Governor Gwen Garcia will be taking a leave of absence from official duties at the Capitol beginning September 9 to 19 in order to spend quality time with her family.
In a press briefing on Friday, Sept. 8, the governor said she is taking time off to join her son in Italy who will be competing in the Ironman triathlon.
“I will be away for 10 days, “ Gov. Garcia said.
This will be the first break the governor will be taking since coming back to office in 2019.
“I will be missing work kay wa maanad ni akong lawas nga walay trabaho,” she continued.
“But I’m doing this, first of all, for my son. I haven’t had a break since 2019. Maybe it’s time for me to take a break sad,” the governor said.
She said her family usually takes a family vacation during breaks while she was still congresswoman but now that she is governor it was always canceled because of her work load at the Capitol.
No Capitol funds will be spent for her personal trip as it will be funded privately by her personal savings, she added.
During her 10 days absence, Vice Gov. Hilario Davide III will be acting governor of Cebu.
She will be back to work on September 20.
Lone non-Korean Speaker
Gov. Garcia will leave again on the 21st of September to attend the 18th East Asia Tourism Forum (EATOF) in Gangwon Province in South Korea.
EATOF Secretary General Jun Tae Hyeon, who personally invited the governor during his visit at the Capitol on August 30, said Gov. Garcia will be the sole non-Korean speaker at the EATOF which is expected to draw governors and top officials from its 10 member provinces.
These provinces include Cebu; Gangwon, S. Korea; Jilin, China; Sarawak, Malaysia; Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Tottori, Japan; Luang Prabang, Laos; Tuv, Mongolia; Siem Reap, Cambodia; and Quang Ninh, Vietnam. The three-day forum will tackle different issues and challenges facing the tourism sector in the region. It will also present opportunities for bilateral talks on areas of development with other EATOF member provinces.
Davide will again be acting governor of Cebu from September 21 to 24.
The governor said there are no specific instructions for the vice governor as she trusts the decisions of Davide.
"He is a lawyer and he knows his mandate," Gov. Garcia said.
She said that she even offered her office for use by Davide but he graciously declined.| Ioannes P. Arong with PIO