Thursday, May 10, 2007 Editorials: Creating new provinces
WITH the failure of the proposal to divide Cebu into four smaller provinces (the original Sugbuak), one would think politicians had enough of these partitioning moves.
It has now turned out that they can still mine variations of a similar idea.
Opposition senatorial candidate John “Sonny” Osmeña, believed to be the brains of the original Sugbuak scheme, has one more idea: Mactan island as a province.
Even far off Camotes did not escape the reach of “partitioning politics,” with congressional bet Gilbert Wagas pushing for the creation of a province out of the islands.
Of course, proposals like these do not require much imagination, although Osmeña would like to describe them as vision, or the “ability to look at the future.”
Candidates can blurt these out during the campaign period and get attention.
Deeper study
In the real world, however, creating new provinces needs deeper study.
That is why the process of enacting laws for the purpose is long and tedious and needs the participation not only of the proponents but all those affected.
A “Mactan Province” or a “Camotes Province” may have a good ring to them but will the move be beneficial to the constituents there or will it result in disaster?
Joke
There was this joke, for example, that did the rounds during the Sugbuak debate.
According to the story, a Sugbuak proponent told his colleagues that he will go to his town, part of the district he wants to convert into a province, because a relative died.
He said he still have to pass by Cebu City to buy a burial wreath.
“What a future province,” his fellow lawmaker quipped, “doesn’t even have burial wreaths.”
A gamble
Creating new provinces is not only about land area, income or population; it also involves socio-cultural, historical and economic considerations.
Voters should thus be wary of these ideas.
As for the candidates, presenting the proposal can be considered a gamble because voters may either see through the ruse or welcome the plan.
The problem for them is when those who consider as unacceptable the lopping off of, say, Mactan and Camotes from the Cebu mainland, are in the majority.
