Jonas wants to meet Luigi

CEBU, Philippines - Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes is extending an invitation to sixth district Rep. Luigi Quisumbing to sit down with him and talk about the proposal to convert the city into a lone congressional district. 

Quisumbing has to acknowledge the invitation without hesitation because Cortes has made clear he doesn't have all the time in the world to wait for an answer what with his constituents' demand that the city be converted into a lone district quickly.

Cortes said he has heard talks about the possibility of initiating a "people's initiative" if only to make politicians know what the people want.     But Cortes said this should not be resorted to now because he still wants to know what Quisumbing has to say now about the proposal, adding that he respects the congressman.

It is rumored that Cortes is pushing for the city's conversion because he has plans to run for congress when his term ends but the mayor said anyone can vie for the position.

"Nobody can stop me from running for the position if I wanted to. This is a democratic country," Cortes said.

What Cortes is interested in are the benefits the city would get if it were to become a lone district.

The P70 million per year pork barrel that a congressman gets could already build a lot of classrooms and construct more infrastructure projects for the city, he said. 

Quisumbing earlier said he too wants the city to become a lone district and Cortes immediately dared him to bring the issue to Congress.

Cortes said he knows other districts in the country that did not meet the population requirement as stipulated in the Constitution but became lone districts just the same. 

Francisco Amit, the mayor's legal consultant said there is nothing Quisumbing will lose if the city became a lone district because both Consolacion and Cordova will remain with the sixth district even if the district no longer meets the requirement in population and income as stipulated in the Constitution.

"Although wa na siya mu-qualify sa population but wa man na sila gi -create ang duha ka lungsod igo ra man na silang nabilin human nga dunay usa ka syudad nga gusto nang molain," Amit said.

Amit said that in the 2007 survey, there were about 14 congressional districts in the entire country whose population was less than 250,000 each district.

These included Camarines Sur, Davao Oriental, Leyte, Manila City, Marikina City, Masbate, Misamis Occidental, Navotas City, Paranaque City, the lone district of San Juan, Surigao, Surigao del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, and the lone district of Dinagat islands. (FREEMAN)