Cebu Daily News / Opinion

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COLOR OF WATER Color of Water : You can’t legislate progress By Malou Guanzon-Apalisok Cebu Daily News Posted date: January 31, 2008 It looks like the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) has succeeded in getting public attention over the reported decreases in the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) shares of 120 cities nationwide. Dismayed by cuts in the IRA due to the creation of 16 new cities last year, city executives directed their ire against Congress by wearing black armbands and flying the national flag at half-mast. City mayors are very worried because the House is poised to act on a bill that will pave the way for the creation of 27 more new cities this year which spells more cuts in the shrinking IRA pie. Last Monday I wrote about a policy bill authored by Rep. Mayo Almario (2nd District, Davao) in the previous Congress. Because of the steep condition imposed by Republic Act 9009 in the matter of income requirement (P100 million per annum exclusive of IRA), Rep. Almario introduced House Bill 5757 in 2006 as a window for provinces without capital cities. Under the proposed bill, capital towns can aspire to become cities if they have the necessary population, land area and annual income requirement of P80 million. Almario was succeeded in Congress by his mother, Thelma Zosa Almario, and this could be the reason Congress is not talking about HB 5757 anymore. The young Almario recognized that the IRA shares will enable capital towns to improve basic services. Coupled with good governance, the revenue allotment could transform these areas, already economic hubs in their own right, into robust economic centers that could spur more economic activity and attract foreign investments. HB 5757 acknowledged the vast potentials of the capital towns, which, with a little push from the national government, could be achieved. Congress should revive Mayo’s bill given the limitations of the IRA and the prospects of capital towns. However, it seems some lawmakers are bent on converting towns into cities as if it were the need of the hour. One is even working at changing the direction set by the Local Government Code. Just seven months into her first term, Rep. Ann Hofer of Zamboanga Sibugay is strongly pushing to amend RA 9009 by lowering the income requirement for towns hoping to become big-time: from P 100 million to P 50 million or even P20 million. Pastilan, nganong pugson man gyud ang conversion sa mga lungsod kun dili pa kaya ubos sa RA 9009? You don’t hear lawmakers airing their two cents’ worth because of a tacit arrangement that prohibits them from interfering in initiatives beyond their district. It would be unlikely for Rep. Eduardo Gullas to oppose Hofer’s HB 34 after the 13th and 14th Congress approved the conversion of Talisay, Carcar and Naga towns into cities. In many instances people also look at the conversion of towns into cities not as incentives given to well-managed LGUs, but as political turf building. Since the political climate does not allow for the lifting of term limits, congressmen can look at newly formed cities as their political fallback when their term expires. Of course they can always run for town mayor but it’s different when you run a city with an assurance of IRA in the hundreds of millions of pesos. * * * Cityhood was the undercurrent in talks during the launch last Saturday of Bogo Cable TV in Daanbantayan, Cebu. It is a Fil-products company owned and operated by Nonito Limchua. Tatay Dodong, as he is fondly called by friends and admirers, came up with a colorful program to highlight the switch-on of the cable TV provider, which offers 60 cable channels to local subscribers. 4th District Rep. Benhur Salimbangon saw in the occasion the signs of Daanbantayan’s march to cityhood. The town is getting on board President Gloria Arroyo’s thrust of stimulating economic activity through nautical highways or improved seaport facilities. Rep. Salimbangon’s diligence has translated into a P146-million assistance from Malacañang. He immediately worked on the improvement of roads in the district, construction of school buildings, and upgrading of port facilities beginning with the one in Maya, Daanbantayan. This project got shipping operators interested in opening new routes that will cut down travel time and fare. Tourism will get a boost and increased trading is expected to spark between northern Cebu towns and the neighboring provinces, like Iloilo, with more activity spilling over to the national capital region. With a land area bigger than Bogo City and a growing population, Rep. Salimbangon is positive that Daanbantayan can generate jobs and earn for the municipality huge incomes, enough for it to aspire to become a city in less than five years. That is exactly what RA 9009 is saying. Congress cannot legislate progress, let alone good governance. Towns that aspire to become cities, assuming they have the requisite land area and population, should work hard to meet the income status mandated by the Local Government Code. Congressmen should do well to encourage LGUs in this regard rather than think of schemes to serve their narrow interests and undermine the law.