year-on-year will not work.
On livelihood, we shall strengthen our continuing and continuous effort towards the establishment of a Creative District, as this brings opportunities to those looking for jobs in the creative sector – filmmaking, animation, digital arts, and the like.
The creative district shall be a major economic driver for Cebu City, in the same way the IT park was when it was begun by my father, the former mayor Alvin B. Garcia.
But we shall do this while continuing to preserve our history, heritage, identity, and culture, by also operationalizing what we have so far established with the passage of our ordinance establishing Cebu City’s heritage district and heritage district council.
And we ensure success by advancing inclusive governance and ensuring the participation of all sectors in consensus-building and decision-making.
We further ensure success by moving away from insular thinking that one person possesses the proverbial panacea of all woes. This is why I have, since my first day as acting mayor, tapped members of this august body as overseers of executive offices.
This room has experts in various fields – revenue generation, infrastructure, livelihood generation, the environment, technology, social welfare, agriculture, etc. And it would be such a waste if their expertise will not be leveraged.
And we ensure success, finally, by rallying behind the same vision – that of ensuring good, tangible results for our constituents. Because, Resulta ang atong Garantiya.
We directed today the Department of General Services to, in the exigency of service, revoke the fuel allocation of all Cebu City Government vehicles.
The fuel allocation for vehicles assigned to our barangays and other government agencies is also covered by the revocation, which is contained in Memorandum No. 16-2024-0271-AM.
There will be no disruption of government service because the fuel allocation intended for emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire trucks, and garbage trucks, as well as vehicles assigned to the Sangguniang Panlungsod, is not touched by the memorandum.
However, no new fuel allocation shall be given to government vehicles without the approval of my office. And those who wish to avail of fuel allocation can make a request letter stating the intended use of the vehicle and the volume of fuel needed.
This is not the first time the City Government has had to revoke the fuel allocation of government vehicles to allow itself the opportunity to look at how resources are being used, vis-a-vis how it needs to be utilized. Likewise, systems are in place to assess and address subsequent requests for fuel.
