Las Piñas, Taguig, and San Juan: A tale of 3 tiny cities

The total land area of the three cities of Las Piñas, Taguig, and San Juan constitutes less than 1% of the total national territory of the whole republic and yet they command six of the 24 senators or 25% of the Upper Chamber of Congress. Do you call that proportionate representation?

The total population of the three cities is a very small fraction of the total 117 million overall population of the whole country. Yet, they control one-fourth of the Senate membership. Cebu, with its more than five million people, has zero representation in the Philippine Senate. The two Negros provinces also, with a combined population of about five million is not represented either The highly-populated provinces of Panay, with the sole exception of Antique (if Senator Loren is really from that place) are not represented either. There is really no equity and proportionality of representation. What is worse, these enclaves are dominated by family dynasties for the longest time.

Las Piñas has a small area of only 12.62 square miles or 32.69 square kilometers. Its population is 606,223 and voters number only 291,074. Las Piñas is smaller than the towns of Balamban, Argao, Dalaguete, and Sibonga in the Province of Cebu. It has only 156,899 households. And yet, it is represented by a mother, Cynthia Villar and a son, Mark Villar in the Senate. Where else in the whole world can you find a mother and a son sitting side-by-side in the highest legislative body of the land? And since, the mother is term-limited, Camille, a silent member of the House is now appearing in major festivals and advertising along highways. That will be another record, a brother and a sister in the same Senate.

Well, the Mark/Camille tandem is not unprecedented. Their Nacionalista party mates Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano in another small city of Taguig have already been in the same Senate, not once but repeatedly already. Taguig is slightly bigger than Las Piñas with an area of 16.25 square miles or 47.28 square kilometers. Its size has been increased recently by the Supreme Court ruling that a number of Makati barangays properly belong to Taguig. But this small constituency is represented by former speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and elder sister Pia. They are children of the late senator Rene Cayetano.

The smallest of them all is San Juan, with an area less than half of the tiny Las Piñas. San Juan has only 2.27 square miles or 5.87 square kilometers. Its population is only 126,347 in 31,519 households. Its voters number only 109,640. I have a strong suspicion that Barangay Guadalupe of Cebu City has a bigger population and has more voters than San Juan. And yet, this minuscule city is represented by the Senate President Protempore, Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, the more experienced one, together with his half-brother, the good one, JV Ejercito. Both their father, Erap Estrada and Dra. Loi used to be senators also. It’s all in the family.

Makati wanted to join the fray. While Senator Nancy was already in the chamber, his great father, the legendary Jejomar Binay, wanted to become a senator too but lost his bid. Had he succeeded, we would have a Senate with a father and a daughter sitting side-by-side with a mother and a son from Las Piñas, and the two sets of siblings from Taguig and San Juan. There are many big provinces in the country without any senator, like Pangasinan, Isabela, Palawan, and the two provinces of Samar. Not even Leyte or Bohol, not the three provinces of Zamboanga and all the provinces of Caraga.

Therefore, if you continue voting for these same bananas next year, it is your fault not mine that we have this kind of government. Don't ever blame the trapos or God for the predicament we are all in. Blame yourselves for not using your common sense. The fault, my dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings.