EDITORIAL – Cebu Province needs more big-ticket investments

President Rodrigo Duterte flew in yesterday to preside over the ceremonial start of commercial production of an oil field in the town of Alegria that is expected to generate millions of barrels of oil and gas.

The Alegria Oil Field Polyard is believed to hold a reserve of up to 27 million barrels of oil and nine billion cubic feet of gas. A development plan on the oil field stated that its oil and gas reserves will last until 2037.

This development is really good news for Cebuanos. The province really needs more big-ticket investments like this to generate more revenue to fund more development projects and programs in the barangays.

Big investments being poured across the province will surely spawn not only employment opportunities for inhabitants of towns and component cities but spur economic development of local government units as well.

In the case of the Alegria oil exploration, Mayor Verna Magallon said the government will get up to 60 percent of the project’s revenue. The government’s share will then go the province, the town, and the barangay that hosts the oil field.

With a population of 25,000, Alegria will benefit from the revenue from the oil field. Magallon said this income will help fund social services such as livelihood, health, and education programs in the town.

The Alegria oil investment should serve as an example to encourage the provincial government to aggressively pursue plans that entice more investors. There are many areas across the province that are ideal for investment but whose potentials have never been tapped.

Bringing investments to towns and other cities in the province will certainly spur job opportunities and prevent mass migration to the metro. This should be the priority of the Capitol considering the fact that there are areas in the province that are perfect to be developed into economic hubs.