PDP-LABAN MEETING. Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino shares a light moment with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia at the sidelines of the National Council Meeting of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in Cebu City on Monday (May 31, 2021). Garcia, during the event, expressed her full support to the political party of President Rodrigo Duterte. (Photo courtesy of OPAV)
CEBU CITY – Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Monday expressed full support to the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the political party of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
“As governor of the Province of Cebu, I thanked the national leadership for choosing Cebu to be the venue of this all-important gathering. Truly, by so doing, you have underscored the importance of Cebu in the coming national elections,” Garcia said in her speech during the party’s National Council Meeting on Monday at the Montebello Villa Hotel in Cebu City.
She said she was honored and privileged to welcome officials and members of the PDP-Laban to Cebu. “And judging from how Cebu can deliver, perhaps it might not be too much to say that where Cebu goes, so will the rest of the country,” the lady governor said.
Garcia cited the trust that the national leadership has given Cebu to become the venue for the important meeting among the country’s political leaders.
She recalled that “six years ago, a handful of us decided to throw our lot in, with a man who espoused the advocacies that we believe in — anti-drugs, anti-criminality, anti-corruption and, above all, federalism.”
Referring to President Rodrigo Duterte, she said, “He was then a mayor of a major city in Mindanao, and he was supported by the PDP. While we rallied behind his candidacy for President, we believed in him, and so did 16 million other Filipinos. The rest was history. Mayor Digong became President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. And how Cebu delivered – with a margin of 1.2 million votes – over his closest rival because that is how Cebu delivers! When they believe in a man, when they believe in his cause".
Garcia further recalled that three years later in 2019, “a much bigger group” joined the PDP and each member ran for their respective positions.
“Here in Cebu, in this island of Cebu, we swept the gubernatorial race including the Provincial Board Members race and we swept the three important tri-cities in Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, and Cebu City. This afternoon we are gathered here once more in this huge assembly of PDP leaders to take stock of where we are, and to define the direction by which PDP and Cebu will be going especially since there’s a looming 2022 presidential election,” she pointed out.
Over a hundred PDP leaders, including those attending via Zoom, gathered for the national meeting led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon Secretary Raul Lambino, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, PDP-Laban interim Secretary General Melvin Matibag, and Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Secretary Michael Dino, among others.
Support to the administration
Garcia has initiated programs consistent with the priority programs of the current administration.
The provincial government here has launched the “Sugbuanong Busog, Luwas ug Himsog” or Sugbusog Program, a vegetable gardening program to promote food sufficiency, backing the national government’s food security policy.
Under this program, the Capitol set aside PHP100 million for the local government units and PHP50,000 for the barangays.
In terms of rural development, Garcia led the launch last March 5, 2021 of the Enhanced Countryside Development (ECD) Program which establishes the reinvigoration of the countryside economy through back-to-organic-farming initiatives primarily in collaboration with government banks which pledged around PHP20 billion in funds.
Garcia also spearheaded the “Sugbo Negosyo” Program to assist micro-entrepreneurs here cope with the trying times.
The Sugbo Negosyo, with a PHP100-million funding, grants capital to small entrepreneurs in Cebu to recover their businesses amid the pandemic. (PNA)
