Treñas sees approval of bill reapportioning City
City Mayor Jerry Treñas is confident the bill reapportioning Iloilo City into two districts will be approved by the Senate before the May 2010 elections. His confidence on the approval of the bill was bolstered by the number of senators who expressed their support for the bill.
Treñas said, in his recent visit to Manila several senators like Senator Juan Ponce Enrile conveyed their support to the bill. There are legal questions that arise on the proposal to reapportion Iloilo City into two legislative districts particularly on the required number of population.
The proposed bill reapportioning the city is sponsored by Representative Raul Gonzalez Jr. Its passage was deemed as another form of political accommodation as Treñas ends his term as mayor while Gonzalez has still another term as congressman.
In the proposed 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 congressional districts would be divided according to the Iloilo River or the flow of the river in the city.
The first the congressional district will cover the districts of Mandurriao, Jaro, Lapaz and Lapuz. The districts of City Proper, Molo and Arevalo covers the second congressional district.
The approval of the bill before the Senate will give Gonzalez another chance to spend his third term in the first district while Treñas will run as congressman in the second district. The chief executive has already transferred his registration in Taal, Molo.
The legal issues could be resolved with the decision penned by Supreme Court Justice Renato Puno in Makati. The same argument was raised by senators who are supporting the proposal to create another legislative district in the city, he said.
The SC decision paved way for the creation of another legislative district in Makati. The decision clearly applies to the city even if there are sectors who argued on the number of population in the city. The city does not exceed the 250,000 required number of population. “I'm sorry but they are not lawyers,” said Treñas.
However, if the Senate fails to approve the bill before the election, Treñas said there are still ways in resolving the issue. Both Treñas and Gonzalez belongs to Lakas party.