The said resolution
specifically pointed out the approval of the Senate on its third and
final reading the cityhood bills of 12 towns, which includes
Catbalogan, Samar and that of Borongan, Eastern Samar.
It argued that the
enactment of the cityhood bills of these towns will render inutile the
subsisting requirements of RA 9009 and will violate the Constitution,
particularly the equal protection clause.
According to Hon. Noel
Sermense, the resolution will authorize the city mayor to contest in
appropriate court the 12 cityhood bills which is now awaiting the
signature and approval of Malacañang.
The same resolution
likewise gave Sarmiento the authority in behalf of this city to file a
petition to prohibit the Commission of Elections from holding
plebiscites in the concerned municipalities.
According to Sermense,
the principal sponsor of the resolution, since the passage of RA 7160
or the Local Government Code in 1991, the number of chartered cities
in the country has more than doubled from around 50 to 117 to date.
The reason cited was
that under the said law, it is easy for any towns to be converted into
a chartered city if its has an average annual income of P20 million
for two consecutive terms, and either it has a contiguous territory of
at least 100 square kilometers or a population of not less than
150,000 inhabitants.
But the said
provisions were amended by RA 9009, increasing the local revenue
requirement from P20 million to P100 million, which is now the subject
of the opposition of the LCP, at which City Mayor Sarmiento is the
Secretary-General.
Earlier, Sarmiento
clarified that he is not personally opposing the cityhood bid of
Catbalogan, but told that he want the town officials to help him work
out a strategy that will reduce number of the cityhood applicants
which earlier pegged to more than 30, but reduced to 24 later.
And in an apparent
attempt to further reduce the number, congressmen and local officials
of the involved 24 towns finally settled to eliminate 12 more towns
from the final list of 24 to give way to capital towns and
congressional districts who don’t have a city yet.
However, Sarmiento
earlier told that the LCP might consider the exemption sought from the
provisions of RA 9009 if the number of town to be converted could have
been reduce to only about 2 or 3.
“All of the existing
cities will definitely oppose this development, because it will
significantly affect the city’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) by
about P36 million, and I cannot do otherwise because I am the
secretary-general of the LCP, I can help in convincing maybe my
colleagues in our group to reconsider our stand, but with this number
of new cities all at the same time will make it impossible for me to
be heared”, Sarmiento stressed.
Earlier, Mayor Tekwa
Uy of Catbalogan already pointed out the action taken by the LCP into
putting a pressure in Malacañang thru its advertorials in national
dailies requesting the President to veto the 12 cityhood bills
approved by the Senate.
“Bisan ngani dida han
senate deliberation pala, ginbla-black mail na hiton LCP an mga
senador”, the Mayor told, explaining that the LCP threatened not to
support re-electionist Senators if they approve the 12 bills.
“Good thing nga waray
magpahadlok iton mga Senador, kay sering pa ngani didto ni Senator
Alfredo Lim, that the Senate should make its stand, kay hadto daw dida
han hira pa iton nanuktok ha senado para makonberter komo siyudad,
ginpasulod hira, pero paka-sulod nira, hira ngayan gihapon an
mag-sasara hiton purtahan para hiton iba pa nga munisipyo nga karuyag
na magin siyudad”, Tekwa told.
