| After
her resounding victory in the May, 2007 elections, Governor
Gwendolyn Fiel Garcia is well on her second consecutive term
as the first woman governor of Cebu, in its 437 years of existence
as a province. She follows in the footsteps of her father,
highly admired and respected, Governor Pablo Paras Garcia,
who held the post for three consecutive terms.
During her first term, Governor Garcia laid the groundwork
for the 12-point agenda of her administration, putting into
place economically viable development programs that efficiently
respond to the needs of the Cebuano constituency – in
infrastructure, water, power, health, education, agriculture
and food production, women, business, tourism and the environment.
In her first three years as governor, the province saw the
asphalting of over 300 kilometers of provincial roads, spread
throughout Cebu’s 47 municipalities. Level III water
supply systems were established where they are needed most,
and the provincial government implemented several water supply
projects, the first of which was a P10 million project in
Bantayan Island.
Through memoranda of agreements with two of Cebu’s biggest
power companies, Gov. Garcia successfully negotiated a system
of making it easier and cheaper for government to provide
electricity to barangays that have yet to enjoy the benefits
of electrification.
In the area of health, the Province of Cebu achieved several
historic firsts. Under a counterpart scheme with participating
local government units (LGUs), Cebu Province has enrolled
more than 80,000 indigent families with Philhealth, cited
as the single biggest enrollment in the history of Philhealth
and in the country.
Through the Provincial Tourism and Heritage Council, a multi-sectoral
body of which she is the Chairman, programs were created to
promote tourism and conserve the rich cultural heritage of
the Cebuanos. The Suroy-Suroy Sugbo, a high-impact and successful
tourism program, was institutionalized to promote Cebu’s
cities and towns.
Gov. Garcia is the chairman of the Regional Peace and Order
Council, making her the first woman to be appointed as such,
with a firm declaration against terrorism. She is also the
Regional Chairman for Central Visayas of the League of Provinces
of the Philippines (LPP), Chairman of the Board of the Mactan
Cebu Bridge Management Board (MCBMB), and Member of the Board
of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA).
Last January 10 – 15, 2007, the Province of Cebu hosted
the historic 12th ASEAN Summit and the 2nd East Asia Summit
in the Cebu International Convention Center, an architectural
feat that paid tribute to the indomitable spirit of the Cebuano,
and completed in record time through the tireless efforts
of Governor Garcia.
Governor Garcia is a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communications
graduate from the University of the Philippines in Diliman,
Quezon City. She was a consistent honor student in her elementary
and secondary years in St. Theresa’s College in Cebu.
Gov.
Gwendolyn Garcia has always believed that governance is not
an exclusive right but a participatory process. With her at
the helm of the Provincial Government, we can look forward
to a more fruitful partnership between government and the
private sector, to bring Cebu to unprecedented heights of
progress and development.
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