New provinces or cities: More politicians?

Didn’t we say so many times in this corner “How time flies?” This is our last column for January 2008 and we’ve got 11 more months till the next Christmas! Talking about time, way back in 2004, the province of Cebu began fighting for its political life in order to keep it united as only one province, because apparently at that time, three members of the House of Representatives were barred by the Constitution from seeking another term of office, hence the last-termers proposed to break up Cebu into separate provinces so they could all run as governors.

These last-termers were Reps. Simeon Kintanar of the second district, Antonio Yapha of the third district, and Clavel Asas-Martinez of the fourth district, who came up with a proposal to dismember the province of Cebu into four separate provinces – Cebu del Sur, Cebu del Norte, Occidental Cebu and the present province of Cebu. They were called the “Sugbuak group.”

The Sugbuak ploy was devious to say the least… as they used all their connections in Congress to fast-track the dismemberment of the province of Cebu so that by the 2004 elections they could continue their political dynasties as the governors of their respective realms. These people, like most of our politicians in this country, have arrogated upon themselves that the public office has become their family business.

Unfortunately that devious ploy was exposed to the point that even our beloved Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal issued a statement totally opposing the Sugbuak group for their selfish motives. The Sugbuak issue was carried on until the 2007 local elections, where Gov. Gwen Garcia asked those opposed to the plan to unite under the “One Cebu” banner. This soon emerged as the One Cebu Party, which fought the Sugbuak group who was trounced in the 2007 elections. Here was a neophyte political party, winning over established parties that were allied to the President’s two political parties, namely Lakas and Kampi.

The reason why Cebuanos supported Gov. Gwen Garcia was the fact that among the 79 provinces of the Philippines, Cebu was number one in all counts… income, assets and zero debt! Breaking up the province of Cebu would have downgraded her into one of the poorest provinces of the country like Sultan Kudarat or Southern Leyte. This was totally unacceptable to Cebuanos and their voice was heard when Gov. Garcia was elected to her second term with a history-making vote margin.

Incidentally at the height of the fight against the Sugbuak group, the League of Governors of the Philippines (LGP) supported Gov. Garcia. Today, another big battle is brewing, this time it is fought by the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), whose officials are hoping to block the upcoming cityhood of 27 municipalities. In Cebu province alone, we have the cities of Bogo, Naga and Carcar and the LCP’s opposition to these new cities is exactly for the same reason why the LGP opposed the creation of new provinces – the revenues that would go to these new cities would have to be taken from the existing ones.

We have said that Toledo City usually gets P307 million annually from its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), but when the 27 municipalities become cities, it would only get P276 million, a sharp decline in hard-earned funds that the city would not get from other revenue sources. Indeed, new cities or provinces mean the creation of new positions for mayor, provincial governor, and city councilor or provincial board member. It will also create new political fiefdoms, just like what happened on the islands of Siquijor and Camiguin.

Clearly, this country called the Philippines is ungovernable, more so that we have created more politicians than we need to have. What Congress ought to do is “depoliticize” this country because the less politicians we have, the more services we can give to the Filipino people. During the battle against the Sugbuak, one alternative solution was to create more congressional districts; after all, it is admitted that given its population, Cebu is underrepresented in the House of Representatives.

Taking a more serious look at this suggestion by Rep. Pablo Garcia, it would seem that we would be adding more politicians to the already crowded world of politicos. But creating new congressional districts would only add one major politician to a province or city, as compared to creating a new set of officials for the province from governor to provincial board members or city mayor to city councilors. I hope that at the height of this new battle, our city mayors would find the need for this country to federalize because this is one of the best changes we can give to the Filipino people. 

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, “Straight from the Sky,” shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.