Redistricting bill hurdles House panel

By: Francis Allan L. Angelo

The bill reapportioning the congressional district representation of Iloilo City passed scrutiny of the House Committee on Local Government on Tuesday.

House Bill No. 3074 authored by Iloilo City Lone District Rep. Julienne L. Baronda along with Rep. Stephen Paduano, Rep. Raul Tupas and Rep. Michael Gorriceta, got the approval of the committee chaired by Rep. Noel Villanueva.

The bill seeks to create a second legislative district in Iloilo City. One district will be composed of Jaro, La Paz and Mandurriao while City Proper, Molo, Arevalo and Lapuz will form another district.

In a statement, Baronda stressed the importance of reviving and pushing for the approval of the redistricting bill.

“The economic potential of the city must be maximized so that the people will reap and enjoy the fruits through better, more proactive and responsive social services and infrastructure,” Rep. Baronda told the committee members in pushing for the measure.

The neophyte legislator and first lady representative of the city explained that adding one more legislative district will mean that the efforts of the legislator to push for programs and projects for the benefit of the Ilonggo people will be doubled.

Ilonggos will also be better and appropriately represented in the national legislature. This would also mean that there will be two “salespersons” of the city who would invite investors to the metropolis, she added.

“It cannot be denied that what used to be the ‘La Muy Leal Y Noble Ciudad de Iloilo’— the most loyal and noble city of Iloilo – during the Spanish era is experiencing an economic re-birth. This is why my predecessor who is now the mayor of the City of Iloilo, Jerry P. Treñas, has filed bills for the re-apportioning of the legislative district of the city,” Baronda told the committee, underscoring the fact that the 17th Congress has approved the same measure on third reading.

Rep. Baronda also explained that the pertinent laws and jurisprudence which were thoroughly discussed in the preceding Congress remain the same.

“The laws and jurisprudence are on our side,” she said.

Baronda was referring to the Supreme Court decision in the case Aquino vs. COMELEC where the court said that a city does not have to increase its population by another 250,000 to be entitled to an additional congressional district.

Under the law, a congressional district must have at least 250,000 population.

Another case in point is Marikina City which was reapportioned despite its 424,150 population.

The same was true for Makati City which got a second legislative district even if its population was only 450,000.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, Iloilo City’s population as of the 2015 census is 447,992.

She also emphasized that Iloilo City is not being divided nor a new city is being created. What the bill is pushing for is only adding one more congressman or congresswoman.