HOUSE Bill No. 4256 has been filed by our Congressman to convert Iloilo City’s Lone District into two. It passed Third Reading in the House and it would now go to the Senate for deliberation.

Under the bill, Jaro, La Paz and Mandurriao, with a total of 97 barangays, will compose the First Congressional District, while all those barangays in the City Proper, Molo and Arevalo, numbering 83, will make up the Second Congressional District.

The redistricting bill filed would also create eight seats for kagawads from each District. Then, with one Barangay Federation President and one from the Sangguniang Kabataan to sit for each district, four more seats will be added. Our Sanggunian Panlungsod will therefore have 20 members compared to the present number of only 14, plus the Vice Mayor presiding.

The creation of Legislative Districts is provided under Art. VI, Sec. 2 (3) of the 1987 Constitution. It says that each District shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact and adjacent territories. In addition to this criterion, the Local Government Code requires a minimum population of 250,000 for the city or province to qualify for a new district and be entitled to one representative in Congress.

Now, based on the latest census of Iloilo City in 2007, we have a population of 418,710 people. After allocating 250,000 of the population to one district, then the other district will have only 168,710 people left, or short of the minimum district population requirement under the law. Moreover, there is also the need for prior consultation with the people of the city on this, perhaps through the Sanggunian or even with the barangays. Was this done? If not, the Senate will promptly reject the bill for incomplete compliance of the law.

At this time of unprecedented poverty among our people and with the government operating on a big budget deficit, with due respect to our incumbent Congressman, even if the city is qualified now to have two districts, the expense in creating another district may be put off for better times. Why, is his representation of the city in Congress not good enough that we would still need another congressman to represent us? How is his performance?

Pro-administration Rep. Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur, chairman of the House Committee on Good Government, was quoted as saying that dividing districts will cost the government millions. The expenses include funds for a plebiscite to be called to get a consensus if the people affected are amenable to such a proposal.

Cagas mentioned that the Commission on Elections can spend P50 million for the hiring of teachers and other personnel just for the plebiscite.

Then there is also the matter of a bigger budget under the proposal for Iloilo City because of the increase to 20 in the members of our Sangguniang Panlungsod. Maybe, this is not necessary at all. As it is now, it appears that we have an excess of Sanggunian members in the city. We can see that some of them are not even legislating anymore but performing executive functions under the Office of the Mayor like raiding night clubs or building fish corrals in the middle of major thoroughfares.

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