Video should spur us to action—Gwen

AN American’s viral video that criticized 20 things about the country should be taken as constructive criticism, said Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

In her regular press conference yesterday, Garcia said she hasn’t seen the viral video “20 things I dislike about the Philippines” that featured an American Jimmy Sieczka hanging out in Fuente Osmeña, Cebu City.

“We have never claimed to be a developed first world country. There are challenges that we must face. I guess the bigger question, are we doing something about this?,” she said.

As far as the province is concerned, Garcia said she has been addressing some of these concerns since the first day of her administration.  “It’s been a long hard climb but we’re climbing,” she said.

Garcia said she understands the sentiments of some that voiced distaste over the video. She said she considers it a “call for action.”

“It’s either we get mad or we do something about it. Let’s translate it into constructive action,” she said.

The governor said the province is far from perfect and local government units (LGUs) have a lot of work ahead to build their areas as tourism destinations.

“The video should challenge us further to work harder so that someday we could throw everything back everything he said about us,” Garcia said. Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus