Senate OKs bill seeking creation of 7th district in Cebu

Cebu province will most likely have an additional representative in Congress next year after the Senate on Tuesday approved on third and final reading the bill proposing for seventh legislative district in the province.

House Bill 4427 seeks to create a seventh legislative district in Cebu province and in effect would result to an additional member of the House of Representatives by next polls.

Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr, chairman of the committee on local government, said the new legislative district will be carved out of the present second district, which is composed of 15 municipalities or more than one-third of the 44 municipalities of the province.

It also has the biggest number of barangays at 284, and has 246.8 kilometers of national roads, the longest among the six legislative districts of the province.

The proposal, contained in House Bill 4427, was introduced in the House by Represenatives by Reps. Wilfredo Caminero, Benhur Salimbangon, and Gwendolyn Garcia, who are all from Cebu; and Aileen Radaza, who represents Lapu-Lapu City.

Marcos said according to the proponents of the bill, the enormous size of the land area of the present second congressional district, as compared to the remaining congressional districts of Cebu province, burdens its present representatives in the effective discharge of its duties to its constituents.

“The creation of a new legislative district will boost the development efforts not only in the said area but in the whole province,” Marcos said in his sponsorship speech. “With the increasing population of the Province of Cebu and its fast development, the province indeed deserves an additional seat in the House of Representatives.”

The proposed seventh district shall be composed of the municipalities of Dumanjug, Ronda, Alcantara, Moalboal, Badian, Alegria, Malabuyoc, and Ginatilan which has a combined population of 200,092 based on the 2010 census of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Meanwhile, the municipalities of Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy, Boljoon, Oslob, Santander and Samboan would continue to comprise the second legislative district of the province. These municipalities have a combined population count of 223,360 based on the 2010 census of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Cebu is ranked as the fifth most populated province in the country. —KBK, GMA News