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Friday, September 02, 2005
Sugbuak proponents power hungry: Dakay
Cebu Archdiocesan media liaison officer Monsignor Achilles Dakay said those who push for the creation of new Cebu provinces are “power hungry.”
“They do not have a good relationship with the governor. They are greedy. Sa ilang kadawo ug kahakog hasta dili ilaha, ilahon (With their greed, they want to take what’s not theirs),” he said in a forum on politics at the University of San Carlos yesterday.
Reps. Simeon Kintanar, Antonio Yapha and Clavel Martinez had filed bills for Cebu del Sur, Cebu Occidental and Cebu del Norte, respectively.
The three felt that their districts have long been taken for granted by the Capitol, so creating new provinces will mean faster development for their towns.
Opposition
But the Catholic Church, some congressmen, the business sector, leagues of local officials, and 38 of Cebu’s local government units opposed the move.
As surveys among the different parishes in Cebu about the bills are now almost complete, Dakay urged parishioners to decide what is best for the Cebuanos.
He said the results of the surveys now keep coming, and are being gathered by Msgr. Boy Alesna, a member of the Presbyteral Council.
At least 72 percent of the surveys has been collected. As soon as everything is complete, they will come out with a pastoral letter.
He reiterated that the Catholic Church is not meddling with political matters. For him, the split-Cebu bills are not only a question of politics but also of morality.
“The Church and state serve the same men and women. Sugbuak is indeed a political issue but it also involves moral issues nga makadaot ug makaalaot sa kalag sa tawo. Therefore the Church must step in,” Dakay said.
He also called on the Cebuanos to make up their minds on whether they would want the Church to make a stand.
“They should be decided if...muapil ba mi o dili (we participate or not). How come when Edsa 1 and Edsa was staged, didn’t they tell us to observe the separation of Church and State?” Dakay said.
Criticism
Former senator John “Sonny” Osmeña, political leader of Yapha, Kintanar and Martinez during the elections, criticized the church for interfering in the issue.
The three sponsors believe that new provinces will bring the “government closer to the people,” and will ensure transparency.
This will also “provide a new beginning for the development of the culture of excellence in the art of local governance,” they said.
But their political rivals see their bills as a means for them to survive politically, as they are all on their last term.
At least four local congressmen are lobbying with House committee on local government chairman Emilio Macias to hold a public hearing in Cebu. (LLV)
(September 2, 2005 issue)
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