Move to carve new province from CamSur gains ground in the House

NAGA CITY, Philippines—A move seeking to carve out a new province from that of Camarines Sur gained ground at the House of Representatives after it was approved last Saturday on second reading at the committee on local government, a lawmaker here said.

Camarines Sur’s third district Rep. Luis R. Villafuerte Sr. said House Bill 4728, authored by fourth district representative and Deputy Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella , and co-authored by second district Rep. Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo, would be approved on third reading for submission to the House plenary during the resumption of the Congress sessions and after the State of the Nation address of President Aquino in July.

To be named “Nueva Camarines,” the proposed new province will combine the 10-town fourth district and the six-town and one-city fifth district from the 35-town and two-city Camarines Sur province.

HB 4728 seeks to declare as part of “Nueva Camarines,” the towns of Caramoan, Garchitorena, Lagonoy, Presentacion, San Jose, Siruma, Tinambac, Goa, Tigaon and Sangay of the fourth district and the towns of Baao, Balatan, Bato, Bula, Buhi, Nabua and Iriga City of the fifth district.

Villafuerte, who declared his intention to run for governor in 2013, said the province has become too big to manage and the necessity to divide would be a natural course to improve the pace of development in a focused area.

He added the proponents of HB 4728 have complied with the requirements of the creation of a new province based on the provisions of the Local Government Code.

But Villafuerte’s son, Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte Jr., is opposing the move to create “Nueva Camarines.”

“There is no clamor from our people. There is no groundswell of support. There is no urgency and certainly no necessity,” Villafuerte Jr. said.

The governor argued that dividing Camarines Sur would hamper the momentum that was achieved in the comprehensive development of the province, particularly in tourism, as shown by the marketing of Caramoan as a tourist destination.

“Caramoan, which used to be among the poorest municipalities in the Philippines, was developed during my administration and it is now known worldwide as the ‘Survivor TV series’ destination. It has generated no less than P80 million in less than five years,” he said.

He added that if the intention in creating the new province was to hasten development, the Partido Development Administration (PDA), which was created in 1994 by Republic Act 7820, would suffice.

The PDA’s main goal was to accelerate development of the Partido district so it could catch up with the more advanced regions and districts as it would have its own funding source and would be authorized to transact independently of the provincial government of Camarines Sur, he said.

Partido, the stronghold of the Fuentebella political clan for more than 100 years now, is the name of the 10-town fourth district, which includes Caramoan, where resorts owned by the provincial government are located.

Historically, the Camarines province is known to have been partitioned and rejoined during the early Spanish period.

Bicol historian Danilo Gerona said that during this time, the two Camarines provinces were in one province called the Ambos Camarines (Both Camarines) until it was split into two independent provinces—Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte—in 1829.

“In 1854, compelled by an urgent fiscal consideration, the superior government in Manila decided to unite again the two Camarines provinces into Ambos Camarines. But after barely three years, they were once again partitioned. The division lasted for about 36 years until 1893 when the two Camarines provinces were once more fused,” Gerona said.

He said Ambos Camarines remained as such until 1919 when it was separated by virtue of Public Act 2809 into Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte. Both, as named, have stayed separated since then.