Most politicians in Camarines Sur support a congressional proposal to split the province in two, with the new territory to be called Nueva Camarines, according to a Bicol lawmaker.
Camarines Sur Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella, author of House Bill No. 4820, said four of five representatives and 24 of 35 mayors had expressed support for the creation of a new province.
On the other hand, those opposed to the proposal led by Camarines Sur Gov. L-Ray Villafuerte said there was no broad-based support for splitting the province in two.
Villafuerte said the proposal was based on political rather than economic considerations since dividing the province would create two weak territories.
Fuentebella, however, said Nueva Camarines could easily be a first-class province since the towns it would comprise generated close to P600 million in average income in the last four years, not far behind the P733 million the towns that would be left in Camarines Sur made.
“Ninety percent of the barangay captains openly support this measure, including those in coastal areas that have long been neglected by the provincial government such as in the municipalities of Caramoan, Siruma, Garchitorena, Presentacion and North Lagonoy,” said Fuentebella.
The measure pushing for the creation of Nueva Camarines has been approved on second reading in committee.
Fuentebella said several public forums had been held to discuss the creation of the new province and the feedback had been overwhelmingly positive.
The Local Government Code states that a new province should have an average income in the last two years of at least P20 million, a population of at least 250,000 and land area of at least 2,000 square kilometers.
The proposed Nueva Camarines covers the city of Iriga and the municipalities of Baao, Balatan, Bato, Bula, Nabua, Caramoan, Garchitorena, Goa, Lagonoy, Presentacion, Sagnay, San Jose, Siruma, Tigaon and Tinambac. Only the towns of Baao, Balatan, Bato and Bula are not covered by the Partido area created under RA 7820.