Senate body suspends hearing on Pangasinan redistricting

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate committee on local government decided last week to suspend temporarily the hearing on the bill authored by Rep. Victor Agbayani (second district, Pangasinan) that sought to create an additional congressional district for the province.

The decision of the panel chaired by Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III was reached after provincial officials led by Gov. Amado Espino Jr. made clear their opposition to the Agbayani bill.

Aquino said the committee had to suspend the hearing on the bill as the major reshuffling of components in the first, second and third legislative districts in Pangasinan would mess up the geographical position and “might open to questions of gerrymandering.”

Joining Espino in the Senate hearing were Vice Gov. Marlyn Primicias-Agabas, six provincial board members and a number of town mayors.

Espino said he was not opposed to the proposal of increasing Pangasinan’s representation in the House of Representatives, adding though that this has to be done properly.

House Bill 4276, which seeks to reapportion Pangasinan into seven legislative districts, was passed on third reading by the Lower House on Aug. 11 last year.

Co-authored by Reps. Arthur Celeste (first district) and Ma. Rachel Arenas (third district), the bill is now in the Senate for concurrence before it is finally made into law with the signing of President Arroyo.

Celeste, however, had withdrawn his co-sponsorship of the bill after other leaders in his district expressed their opposition.

Under the proposal, Espino said the new district will be the province’s biggest in terms of the number of barangays, population and voting population. 

Under the bill, the third congressional district will be composed of San Carlos City, Aguilar, Basista, Bugallon, Mangatarem, Urbiztondo and Bayambang.

Except for San Carlos and Bayambang, the other towns that would be lumped into the new district are currently within the second congressional district.

The components in the fourth, fifth and sixth districts shall remain and would only be renamed fifth, sixth and seventh district.

“We are opposed to the bill because there was no proper consultation. We maintain that there could have been a better reapportionment of the province’s congressional districts if we were properly consulted,” Primicias-Agabas said.

“We are not against the proposed reapportionment of the province and, in fact, Pangasinan, having a current population of 2.7 million, is already qualified for even 10 legislative districts and this would mean an additional development fund for the province,” Espino said.

However, the governor, who had served for six years in Congress as second district congressman, said the maximum required population of 250,000 for a district should not be the only basis in the redistricting, adding that “culture, economy, tourism program attachments and even dialect must be strongly considered.”

Last September, the provincial board passed a resolution strongly opposing the Agbayani bill, saying it was not for the best interest of the people.