Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Editorials: Obstacles to redistricting plan
THE idea all-encompassing redistricting of Cebu has hit a brick wall and congressmen who favor it must either lower the goal or abandon it altogether.
For redistricting to be realized, all Cebuano lawmakers must be in it together.
It’s not only about the sixth district where Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz is valiantly trying to cobble up a redistricting plan that could solve the so-called Cordova puzzle.
Note that even in a two-district local government unit like Cebu City, adding another district can be as tricky and complicated as redistricting in the province.
Forget about Cordova being added into the mix as proposed by Mayor Tomas Osmeña—even just regrouping the city’s barangays into three districts would be difficult.
The mayor’s political falling out with South District Rep. Antonio Cuenco means redistricting in the city may have to be postponed until a favorable setup is in place.
Turf concerns
In the province, two lawmakers—Red Durano of the fifth district and Eduardo Gullas of the first district—are sending signals they don’t want their turfs touched.
Durano does not want to let go of Liloan and make it a part of a district proposed by Soon-Ruiz that would also include neighboring Consolacion and far-off Cordova.
Gullas, while saying he will keep an open mind and will be conducting a survey on the stand of his leaders next month, said his district is “very solid from tip to tip.”
Unfortunately, if redistricting the entire province were to be done well, leaders have to be open to the possibility of towns being transferred from one district to another.
So the most that can be expected is piecemeal redistricting: one for the sixth district because of the need (Lapu-Lapu is now a highly urbanized city independent of the province) and another for the second district (Rep. Pablo Garcia said it is doable).
Waste of money
In the meantime, an all-encompassing redistricting, while logical considering Cebu’s population spurt, will have to wage war in another arena: public opinion.
A good number of people are not taking Congress highly and believe having more congressmen is only a waste of precious public money.
