Thursday, May 01, 2008 Espinoza: Why would Osmeña be angry at Cuenco? By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
WHY is Mayor Tomas Osmeña so agog about his proposal for Cebu City to annex Cordova town and make it one of the city’s congressional districts even if he knows it is not constitutionally possible?
Is he planning to run for congressman in Cordova once it becomes a congressional district? Maybe not, but my strong hunch is that he is more interested in reclaiming Cordova’s reefs than in politics.
With Cordova a district under Cebu City, the latter would be 10 folds bigger.
It would not only mean an increase in the city’s share of the national wealth but could make it a possible site of the biggest seaport in Southeast Asia.
The golden opportunities that await Cordova were perhaps what prompted Mayor Tomas to describe as yabag Rep. Antonio Cuenco’s legal opinion on the issue (Cuenco surely knows his law better than Osmeña).
Article 6 of the 1987 Constitution says that a legislative district “shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact and adjacent territory.”
I know Osmeña is glib and speaks English well. Maybe he is just playing dumb by refusing to understand simple constitutional terms like “comprise”, “contiguous,” “compact” and “adjacent territory.”
I don’t know what measurement Mayor Tomas used when, in insisting with his proposal, he said Cordova is only 500 meters away from Cebu City Hall. But not only is a sea separating Cordova from the city, its population is way below the 250,000 requirement for a district.
So why would the mayor be angry with Cuenco? Perhaps he is just using the issue to hit back at him for failing to meet his expectations in the last barangay polls. But that’s politics. There are no permanent friends or enemies.
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The call of some senators for a shift to a federal system patterned after the US is a step in the right direction. A federal setup will give a state a chance to grow economically without begging for crumbs from “Imperial Manila.”
A federal form of government is best suited to an archipelagic country like ours. Each state will have equal footing in the national government. This will also eliminate mob rule.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. filed Senate Resolution 10 calling on Congress to convene into a constituent assembly to revise the Constitution and establish a federal system of government.
Under the proposal, the current 11 regions will become 11 federal states. Central Visayas will have Toledo City as capital with Tagbilaran City as seat of the state legislature.
There is nothing surprising about this because in the US state capitals are not the big cities. In Texas, for example, Austin is the capital and not Dallas or Houston, both big and developed cities.
Mayor Tomas deserves praise for supporting the proposal. And he does not have reason to be angry at the proponents because, having been in the Big Apple for years, he knows exactly what federalism is.
With Cebu City’s current population, it is not also wise to concentrate all state activities there. Thus, Congressman Cuenco should better not amend the original proposal or he will be accused of being narrow-minded.
If a federal government is approved, Cuenco, if he becomes one of its officials, will have to expand his horizons to include one of the world’s wonders, Chocolate Hills, which is in Carmen, Bohol. Sun.Star’s Cherry Lim can also very well tour him around Tagbilaran city.
