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The bill creating a new congressional district in Camarines Sur is
in for rough sailing in the Senate Committee on Local Governments
headed by Sen. Noynoy Aquino. The new district was created
reportedly to prevent any clash in 2010 between Rep. Dato Arroyo, a
son of President Gloria Arroyo, and his predecessor, Budget
Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr.
The main problem of the new legislative district
is its small population—it has 170,000 as against the legal
requirement of 250,000. It had no problem getting passed at the
House where the President holds sway. The same, however, could not
be said at the Senate.
I remember that during the floor debates of the
bill creating the lone legislative district of Malolos City,
questions about the city’s population were repeatedly raised—and
it was only about 20,000 souls less than the legal requirement. Sen.
Joker Arroyo noted that the Supreme Court had declared as
unconstitutional the conversion of 16 towns into cities for failing
to meet the required income of P100 million. Senator Arroyo said the
Senate was embarrassed because it allowed itself to be swayed by the
House. He warned of another debacle in the Supreme Court should the
Senate allow itself again to be persuaded by the House in creating
new legislative districts that do not meet all the legal
requirements. The Senate majority approved the creation of the
Malolos legislative district only after getting the certification
that its population would reach 250,000 by May 2010.
Noynoy also raised this question on the
population requirement at the hearing of the bill seeking to create
the lone district of Puerto Princesa City. This highly urbanized
city has a population of only 215,000 as of the 2007 census, or
35,000 short of the legal requirement. Noynoy asked the bill’s
main author, Rep. Baham Mitra, if he was amenable to adding one more
town to Puerto Princesa to meet the required population of 250,000.
Puerto Princesa is presently within the district
of Baham. If it is created, Vice Gov. Dave Ponce de Leon would run
to represent it while Rep. Mitra would run for governor. Gov. Joel
Reyes is expected to run in the present district of Baham. All of
these plans would go awry should Mitra’s bill fail to hurdle the
Senate because of its population problem.
The city will also be in trouble should it fail
to become a lone congressional district. With its declaration as a
highly urbanized city, its residents could no longer vote for
provincial officials and it would no longer be entitled to any
funding from the provincial government.
Now, if Puerto Princesa is already having
difficulty because its population is short by 35,000, then you can
just imagine the gauntlet that the new Camarines Sur district must
pass through with its population short by 80,000. If the Senate
passes the Camarines Sur bill, then there is more reason to pass the
Puerto Princesa one.
Different problem
The bill creating a new district in Pangasinan
is also facing a problem. This time, however, the problem stems
mainly from over-population, not lack of it. The proposed new
seventh district of Pangasinan will have a population of 600,000,
making it the biggest congressional district in the entire province.
Noynoy saw validity in questions of why the new
district should be bigger than any of the current districts. There
were also complaints against the transfer of two towns to the new
district which oppositors termed as “gerrymandering.” The
biggest problem, however, is the opposition of the entire provincial
government to the creation of the new district. The provincial
government charged that they were never consulted by the authors of
the redistricting bill.
Noynoy advised the bill’s authors led by Rep.
Victor Agbayani to get together with the provincial government. He
said he would consider the Pangasinan bill only after they have
reached an agreement. Alaminos City Mayor Nani Braganza, the former
agrarian reform secretary, said the best solution is to create not
one but four new legislative districts. “After all, Pangasinan is
entitled to 10 districts,” he said.
No problems
Unlike the above proposed new legislative
districts, the addition of a new one in Camarines Norte has already
been endorsed by Noy-noy’s committee. A committee report for the
reapportionment of Cavite in10 seven districts is now ready for
sponsorship.
At the last committee hearing, Noynoy saw no
problem for the creation of the lone congressional district of
Lapu-Lapu City. Another bill seeking to create a third legislative
district in Cebu City still has to be heard.
President Arroyo has already signed into law the
creation of new legislative districts in Agusan del Sur and in
Malolos City, raising the number of districts to 221.
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
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