The Mandaue City Council’s passage of a resolution urging Rep. Jonas Cortes of Cebu’s sixth district to lobby for the passage of a bill creating Mandaue City as a lone congressional district has several obstacles in its path, not least of whom is former senator and now Toledo City Mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña.
Osmeña, who reportedly opposed the inclusion of Mandaue City before in the province’s sixth district due to its location far from Consolacion and Cordova towns, is now opposing its separation from the two local governments since it would result in them losing representation in Congress.
The population of the two towns isn’t sufficient to meet the more than half a million requirement set by the Local Government Code, and their respective economies would relegate them to second or third class municipality status and with it a significant reduction in their Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share.
Even if one takes into consideration the multibillion-peso international port project planned for Consolacion town, it would certainly take time for it to be completed and to generate the employment and profits needed to lift Consolacion as a major port hub in Cebu.
Cordova, whose multibillion-peso reclamation project has yet to take off from the drawing board due to concerns of displacement by the fisherfolk as well as possible environmental disruption, remains mostly a fishing and tourist town which had lately been tagged with the unenviable reputation as a human trafficking and cyberpornography hotspot.
As one of the Big Three of Metro Cebu, Mandaue City had long achieved the status of an industrial center and is considered the center of both economic and vehicular traffic for many people who work and live in the province’s urban centers.
Thus, it is understandable for Cortes and Mayor Luigi Quisumbing to lobby for its independence from Cebu’s sixth district. That Lapu-Lapu City beat them to the draw by becoming a lone congressional district makes them all the more determined to push through with it.
But it’s not just Sonny Osmeña, who is said to be ready to challenge Mandaue City’s congressional district bid all the way to the Supreme Court, who is the obstacle.
The Duterte administration is steamrolling its campaign to federalize the country, and how this would impact on Mandaue City’s congressional district bid remains to be seen. In fact, federalizing the country may redraw the country’s entire geopolitical landscape, including Cebu.
Whether Cortes, Quisumbing or Osmeña can help influence that redrawing or delineation of that landscape is quite debatable, but all of them will have their work cut out for them by next year. More importantly, they would have to convince their constituents, if ever, of the soundness of Mandaue City’s bid for a congressional seat.