Friday, July 27, 2007 Nerry, del Mar oppose merger of Cordova town to Cebu City
CORDOVA can be annexed by Cebu City only if it is willing to become a barangay, said Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz in response to Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy’s preference to be part of Cebu City rather than Lapu-Lapu City.
Soon-Ruiz had filed House Bill 1306 making one district out of Mandaue City and Conso-lacion and another district composed of Lapu-Lapu City and Cordova.
However, Sitoy had said he would rather be part of Cebu City.
“We discussed this with Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) and Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City north) and the rest and if he wants that, then he becomes a barangay captain of Cebu City because the only way to do that would for Cordova to be converted into a barangay,” said Nerissa-Soon Ruiz in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu after their session in Congress last Tuesday.
For Cordova to retrogress its status from municipality into a barangay would not be the first time, she added, as this happened to Talamban and Mabolo, which were former towns.
Soon-Ruiz added that Del Mar, during their talk, expressed opposition to this. Sun.Star Cebu approached Del Mar to confirm this but he refused to be interviewed on any issue.
“Dili man gusto si Del Mar because as it is, Cebu City already needs a third district because of its population so dili na siya gusting mapuno ang Cordova.
Adding Cordova to Cebu City would not also meet a requirement to add two more districts for Cebu City,” said Soon-Ruiz.
In a television report yesterday, Sitoy said he is bent on pushing for Cordo-va to be part of Cebu City.
“But Sitoy is only Sitoy, he is not the whole of Cordova so let’s just wait for the public hearing,” said Soon-Ruiz.
At the Cebu City Hall, however, Planning and Development Office Chief Nigel Paul Villarete belittled oppositions to the possible annexing of Cordova town by the Cebu City Government.
Villarete said the distance between Cordova and Cebu City cannot be made an issue against Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s proposal to make the municipality a part of the city.
“That the two LGUs are separated by a body of water is not an issue and will never be an issue against the proposal to annex Cordova. The biggest argument against their comments lies in fact in Lapu-Lapu City itself. Why is Olango a part of Lapu-Lapu if distance is an issue?” he told reporters yesterday.
He explained that Cordova is nearer to Cebu City than Olango is to Lapu-Lapu City.
The distance between Cebu City and Shell Island, which is part of Cordova, is only 500 meters while Olango is eight to 10 kilometers away from Lapu-Lapu, he said.
For his part, City Councilor Edgardo Labella said he also does not see distance becoming a hindrance to the mayor’s proposal.
“I don’t think the distance would be an obstacle because what will be considered are the land area, income and population.
It is doable but it will need an act of Congress and the constituents will have to be consulted,” said Labella, chairman of the council committee on laws. (JPM/LCR)
