Cebu second and seventh districts: Left behind in development

Forgotten by national officials, and perhaps not given enough attention by the provincial government, the two southernmost congressional districts suffer in comparison to all the other five. This is an irony because Governor Gwen Garcia is from the seventh, and Vice Governor Junjun Davice is from the second.

The second district is what I call ADABOSS, or Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy, Boljoon, Oslob, Santander, and Samboan. They are all located in the southeast facing the island of Bohol, except Santander which is facing both the province of Siquijor and the southern tip of Negros Oriental. Samboan, like the 7th District towns, is facing Negros. This is represented by one of the most hardworking members of Congress, Congressman Willy Caminero who is partly responsible for splitting the old second district composed of 15 towns into what is now ADABOSS, which is 2nd district, and the 8 towns of the new 7th District.

The 7th District is what I call DRAMMBAG or Dumanjug, Ronda, Alcantara, Moalboal, Malabuyoc, Badian, Alegria and Ginatilan. They are represented in the House of Representatives by Congressman Peter John Durano Calderon. Compared to the other districts, these two southern areas are sadly lacking in development, despite their very rich potentials for tourism, agriculture, and mining with the oil discovery in Alegria. The seventh district is also the home of St. Pedro Calungsod and the late senator Ernesto “Boy” Herrera. The 7th District, together with a portion of the second, was the turf of Don Mariano Jesos Cuenco and Don Miguel Cuenco.

In terms of progress, the richest district is, of course, the first, which I call Minsan si Carnata or Minglanilla, San Fernando, Sibonga, Carcar, Naga, and Talisay City, represented by the most senior member of the House, Eduardo Gullas. The first district has a combined annual revenue of P2.030 billion. In terms of wealth, the next is BATBAT Pin or Barili, Aloguinsan, Toledo City, Balamban, Asturias, Tuburan, and Pinamungajan, the 3rd District, represented by Deputy Speaker PJ Garcia. It has an annual revenue of P1.955 billion. The fifth follows with one city and nine towns (I'm still trying to figure out their acronym) represented by Congressman Duke Frasco with total revenue of P1.467 billion.

The sixth district is composed only of two towns and one city, the ConCor Man or Consolacion, Cordova, and Mandaue has a total annual revenue of P1.431 billion and is represented by a neophyte representative, Emmarie Ouano Dizon. The 4th District, represented by Congresswoman Janice Salimbangon, has a revenue of P1.190 billion, from one city and seven towns (I still have no acronym for them). The second or ADABOSS only has P761 million and the poorest is the seventh with a measly P618.925 million. The second is better than the seventh because Argao and Dalaguete are both first-class municipalities. Oslob and Santander are fourth class. Alcoy, Boljoon and Samboan are fifth class.

There must be some draconian measures that should be done in these two southernmost districts of Cebu. There is perhaps a need to create a Southern Cebu Development Authority to focus on leapfrogging their development. Governor Gwen and Vice Governor Junjun should perhaps confer with Congressmen Willy and Peter John to make these two districts more progressive. I am concerned because I was born in Argao, raised by a mother from Ronda and a father from Dumanjug.