FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

LRay asks Senate to junk House bill splitting CamSur 

By Juan Escandor Jr. 

thephilippines.ph

NAGA CITY---With an overwhelming vote of 229-1 over a bill that seeks to split Camarines Sur into two provinces breezing through the House Thursday, Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte Jr. immediately raised an appeal to the Senate Friday to junk the bill.

In a statement, Villafuerte Jr. said: “We are thus appealing to our progressive-minded senators to junk this measure so they can help sustain CamSur’s rapid growth momentum.”

Villafuerte Jr.’s father, Camarines Sur third district Rep. Luis R. Villafuerte, is among the four congressmen in the province pushing for the passage of HB 4820, which is the amended HB 4728 originally filed by fourth district Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella. Representatives Rolando Andaya Jr. and Diosdado Arroyo, of first and second district, respectively, co-sponsored the amended bill.

Camarines Sur fifth district Rep. Salvio Fortuno stood alone to vote against it.

“The vote was not the true sentiment of all House members, because under House rules, those who attended the session but did not vote no will be registered to have voted yes to the bill, even if they were no longer in the session hall, when voting took place,” the governor commented.

“More importantly, the vote does not reflect the true sentiment of CamSur folk, an overwhelming majority of whom oppose the bill. Bill proponents are saying they held two public hearings, but these were held at the Batasan in Quezon City and not in CamSur,” he added.

Villafuerte Jr. lamented that there was no single congressional hearing held in Camarines Sur before the approval of HB 4820.

“They did not hold any congressional hearing anywhere in CamSur because they know deep in their hearts that our people do not want to split CamSur into two. They opted to hold two hearings only in Quezon City when it is not Quezon City that is up for partition,” he said.

Fuentebella claimed that aside from four congressmen pushing for the passage of HB 4820, 24 of the 35 mayors in Camarines Sur have expressed their support to create a new province to be called “Nueva Camarines.”

The solon said Nueva Camarines could easily be a first-class province since the towns it would comprise generated close to P600 million in average income in the last four years, not far behind the P733 million the towns that would comprise what would be left of Camarines Sur would generate.

“Ninety percent of the barangay captains openly support this measure, including those in coastal areas that have long been neglected by the provincial government such as in the municipalities of Caramoan, Siruma, Presentacion and North Lagonoy,” he said.

The Nueva Camarines will comprise the towns of Caramoan, Garchitorena, Lagonoy, Presentacion, San Jose, Siruma, Tinambac, Goa, Tigaon and Sagñay of the fourth district and the towns of Baao, Balatan, Bato, Bula, Buhi, Nabua and Iriga City of the fifth district.

The Fuentebellas, one of the three political clans in Camarines Sur, have been reigning over the fourth district of the province for over 100 years now. The other two are the Villafuertes and the Alfelors, who like the Fuentebellas, have their own time claiming the gubernatorial seat of the province.

Opposing the creation of a new province out of 17 contiguous towns out of the 35 towns and one component city, Villafuerte Jr. sees the move to split Camarines Sur into two provinces highly unpopular, divisive and counterproductive

Citing a 2005 study by the Local Government Development Foundation and the German foundation Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Villafuerte said the creation of a new province was estimated to cost P1.4 billion in start-up funds.

“The study said in a 2005 study that consolidation, rather than fragmentation, of local government units (LGUs) is the way to go as it would cost almost P800 million to put up a new province. Considering inflation, it translates to P1.4 billion at 2011 prices,” the governor declared.

He said the creation of a new province will also put an additional financial burden to the national government for the establishment of new provincial offices and at least 16 national line agencies in addition to setting up a new provincial police office and judicial courts.

“All other provinces will be affected by the creation of the proposed Nueva Camarines because it will mean that one more province will have to get a slice of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) pie that all provinces are supposed to share among themselves under the equal-sharing formula,” he explained.

Villafuerte said the new province will mean that there will be P160 million less from the annual IRA allocation for provincial LGUs.

“In our province, an overwhelming majority frets that this congressional plan will derail the growth momentum of CamSur, which has been on an upward trajectory as a result of its international reputation as an extreme sports and ecotourism haven,” he commented.

Villafuerte harped on the achievements of his administration that made the province the country’s No. 1 tourist destination in the country.

He said that according to the Department of Tourism’s Research and Statistics Division, the combined efforts of all sectors here to promote the CamSur Watersports Center (CWC) and the Caramoan Islands as a must-see package for foreign and domestic tourists alike have brought CamSur’s success as a vibrant and economically-promising province.

“This marketing strategy will be put in jeopardy by the split-CamSur plan as the Caramoan Islands are in the district that the bill’s proponents want to form part of their proposed Nueva Camarines,” Villafuerte warned.

“It is unfortunate that some quarters pushing this divisive, counterproductive and costly move to balkanize our province have even resorted to peddling lies and waging a smear campaign against me and the provincial government in a desperate bid to advance their nefarious agenda,” he said.


First of all, I’m not pro-Villafuerte nor an anti-Villafuerte. But allow me to share this. 

How would you feel if your kids need to be separated? That you have to give your other child to another family? You might say “Oh, if it would be better for him, why not?” but come to think of it. As a father, would you give up that easily? I know how papa Lray feels. It’s as if they were planning to let his child be adopted even without his approval. The new province which is proposed to be named Nueva Camarines will comprise the towns of Caramoan, Garchitorena, Lagonoy, Presentacion, San Jose, Siruma, Tinambac, Goa, Tigaon and Sagñay of the fourth district and the towns of Baao, Balatan, Bato, Bula, Buhi, Nabua and Iriga City of the fifth district. What they are trying to point out is that these places are neglected by the present administration. So they come up with a plan to put the fourth and the fifth district to a new administration. 

Would this a guarantee a change? Yes, of course. But are you sure it would be for the better? 

La la la…