Cebu 5th district Rep. Vincent Franco "Duke" Frasco has asked his fellow public officials from his province to "focus on addressing the urgent healthcare needs" of locals instead of throwing jabs at each other.

This, as Frasco doubled down on his call for the Cebu provincial government to prioritize the Liloan Children’s Hospital in the Provincial Development Plan and to include the necessary funding for it n the province's annual budget for 2026.

The former House deputy speaker reiterated his appeal even as Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro said that he was just bandwagoning on healthcare issues in the province.

He added that the Liloan Children’s Hospital is envisioned as a specialized pediatric facility patterned after the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Manila, capable of serving not only Cebu’s children but also those from across the Visayas.

“This will ease the burden on families who would otherwise have to travel to Manila for specialized pediatric care, saving them both time and significant expenses, while ensuring that children receive timely, world-class medical treatment closer to home," explained Frasco.

Baricuatro won the gubernatorial seat in the mid-term polls last May by upsetting Frasco's mother-in-law, incumbent Gwen Garcia.

At any rate, Frasco said that a budget of P50 million from the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) or national budget has already been secured for the Liloan Children’s Hospital.

Frasco said that he secured the budget even as Republic Act (RA) No. 11886 places funding responsibility on the Capitol.

“Despite the fact that the law mandates the province of Cebu to fund the establishment of the hospital, I have secured ₱50 million for 2025 from the Department of Health (DOH), which the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is set to release before September this year,” he said.