Davide takes lead on first day as gov

As the horns blared at the Capitol grounds, Cebu Gov. Hilario “Junjun” Davide III walked through the middle of provincial government employees, carrying the Philippine flag.

At exactly 8 a.m. yesterday, he presided over his first  flag-raising ceremony as governor of Cebu.

He later announced that he wanted all Capitol employees to assemble for the flag-raising ceremony at 7:30 a.m. starting next Monday instead of the usual 7:45 a.m.

Davide said there’s no need to issue any memorandum for his order.

By 8 a.m. all Capitol employees should be in their respective offices to attend to public transactions.

Davide also suggested that a prayer should be said during every flag-raising ceremony at the Capitol. “All I want from you is to help me. We all have duties and responsibilities which we must keep in mind since we have a huge challenge ahead of us,” Davide said in Cebuano.

“If you have any complaint against me, let me know so I’ll also have an idea about it. In the same way, if I’ll have any complaint against you, I’ll really let you know that I don’t like what you’re doing. That’s our agreement,” he added.

Davide personally visited all offices at the Capitol and shook hands with some employees and listened to concerns of provincial offices.

In an interview, Davide said there will be no major revamps at the Capitol as of now.

So far, he designated lawyer Mark Tolentino as acting Provincial Administrator and lawyer Orvi Ortega as Provincial Attorney.

Ethel Natera is also appointed as acting Provincial Public Information officer.

Davide said the province will also review the status of 700 casual employees to determine “who will stay and who will go.”

At the Capitol session hall, the new Provincial Board (PB) first official act was to approve a resolution authorizing acting provincial treasurer Yolanda Cabando to “sign any and all checks drawn against the account of the Cebu province.”

The Provincial Treasurer’s Office will release P3 million in salaries to 1,500 Capitol employees today.

Davide later ordered Ortega to review the province’s ownership claim on Fuente Osmeña Rotunda that was lodged in the courts.

“Why do the province and the Cebu City government fight against each other for a landmark? It’s a pointless debate,” Davide told reporters.

The Capitol under former governor Gwendolyn Garcia earlier asked the Regional Trial Court to order Cebu City Hall to turn over ownership of the rotunda to the province.

The provincial government wants to recover possession of the 1,100-square-meter park that sits on two adjacent parcels of land in barangay Capitol Site.

But the city government said the province failed to establish the location of their property vis-à-vis the actual location of the Fuente Osmeña Rotunda. With Correspondent Peter L. Romanillos