Thursday, May 01, 2008 Poetic justice, guv says of Pabling’s election
THE election of Rep. Pablo “Pabling” Garcia (Cebu, 2nd district) as House of Representatives deputy speaker was “poetic justice,” said his daughter, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
“Our entire family is elated and very happy with this development,” she told a press conference yesterday.
The governor said her father had gone through a painful experience when he ran but lost in his House speakership bid to Rep. Jose De Venecia (Pangasinan), who was later ousted and replaced by Rep. Prospero Nograles (Davao).
It was also the “ultimate compliment” that Congress colleagues could give to Pabling, she said.
Pabling was unanimously elected as sixth deputy speaker last Wednesday.
The veteran Cebuano lawmaker was nominated to the position by House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora, an opposition congressman.
Rep. Raul Del Mar (Cebu City, north), also a deputy speaker, seconded the nomination.
Leadership
Pabling became a member and has voting power in all the House committees. After his victory, he said he will help the leadership of the House.
“My father has shown consistency to his principles, to his values; and he has certainly proven himself as the man of integrity,” said Governor Garcia.
She said Cebu is doubly honored because it now has two deputy speakers.
“It seems that the right things are happening at the right time with the right people for our beloved province,” she said.
Meanwhile, Garcia confirmed she is meeting tomorrow six Cebu Province lawmakers to discuss the proposed creation of more districts.
She, however, refused to divulge the meeting venue.
“I’ve always maintain that with us being the most populous Province in the entire country, Cebu deserves more representations in the country,” she said.
Population
The meeting is an offshoot of Pabling’s request to have her speak with all Cebu congressmen to tackle the creation of additional Cebu districts.
The governor’s brother, Rep. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd) supports the proposal because Cebu is already underrepresented following the latest census.
The National Statistics Office (NSO) recently reported a population of 2,439,005 in Cebu Province alone.
“This confirms our position that Cebu is underrepresented,” Pablo John told Sun.Star Cebu.
He said Cebu is entitled to four or five more legislators in the House of Representatives.
He said the creation of more districts will “correct the imbalance” in the House and “make Cebu an influential block in Congress.”
It will also bring in more development to the province, he added.
Pablo John said legislation for the creation of more Cebu districts would have better chances of being passed if only one bill is filed.
Cebuano congressmen, he said, should pool their resources and efforts to file just one measure. (GMD)
