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Friday, July 15, 2005
Cebu will be capital of Visayas Republic
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
CEBU CITY -- Governors from the Visayas are out to prove that they are serious in their proposal to secede and create their own republic if President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is removed through extra-legal means.
They began their work Thursday by creating two teams to assess the country's situation and to study the planned Visayas Republic.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said Cebu is being eyed to be the capital of the proposed state, but she refused to answer whether she is also considered to head the republic.
The Visayas leaders, who reiterated yesterday their statement of support for President Arroyo, also refused to say if they will make Arroyo the president of the proposed republic.
"I would not want to second guess the President," Garcia told reporters.
"We are just trying to send a message that we are not fence-sitting and we won't let events overtake us. We are proactive and we are closely watching," she said.
After a close-door meeting that lasted over two hours, the 16 governors, vice governors, provincial board members and mayors flashed a "V" sign to media members shouting "Visayas Republic" as they stood against a streamer that read "Manila is not the Philippines."
Visayas can survive on its own but the Constitution must be scrapped before a Visayas Republic can be made, said Provincial Board Member Antonio Almirante, a lawyer who also heads the committee on laws.
He explained that there is a provision in the Constitution that the Philippines is one country. That means making a Visayas Republic can be unconstitutional.
The Gloria Step Down Movement, in a press conference, said the plan is "seditious and a form of blackmail."
Lawyer Kit Enriquez described the plan as a "hypocritical action of traditional politicians."
"This move only shows that these people do not love the country, because if they do, they will not exchange the country's integrity for a President who is not capable of running the country," Bayan Central Visayas chairman Paul Rodriguez said.
A technical working group, headed by Central Visayas Regional Development Council chairman and Oriental Negros Governor George Arnaiz, is set to start next week a study of the different forms of government suited for the Visayas regions and to look into the legal, economic and other possible problems that might arise with the separation of the Visayas from the rest of the country.
Former Cebu governor Pablo Garcia, who is a constitutionalist, League of Cities of the Philippines president and Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone, Siquijor Governor Orlando Fua and Biliran Mayor Rogelio Espina will compose the team, which might consider making Cebu as the Visayas Republic's seat of power.
In her welcome address during the gathering at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel past 10 a.m. Thursday, Governor Garcia said they have come together to make a collective stand and to not let the few in Metro Manila, referring to anti-Arroyo groups that converged in a rally in Makati last Thursday, dictate the future of the country.
Bohol Governor Erico Aumentado Thursday said the first technical working group will study the proposed republic and its viability with the region's economy and available infrastructure.
A second group will organize the scheduled Visayas leaders and businessmen socio-economic and political summit scheduled on Aug. 11. to "adopt and implement a comprehensive and integrated development plan to uplift the life of the people in the Visayas region."
The group for the summit will be headed by Governor Garcia, with the chairpersons of the Regional Development Councils of Regions 6, 7 and 8 as co-organizers. They are Antique Governor Salvacion Perez, Oriental Negros' Arnaiz and Governor Rosette Lerias of Southern Leyte.
During the summit, which will include officials of LGUs, business and religious leaders and sectoral representatives, the organizers will get a consensus of the stand of the Visayans on the federal system and the proposed changes in the constitution.
Professor Jose Abueva, an advocate of federalism, will be invited as speaker.
Arnaiz, for his part, said he is for a parliamentary and federal form of government for the Visayas since he believes it will "give each province authority to do what's good for it."
Starting next week, his team will thresh out and find the necessary framework of government and the constitution of the proposed Visayas Republic.
They are also authorized to hire the services of lawyers, who are good in constitutional law, for a fee or pro-bono, as well as financial advisers to study the region's economic situation. (With MBG & JGA of Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
(July 15, 2005 issue)
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