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Monday, August 29, 2005
Cebu split hinges on control of towns
CEBU CITY -- The Cebu lawmakers who want three new provinces will have to win the support of all the towns in their districts, if they want the proposals to gain ground, a former congressman said.
"Dapat every local government unit there should petition for the creation, because you cannot compel others who want to remain in the mother unit to join them," said former Cebu governor Pablo Garcia, who as a congressman helped draft the Local Government Code of 1991.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, he cited as example Balamban and Aloguinsan towns in the third district, who are opposing Representative Antonio Yapha's bill that would include them in the envisioned Cebu Occidental.
Balamban is one of the major towns in the third district, if not the most progressive, because of its shipbuilding industry.
In Representative Clavel Martinez's nine-town fourth district, meanwhile, Daanbantayan opposes the making of a Cebu del Norte, while a substantial number of towns there did not pass a resolution whether in support, or in opposition.
As for Representative Simeon Kintanar's Cebu del Sur, not one of the second district's 15 towns supports it. All 15 of them, including his hometown Argao, the proposed seat of government of the new province, passed a resolution objecting to the plan.
Other towns, such as Boljoon, also passed a resolution asking Kintanar to withdraw his bill.
So far, among those who support the creation of a new province are from Toledo City, Pinamungajan and Tuburan, all from Yapha's turf.
The Tuburan Municipal Council even passed a resolution seeking the abolition of the existing Provincial Government because of what it believes is the Capitol's disregard of their needs.
In explaining his stand, former governor Pablo Garcia cited the "checklist" for the requisites on the creation of a province, as drafted by the House committee on affairs, for the House committee on local government.
The checklist included as requirement "resolutions of the sangguniang bayan of all the municipalities or sangguniang panlungsod of all component cities desiring to form the new province."
Kintanar, Yapha and Martinez filed last February their bills, which they said will propel faraway towns to faster development.
All three House representatives, who are allies of former senator John "Sonny" Osmeña, accused the Capitol of taking their towns for granted in the distribution of resources.
Making new provinces would bring the provincial government closer to the towns, as local leaders would no longer have to travel to Cebu City to transact business with the Capitol.
It would also bring in more money for the towns because of the equal sharing of Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) among provinces.
The IRA would then be shared by a smaller number of towns, they said, unlike now when 47 towns and five component cities will compete for the assistance of one Capitol.
But the immediate reaction of other officials was to accuse the sponsors of filing the bills for political purposes, as the three are all on their last term.
On their claim that their towns have been taken for granted, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal have asked them back on what they did with their pork barrel funds during their nearly nine years in Congress.
Other opposition to the bills cited that the proposal:
* Violated rules because these were filed even without a petition from the towns;
* Is flawed because these are deliberated upon by the House committee even without complying with required documents;
* Will leave the original province with a land area less than the minimum;
* Provides that the existing province spend for the plebiscite;
* Will only make "smaller and weaker" political units, a "recipe" for financial disaster because of "deficit";
* Will put financial strain on the National Government because of new provincial offices to be created;
* Will decrease the IRA of existing provinces; and
* It "tampers" with 436 years of history, and is against the global trend of "integration."
Aside from opposition from the business and non-government groups, the Cebu Archdiocese also conducted a survey among parishioners in Cebu.
The survey said majority of the Cebuanos are against it, but advocates of the bills were quick to say that the survey does not reflect the true sentiments of the people. (JPM/Sun.Star Cebu)
(August 29, 2005 issue)
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