Thursday, April 24, 2008 Ruiz ‘failed’ to study redistricting well
CORDOVA Mayor Adelino Sitoy said Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz could have avoided the legal predicament she is in had she realized the peculiarity of the situation when Lapu-Lapu became a highly urbanized city last year.
Ruiz proposed to break up the sixth district, with Consolacion and Cordova towns composing a separate district.
After the August 2007 census was released recently, she proposed to lump the fifth district’s municipality of Liloan with the two towns, which Rep. Ramon “Red” Durano VI opposed.
Sitoy said yesterday it would have been a logical and legally viable choice for Ruiz to instead have the entire Mactan island form a separate province, so as not to alienate Cordova.
“Ang Cordova ug Consolacion gipatung-an ug duha ka (are separated by two) highly urbanized city (and therefore not contiguous),” he said referring to the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.
Peculiarity
“So we appear like an appendix kay kaming duha ka lungsod naa mi sa masig ka tumoy (because Cosolacion and Cordova jut out at the opposite ends of the sixth district).... And that is the peculiarity of the situation that becomes a legal problem for Ruiz,” he added.
The idea of creating another province was discussed even before the 2007 elections.
In his reelection campaign in Lapu-Lapu, former senator Sonny Osmena, a Ruiz ally, encouraged residents to lobby for the conversion of Mactan island into a province.
Sitoy said that if the proposal pushes through, Consolacion can form a congressional district with Mandaue city, which has retained the right to vote for provincial officials despite its conversion to a highly urbanized city in the 1990’s.
Territorial contiguity and population requirement are the legal hitches of Ruiz’s House Bill No. 1306, which is now in the hands of the House of Representatives’ local government committee.
In the bill of Ruiz, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue form a separate legislative district.
But aside from them being not contiguous, Cordova, Consolacion, and Liloan’s combined population is only 224, 798. A congressional district needs to have a minimum population of 250,000.
Sitoy said these legal problems would not have burdened Ruiz had she studied the matter thoroughly.
Another province
“Gidali-dali ra man god ni niya (she did this hastily),” he said.
Sitoy suggested that in making Mactan a province, Olango Island should be converted into a municipality, and Lapu-Lapu declared as capital city.
“I don’t think Cebu Province would oppose a Mactan province. Kay unsa paman ang ilang apason nga wala naman silay (there is nothing to interest Capitol because it no longer has) jurisdiction over Lapu-Lapu after it became a highly urbanized (city). Dili gyud siguro tungod sa Cordova nga pwerting gamaya (it would not be because of
Cordova, which is such a small town),” he said.
But Mayor Arturo Radaza said Olango residents and barangay officials strongly rejected the idea to separate from Lapu-Lapu when Osmena broached it to them, saying their economy is very much dependent on the city.
“Ako-a na silang gikonsulta bahin ana, pero unsaon man nato nga dili man sila makigbulag sa syudad (I already consulted the Olango residents on that plan, but they do not want to part with Lapu-Lapu),” Radaza said. (AIV)
