Gov. Davide’s Year One Report: Creating More Opportunities, Sharing the Benefits

Cebu Provincial Governor Hilario Davide III on Monday delivered his first ‘report to the people’ in the session hall of the Provincial Legislative Bldg., Capitol Compound, Cebu City.

In his report to the people, which was also called as his version of the popularized and glamorized state of the province address (SOPA) by his predecessor, the governor reviewed his campaign roadmap whose ultimate goal, he said, was to improved living conditions of the countryside.

In his 40-minute speech, Davide banked on active sectoral participation, transparency and accountability, as tools for accomplishing his “Development Agenda.”

Opening his speech that bears the Liberal Party’s combative anti-poverty stance- Inclusive Growth Thru Shared Benefits and Responsibility- the governor shattered the loud applause in the session hall when he uttered his winning campaign trademark: “I believe in Change.”

The calm but seemingly tense lawyer moves on to recall his campaign battle-cry thru the stakeholders summit, which he himself promised during his campaign trail in 2013 elections.

2013 Triple Whammy

Not only cutting short his priority programs, Davide said the 2013 calamities (in reference to typhoon Yolanda in November, Ship collision in August and the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in October) tested his capacity as a neophyte governor. But with strong partnership with volunteer groups, civil society, foreign governments and NGOs, the humble governor takes pride over the inspiring words of Margareta Wahlstrom, UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, where it called Manila to adopt the “best practices” of model local government units like Cebu.

Clad in simplistic yet elegant jusi barong, the father of the province moves on to describe Wahlstroms words as a “Grand slam statement-a shining testament for Cebuanos resiliency, and effective performance of a rookie administration.

In a sudden change of medium, to probably connect with the common people whom he expects to listen to his one year report, Davide said:

“Padayon ta sa pagpalig-on sa atung mga panimalay ug mga barangay. Nalipay kita sa P12.2 Billion rehabilitation plan approved for Cebu Province by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery.” Davide said.

Apan mas malipayon kitang tanan ug natukod na ang mga balay, nibalik na ang mga panginabuhi sa atung mga kaigsuonan, ug mas lig-on na ang pagbantay sa kalamidad nga dili kalikayan,” he added.

Ending his recall on his road map chart, Davide freshens the P231 milliom financial assistance given to barangays and towns used for their various priority projects. As part of his desire to empower the barangays and municipal officials, the governor said the funds were directly disbursed to the barangays and towns for installation and repair of water systems, rehabilitation of local halls, health centers, day cares and for road concreting.

With the aid of a Powerpoint application, the monotone-speaking public servant enhances his audience’ attention with action-packed multi-colored photos of Capitol operations, and goes on to recount his accomplishment during his first 365 days in office.

Some Highlights of Gov. Davide’s Report to the People:

Health and Social Services

– Executive order No. 1 created a team to fast track the renovation of hospital facilities and the acquisition of hospital equipment for provincial and district hospitals.

-In cooperation with Department of Health (DOH), medical groups and private sectors, Capitol delivered efficient and effective health and medical services to the indigents in the countryside.

– DOH upgraded the status of ten of sixteen province-owned hospitals to Level One. These are the hospitals in Cities of Bogo, Danao and Carcar, and in Bantayan, Tuburan, San Francisco, Argao, Badian, Barili and Sogod town.

– DOH provided P173.5 Million under Health Facility Enhancement Program.

– Capitol enrolls to PhilHealth 168,573 members, benefiting workers from Barangay health, day care, barangay animal health aides, barangay tanods, nutrition scholars.

– Dengue cases recorded between January and May 2014 dropped by over 70 percent as compared to the same period last year.

– By end of June 2014, there are 542 medical personnel and four medical consultants.

Education and Technical Vocational Training

– Capitol allocated P149 million for education for scholarship programs, school buildings and learning materials.

– P7Million to 31 public schools devastated by super typhoon Yolanda

– Trained 421 out-of-school youth in cellphone repairs, silkscreen printing, welding, sewing and food processing in coordination with TESDA.

Countryside Development

– Revived and expanded Farm-Scientist Training Program (FSTP) to increase yield per unit area of farm

– 26,000 farmers underwent training under the FSTP, with 400 percent increase in corn yield per hectare

– Preparing for the participation of P27.5-Billion World Bank-Funded Philippine Rural Development
Program managed by the Department of Agriculture

– Artificial Insemination program has helped 2,500 farmer cooperators, spread out in 45 LGUs and produced 3,000 cattle worth P43.15 million

Infrastructure Development and Private sector Cooperation

-170 kilometers of road have been repaired

– Acquired P200Million worth of Heavy equipment

-Currently studying the P15-Billion Third Mactan-Cebu Link project and the Trans-Axial Highway

Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Reduction

-Barangay Agro Forestry greening program

-Task force “Palig-on” and PDRRMO to monitor P12.2 billion rehabilitation and recovery in North Cebu

Law and Order

-Collected P1 million fines and penalties from illegal quarrying and hauling of sand and gravel

-PENRO collected P2Million in fines by year end

-Provide alternative livelihood to ‘Pala-pala’ operators