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Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Malilong: To err is human
By Frank Malilong
The Other Side
The rejection by the Cebu City Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) of the proposal to cut up Cebu into four smaller provinces was expected not only because the ABC is controlled by allies of Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who has minced no words in criticizing the proposal, but because it is the right thing to do.
The subdivision plan prepared by three “graduating” congressmen from Cebu is indeed costly and untimely but I do not think it is fair to accuse its authors, as the ABC did, of harboring “evil political motives.” This kind of language does not help promote intelligent discussion.
It is highly probable, of course, that the plan, contained in three separate bills filed in Congress, was meant to spite Gov. Gwendolyn Gacia but as the governor herself has correctly pointed out we should not allow ourselves to fall into that trap. To say that this is a Garcia vs. Kintanar, et al. thing is to play directly into their hand.
The issue of subdividing Cebu is above any personality. Ours is a battle to preserve the territorial integrity of the one and only Cebu province we know and love.
I have gone over the analysis prepared by the Provincial Capitol on the ramifications of the creation of the proposed three new provinces and I am convinced more than ever that the plan will not bring about the benefits of good governance that its proponents promised.
The second congressional district, which Sim Kintanar proposes to convert into the province of Cebu del Sur, has an average annual real property collection, based on 2003 and 2004 figures, of only P2.28 million. Add to this its projected internal revenue allotment (IRA) share of about P237.83 million and the new province will have a total income of P240.11 million more or less.
The new province will however have to provide for personal services which normally constitutes 45 per cent of income, maintenance and other operating expenses, capital outlay and non-office expenses such as the 20 per cent development fund, aid to barangays and grants and subsidies. Based on Capitol projections, Cebu del Sur will have a whooping deficit of P74.24 million in its first year. Not only that, it will now be ranked, according to income, lower than such provinces as Sultan Kudarat, Eastern Samar and Basilan. From No. 1 to No. 71, that’s a huge drop in any language.
Perhaps, it is not too late to appeal to the sense of patriotism of the authors of the divide-Cebu movement. They may have acted in good faith but they were grossly mistaken in assuming that a divided Cebu would be a stronger one. It does not take a lot of courage to admit that one was wrong.
They should withdraw their bills and save themselves the ignominy of being remembered as the ones who attempted to divide the Cebuano people but were roundly repudiated by them.
(June 7, 2005 issue)
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