Lawyer to question redistricting of city in Senate
A topnotch Ilonggo lawyer said that the passage of House Bill 4256, a bill which seeks to reapportion Iloilo City into two districts, is violative of the Local Government Code (LGC).
Atty. Daniel Cartagena said he is set to send a letter to the Senate committee on local government questioning the passage of the bill.
Cartagena insisted that Iloilo City failed to meet the required number of population in creating a new legislative district. He each district should have a 250,000 population while Iloilo City has only 418,000 population based in the latest census made by the National Statistics Office.
HB 4256 was sponsored by Iloilo City Representative Raul Gonzalez Jr.
Cartagena, in a radio interview, said he has already made an inquiry at the House of Representatives prior to the approval of the bill in Congress. However, the members of the House of Representatives favored the approval of the bill.
Though Cartagena questioned the approval of HB 4256, he did not file a written opposition to the bill.
In the bill, there are two congressional districts, which follows that there will be two congressmen but one mayor. There would be additional members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod from eight to 16 members. The Iloilo River will serve as demarcation line between the two districts.
The first congressional district will cover the districts of Mandurriao, Jaro, Lapaz and Lapuz. On the other hand, the districts of City Proper, Molo and Arevalo covers the second congressional district.
Cartagena said he is now preparing a communication to Senator Noynoy Aquino, chair of the committee on local government, regarding HB 4256. After passing the lower house the approval of the bill lies with the Senate.
In earlier interview, Gonzalez said Ilongga Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago is willing to sponsor the bill before the Senate. Several other senators, namely, Senator Manny Villar, Juan Miguel Zubiri and Francis Pangilinan are reportedly willing to support the bill.
Cartagena said the proponents of the bill should think beyond their personal interests. It will open the gates for other local government units to do the same even if they failed to meet the requirements, he said.
It is a bad precedent and will not stop other local government units from doing the same. It is also a "myth" that the creation of two two congressional districts districts is advantageous to the city, Cartagena added.