Cebu Capitol transfer draws near

The provincial government of Cebu disclosed that the site development for the new Cebu Provincial Capitol in Barangay Cambuhawe in the municipality of Balamban is now at 70 percent.

On Thursday, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia conducted a site inspection with Balamban Mayor Ace Binghay and said that the construction of the province's new capitol in the shipbuilding town of Balamban is expected to create more economic activity in the western corridor of the island.

The new capitol building will be an exact replica of the original facility in Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City, but with modern amenities. The site development of the new capitol building will stand on a 2-3 hectare and 135-meter above-sea-level lot.

Garcia said that she is eyeing to acquire an additional 50 hectares of land around the new capitol site to accommodate provincial and regional offices of national line agencies, as well as departmental offices of the provincial government.

Balamban is a first-class municipality but is vying for cityhood status.

The national government allocated P200 million from the General Appropriations Act for the project.

Meantime, the Cebu governor expressed gratitude to Senator Sonny Angara who committed another P100 million for the edifice construction while Senator Francis Tolentino promised P80 million for developing access roads leading to the site.

"An amount of P500 million was earmarked by the provincial government for the new capitol building project," Garcia said.

Balamban is situated right at the center of the province and is accessible from both north and the south and just an hour drive from Cebu City, the capital city through the Transcentral Highway.