No way for Sugbuak hearing here: Macias slams door on Cebu

Negros Oriental Rep. Emilio Macias yesterday slammed the door shut on the faces of Cebuanos who are still entertaining the hope of having the " Sugbuak " hearings held in Cebu.

Macias, who heads the House committee on local government which has jurisdiction over the three separate bills seeking to create three new provinces out of Cebu, said he has the final say on any action the committee may take and that as far as he is concerned, there will be no hearing in Cebu.

The hopes of having even at least one hearing in Cebu were fanned by pronouncements made by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte the other day that he will hold a public hearing in Cebu regardless of the position of Macias on the issue.

Villafuerte is head of a technical working group created by Macias to study the three bills filed by last termer Cebu Reps. Simeon Kintanar, Antonio Yapha and Clavel Martinez seeking to create their respective congressional districts into three new provinces.

But Macias, who has long made his position known that he is against any hearings being held in Cebu despite the fact that the bills concern Cebuanos, said whatever promises Villafuerte may have made, all actions of the technical working group are still subject of his final approval.

" The technical working group will still need to report to the mother committee. Whatever they will do, they will still have to inform the mother committee, so I do not know what he meant by that, " Macias said.

Macias has been citing a variety of reasons for refusing to hold hearings in Cebu.

His latest excuse against accommodating the wish of Cebuanos is that holding a hearing in Cebu will entail a lot of expense.

" That will involve money. Unsaon man nila na ( how will they do that ), " Macias said. He estimates that each of the 95 members of the committee would need to spend P6,000 for fares alone. If the budget for food, as well as the same for the committee secretariat, the expense will be considerable, he said.

" It will only be a junket for the committee, " Macias said.

Previously, Macias said there is no need to hold hearings in Cebu because the job of the committee is merely ministerial, that is, to determine if the proposed provinces met the requirements on income, population and size.

Then he shifted to another excuse not to hold hearings in Cebu, saying the issue is so emtionally charged he fears the committee may not be able to handle the hearings properly.

Another excuse Macias has offered is that the hearings are not the proper forums for the Cebuanos to register their sentiments, saying the right time to do that is during the plebiscites that will be conducted once the bills pass Congress.

Interviewed on radio DYLA, Macias urged no one in particular not to give Cebuanos any false hopes: " Ayaw ninyo nag taga-i ug false hope ang mga taga Cebu. "

As to the promise of Villafuerte to hold hearings in Cebu, Macias said the technical working group head should reexamine his decision because it contradicts with his own position.

"As soon as they have a decision, I presume they will report back to me. If it contradicts the decision of the mother committee, they should probably talk it over among themselves, " Macias said.