Redistricting bill needs to hurdle Senate debate
Senate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said the proposed redistricting of Iloilo City will proceed smoothly in the Senate as long as the requirements are met and there are no objections from local leaders.
Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on local government, said redistricting is a technical exercise.
It is being treated as a local bill and if there are no objections from the affected sectors, the senators will also not pose any objection, he added.
Marcos, who was in Iloilo City Wednesday, said the Senate is gathering all other similar bills and the senators hope to act on them early next year.
Iloilo City’s proposed redistricting was already approved in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
House Bill 2061, authored by Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Treñas, was passed under substitute House Bill 3474 which seeks the division of the city into two districts.
“An additional representation in Congress is not only necessary but long overdue,” Treñas said in a press statement.
He said the creation of a second legislative district complies with all the parameters set by the Constitution.
“The present population, income and geographical dimension, more than qualify Iloilo City to merit another legislative district,” Trenas said.
Then substitute House Bill 4256, which proposed to divide Iloilo City into two districts, was approved by the House on third reading on Aug. 5, 2008, but it remained pending in the Senate until the end of the 14th Congress.
“I am confident that this time the Senate will grant Iloilo City its fair representation in congress,” Treñas said.*NLG with reports from PNA
