Camarines Sur gov says ‘split’ author feeding on feud

The governor of Camarines Sur on Saturday said the main proponent of a move to divide the province is feeding on the feud between him and his father to push for a new province.

Gov. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, in a statement reacting to an Inquirer story earlier, said Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella was obviously riding on the differences between him and his father, Rep. Luis Villafuerte Sr.

“He has been taking advantage of our family differences,” the governor said.

Fuentebella, in an earlier statement, said the creation of the new province, to be called Nueva Camarines, had nothing to do with the feud between father and son Villafuerte.

“Nueva Camarines is all about uplifting the people of the 16 towns and one city comprising the Partido and fifth districts from poverty and giving them a better future,” Fuentebella had said in a statement.

“The idea of Nueva Camarines is no spur-of-the-moment thing,” he said. “It is the product of rigorous and detailed studies.”

“The so-called family feud among the Villafuertes did not figure at all in my bill. This is a purely socioeconomic issue, not a political one,” Fuentebella said.

But Governor Villafuerte said it would be difficult and “naive to believe that he is not using the differences I have with my father to push his agenda.”

He said proponents of the new province have also been pushing for the division of Camarines Sur by alleging wrongdoing on his part.

Representative Villafuerte is supporting the bill creating Nueva Camarines, which has put father and son on a collision course.