Top 100 Cebuano Personalities: Pablo Paras Garcia

CEBU, Philippines — An illustrious public official and a respected legal luminary, Pablo Paras Garcia served as governor of Cebu for nine years from 1995 to 2004.

He was also elected to three terms as congressman representing the Third District from 1987 to 1995 before winning the governorship. After his term as governor, he was again elected as a member of the House of Representatives, this time representing the Second District and was voted by his colleagues as one of the Deputy Speakers.

Garcia’s placing third in the 1951 Philippine Bar Examination with a rating of 91.5 percent was his ticket to enter politics.

Among his legacy projects as governor include the 57-kilometer vegetable highway from Dalaguete to Carcar City and his “cuatro caminos” in the north of Cebu.

He was also instrumental in the construction of the new prison complex in Barangay Kalunasan. It was during his administration that Cebu Province’s was recognized as the richest in the country with zero debt.