LUCENA CITY – The Catholic Church has taken the lead in a campaign to create a new province out of Quezon that faces a vote late in November.

The proposal would divide Quezon province into Quezon del Sur and Quezon del Norte.

Bishop Emilio Marquez has confessed that the idea originated from him out of compassion for poor residents from the 3rd and 4th districts of the province.

In his homily at the St. Ferdinand Cathedral Sunday, the bishop said he first brought the proposal to former Quezon Rep. Wigberto Tañada sometime in the 1990s.

“In my 17 years as bishop of Gumaca, I saw the poor and neglected conditions of the 3rd and 4th districts. I told Bobby (Tañada) to work for the division of the province,” Marquez said.

Republic Act No. 9495 creating Quezon del Sur was originally filed by Representatives Tañada (4th District) and Rafael Nantes (1st District) in 1998.

When Tañada made it to the Senate, the proposal was re-filed by Nantes with Representatives Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III (4th District), Proceso Alcala (2nd District) and Danilo Suarez (3rd District) until its passage last year.

Turnaround

However, after being elected governor in the 2007 elections, Nantes made a turnaround and has now been publicly declaring his opposition to the division of the province on grounds that it will disrupt his general plans for the development of Quezon.

Marquez called on his parishioners to vote in favor of creating Quezon del Sur in a plebiscite scheduled in late November.

“Let us all vote. It is our obligation. But we should all vote in favor of creating a new province. Let us give the people of the 3rd and 4th districts a chance to stand on their own. That’s charity,” he said.

Marquez also refuted claims by opponents of the division that no public hearing had been conducted.

“It’s a lie,” he said.

Marquez, former Gumaca bishop who ministered the affairs of the Catholic Church in the 4th and some parts of the 3rd district, said he remembered that on Oct. 28, 2000, one of the public hearings, which was attended by at least five congressmen, one of them from Mindanao, was held in a function room of the Gumaca bishop’s residence.

New beginning

“The idea of good government is to bring it closer to the people and this (creating Quezon del Sur) is the best way to do it,” Marquez said.

Charismatic priest Fr. Joey Faller from Lucban town has also declared his support for the division of Quezon as it would be a “new beginning” for the poor people of the province.

Infanta Catholic Bishop Rolando Tria Tirona, head of the prelature of Infanta in northern Quezon, is set to launch an information campaign on the division.