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Monday, July 30, 2007
Lapu-Lapu City won’t give up ‘independence’
By Allan I. Varquez
LAPU-LAPU City -- Vice Mayor Mario Amores will oppose Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz’s bill creating a 7th congressional district and reinstating the new highly urbanized city as another component city of the Cebu Provincial Government.
Amores also doubts Ruiz can get the support of Lapu-Lapu City residents for House Bill 1306, which seeks to divide the sixth legislative district in two--one comprising Mandaue City and Consolacion town and another one, known as the 7th legislative district, comprising Lapu-Lapu City and Cordova town.
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He said Ruiz’s bill, in effect, places Lapu-Lapu City--which achieved its status as a highly urbanized city last July 21--back under the Provincial Government.
“Mura ta ug nagsayaw ana ug cha-cha. Mo-abante unya mo-atras. Nalipay na gani mi nga independente nami sa Province kay dako kaayo na ug advantage ngari namo pero karon, ibalik na sab mi ngadto nila. Naunsa na baya ta ani uy?” he told Sun.Star Cebu in an interview (We’re dancing the cha-cha. We take one step forward, then another step back. We were even glad that we’ve been declared independent from the Provincial Government since it will be to our advantage, but now she (Ruiz) wants us under Capitol again).
House Bill 1306, if passed by Congress, will supersede the Local Government Code provision that automatically stripped Lapu-Lapu City residents of their obligation to vote for Capitol officials after the city gained its status as a highly urbanized one.
“With that provision sa iyang bill that we can still vote for and be voted upon as elective officials of the Province, sa ato pa, balik na sab mi sa administrative supervision sa Capitol? Na, mo-fight na gyud mi ana,” he said (We’re going to fight this).
“Independence” from Capitol was just one of the changes Lapu-Lapu City gained after the July 21 plebiscite.
But Ruiz said she filed the bill so that Cordova will still become part of a legislative district since Lapu-Lapu City could now become a lone congressional district as a highly urbanized city.
“However, constituting the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu into two separate and distinct congressional districts being highly urbanized cities would isolate the municipalities of Consolacion and Cordova, which, together with the above-named cities, constitute the present sixth district,” Ruiz’s bill read. Lapu-Lapu
City separates Cordova from Mandaue City and Consolacion town.
House Bill 1306 also bars the municipalities of Consolacion and Cordova from being “lumped together” with other congressional districts in the Province of Cebu “as doing so would violate the constitutional requirement that each legislative district shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact and adjacent territory and there are no valid justifications for an exemption to this in this case.”
Ties
“It is worthy to note that the Municipality of Consolacion used to be a part of Mandaue City and the same was true with the Municipality of Cordova in relation to the City of Lapu-Lapu. Hence, these two sets of local government units share both historical and geographical ties,” the bill also read.
However, Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy had already earlier expressed the town’s willingness to be annexed to Cebu City.
Cordova’s Shell Island is reportedly just 500 meters away from Cebu City.
Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north district) also said he is not opposed to annexing Cordova to Cebu City, correcting Ruiz’s earlier claim that he is against the idea.
Logic
Del Mar confirmed having a casual conversation with Ruiz and Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st) where the 6th district lawmaker talked about her proposal to constitute Cordova and Lapu-Lapu City into a 7th legislative district.
“I agreed to the logic of her proposal, but it did not mean that I opposed Sitoy’s choice to annex to Cebu City,” he said in a separate talk.
On Sitoy’s condition that he would annex with Cebu City if Mayor Tomas Osmena gave him the north and south reclamation area as part of Cordova’s congressional territory, Del Mar said the matter is a “big deal” and should be discussed thoroughly.
“I am open to any proposal and idea, but let me say this, that even without Cordova, Cebu City will have another district because of overpopulation and that is the central district, which is part of the north and south districts,” he said.
He added he and Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south) are just waiting for the results of the August population census before filing a bill creating the Cebu City central legislative district.
Barangay?
“If in the census we have a one million population, it will mean two more congressional districts for Cebu and not just one. Ako ug si Cuenco mo file ug separate bills unya ana,” he said.
Department of Interior and Local Government 7 Director Pedro Noval Jr. considered Ruiz’s move appropriate for Cordova, but “quite unfair for Lapu-Lapu City.”
“It depends on the two localities. Kon dili sila mosugot, ari na sa public hearing nila daugon,” Noval said (If they can’t agree on what to do, the results of the public hearing will settle the matter). A public hearing is the determining factor in passing the bill.
He said there is no legal hindrance to Sitoy’s choice to annex his town to Cebu City, but if it happens, Cordova will become a barangay and its structures as a local government unit will be dissolved. (With CYR/Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (July 30, 2007 issue)
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