Unity amid calls for the division of Cebu

Last Monday, we joined the Supak sa Buak or the United Cebu Summit at the SM Theater One which was attended by various socio-politico groups united in one cause — to oppose the proposed division or split-up of Cebu into four separate provinces, namely, Cebu del Norte, Cebu Occidental, Cebu del Sur and what’s left of the original province. Take note that the suggestion to break up Cebu comes from the three members of Congress who belong to the second, third and fourth districts of the province and who are on their third or final terms of office, meaning, they cannot run again for Congress.

Now I honestly don’t know why Gov. Gwen Garcia had the Supak sa Buak Summit held at the SM Theater One in SM City. I can only reckon that it is due to the fact that the only thing that these proposals have given us Cebuanos is their entertainment value; after all, we need a good laugh every now and then! But using a theater to give a PowerPoint presentation was something new to most of us who’ve been used to having PowerPoint presentations in conference rooms.

Let me stress that until this time, all the proponents of this split have not yet given any details or the rationales of the viability and workability of their proposals, except that these are supposed to be good for Cebu. In truth, these proposals are the height of political greed and selfishness borne out of envy by politicians who, despite all their previous attempts, could never win the governorship. Hence, the only logical thing for them to do is break up Cebu and turn their respective districts into separate provinces so finally, they can be governor. But will this move be good for Cebu? Well, since the proponents choose to remain silent on the impact of this break-up, Gov. Gwen gave us the details of what would happen if this break-up occurs.

Gov. Gwen spoke before a theater screen emblazoned with the statement, "Cebu is No. 1... because we are One!" She started her presentation in a similar way we started this column by stating, "The proponents of this split have been deafeningly silent with their justifications, except for motherhood statements that this is good for Cebu. The Cebuanos in those districts deserve to know the truth." The governor did not mince her words when she declared that "the proponents of this split have one thing in common, they’re on their third or last terms in office!" Indeed, you don’t have to be a space scientist to know the motives behind this stupidity.

The governor then gave the criteria for the creation of a new province, which are based mainly on population, land area and income. To meet this criteria, a new province must have a population of at least 350,000, an income of not less than P250 million and a land area of at least two million square kilometers. Gov. Gwen then gave us the land, population and income profile of each of the districts being proposed to be turned into a province.

Her presentation showed that all three districts could pass the requirements on population and income as they exceeded the minimum required, but certainly, none of them could meet the minimum requirement on land area. Without that, these proposals are doomed to fail. Mind you, the facts and figures presented by the governor gave everyone a clear financial, population and land picture of each district.

But Gov. Gwen didn’t stop there... she was brutal in her assessment that if the province of Cebu is broken up into four separate provinces, instead of Cebu being the number one province among the country’s top 80 provinces in terms of Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), a newly created Cebu del Sur would suddenly drop to the level of Ifugao, Eastern Samar or Sultan Kudarat. Occidental Cebu, on the other hand, would rank close to Mt. Province — 73rd — while Cebu del Norte would be equal to Tawi-Tawi - 65th. What’s left of the original Cebu province would now be on the same rank as Batangas, Quezon or Iloilo, somewhere around the 12th or 14th.

Since figures do not lie, there is no doubt that from being the country’s number one province, Cebu would slide down into mediocrity! Gov. Gwen pointed out that the creation of new provinces would entail more expenses to pay for new provincial LTO, DOT and PIA offices and provincial courts which would need new buildings not found in those districts today.

The Cebu governor stressed that since their present incomes could never pay for the creation of a new province, that would mean that the new governors would have no choice but to borrow money. Gov. Gwen proudly declared that Cebu is not only the number one province in terms of assets (P5 billion) or income (P1.3 billion), it also has zero debt! Of course, credit for this fiscal management goes to her father, former Gov. Pablo Garcia. After all, Gov. Gwen is barely seven months in office. But that is the truth... one can count himself as rich if he has more than enough assets or cash and more importantly, he has no debts! Well, that’s the true picture of Cebu today and after her PowerPoint presentation, the Cebu governor was greeted with shouts of "No to the break-up of Cebu province!"

There were a lot of people representing various groups who went to the jam-packed SM Theater One to make their statements. Notable among them were Dr. Francisco Nemenzo, former president of the University of the Philippines (UP) who spoke in behalf of the academe; Ted Locson, who spoke for the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (CCCII), while the civil society had Prof. Cherry Ballescas. Our friends from the Manila press were also there: Juan P. Dayang of the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Malaya columnist Ellen Tordesillas and Domini Torrevillas of The Philippine STAR. Even our beloved Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal also came up with a statement read by Msgr. Roberto "Boy" Alesna virtually telling the various parishes not to support the move to break up Cebu.

If any, the proponents of the proposals to split up Cebu have done Gov. Gwen a great service... now more Cebuanos are united behind her in this stupidity. This attempted division caused Cebu to be united as one!

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.