The main proponent of a proposed law creating the new province of Nueva Camarines denied the measure was railroaded through the House of Representatives last week where it was approved by an overwhelming 229-1 vote.
Negros Oriental Rep. George Arnaiz, chair of the committee on local governments, said the creation of Nueva Camarines out of the 4th and 5th districts of Camarines Sur was a triumph of economic development over partisan politics.
“The avalanche of votes for Nueva Camarines—let me emphasize that congressmen voted across party lines in its favor—tells us very clearly that our lawmakers look beyond partisan politics and want sustained economic and social development first and foremost,” Arnaiz said.
He said the claim of Camarines Sur Rep. Salvio Fortuno, the lone dissenter, that the bill was railroaded through the lower chamber without debate or discussion was “baseless.”
Study misused
In another development, Caramoan (Camarines Sur) Mayor Constantino Cordial Jr. said he had learned that the University of the Philippines-based Center for Local and Regional Governance had expressed outrage over the “disinformation” being spread about its ongoing study titled Fragmentation vs Consolidation: The Case of Philippine Local Governments.
Cordial said research affiliates of the think tank told him that the study in fact supported the creation of a new province because Camarines Sur, Bicol’s largest province in terms of land area and population, had proven itself through the years to be “ungovernable.”
Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte and Fortuno had cited the raw study in claiming that the creation of Nueva Camarines would create two weak provinces.
Cordial said those privy to the study branded as “patently false and self-serving” the conclusions drawn by Fortuno to support his and the governor’s opposition to the new province.
“I just hope Governor Villafuerte and Representative Fortuno would limit the discussion only to what is true. Before, they insisted that House Bill 4728 was not subjected to debates and public hearings,” Cordial said.
He noted that the two men attended and even brought supporters to committee hearings on the bill on May 31 and June 7.
“Now, even a UP study that has just been started is being used by them to mislead the public in support of their opposition to the creation of Nueva Camarines,” Cordial said.
Still first-class
He said the study was not against subdividing provinces and cities if this would result in creating better governed, economically viable and more wieldy local government units.
Camarines Sur as the mother province would retain its first-class status, a classification that Nueva Camarines would acquire based on its annual income as certified by the Bureau of Local Government Finance, said Cordial quoting from the research.
He said that despite the cost of setting up a provincial capitol and hiring employees, the return on investment for Nueva Camarines would be “immense” like a higher per capita internal revenue allotment of P772.14 per person compared to CamSur’s current IRA of P673 per person.