Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Tomas fine with Toledo as capital
WHILE he does not have anything against the proposal to make Toledo City the capital of the proposed State of Central Visayas, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said it might be better to have a capital that is accessible to all the provinces.
Osmeña said he does not see any disadvantage in declaring as state capital the City of Toledo, which he said should have the Provincial Government transferring the Capitol there.
“There’s no disadvantage, we are not insecure. They can transfer the ports there and believe me, Cebu City will get stronger. The governor should move out also, no problem,” he told a news conference yesterday.
“The capital does not attract business, it does not attract anything except that salaried people will go there and there will be more money for their economy so it’s good for Toledo. But since Toledo is my friend, I will give that to Toledo City,” he said.
Osmeña pointed out that if Cebu City is not made the capital, the city will not disappear and it will not have a great economic impact on Cebu City.
Cheap
“But I think the capital should be some place that is accessible to everyone. It’s hard to go from Bohol to Toledo. Maybe Santander could be an option. The land is cheap and it’s close to all the places,” he said.
“I’m presuming that we’ll elect six senators per state, abolishing the existing Senate. That sounds good to me but I’m personally not convinced it’s worthwhile pursuing anything at this point. I really doubt if they will succeed in changing the Constitution,” he said.
Osmeña believes creating the federal states would only put another layer of bureaucracy.
“If senators want more local autonomy for the provinces, smaller governments should be created with lesser bureaucracy,” he said.
He also proposed to abolish the House of Representatives and expand the Senate and regionalize it.
The mayor also prefers a unicameral system where the Senate is made up of 24 senators, elected at large in Mindanao, 24 for the Visayas, 24 for Luzon and 12 for Metro Manila. (LCR)
