from: www.inquirer.net

[SIZE="3"]Aquino slams law creating new political district in Camarines Sur[/SIZE]

Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
October 27, 2009

MANILA, Philippines—Presidential aspirant Senator Benigno "Noynoy" C. Aquino III on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to declare as unconstitutional a law creating a new district in Camarines Sur which he said is meant to potentially accommodate administration lawmakers, including Representative Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo.

Aquino said Republic Act 9716 will create the third district in Camarines Sur, thus, favoring not only Arroyo but also Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya.

“With this law, they don’t have to run against each other,” Aquino said.

In his 33-page petition, Aquino said RA 9716, entitled An Act Reapportioning the Composition of the First and Second Legislative District in the Province of Camarines Sur and thereby Creating A New Legislative District from such Reapportionment, ``constitutes grave abuse of discretion and violates the principle of proportional representation."

He argued that reapportionment of the coverage of congressional districts should not be based on how the new areas would benefit incumbent and would-be lawmakers.

"It is a question of whether or not it would translate to better representation for the people living in the said locality, given that the population of a particular locality has grown so much as to entitle it a new legislative district. Simply put, congressional reapportionment is an issue of the people represented not the representative,” Aquino said.

Implementing RA 9716, Aquino said, would give congressmen unbridled power to reapportion their districts to suit their political interests.

Aquino also said that since the law entails the disbursement of government funds and "given that RA 9716 is patently unconstitutional, the expenditure of government funds to implement its terms is in violation of law and is an ultra vires act (beyond powers)."

RA 9716 originated as House Bill 4264 filed by Rep. Luis Villafuerte and was approved by the House of Representatives on June 11,2008. It was submitted to the Senate on June 17, 2008.

During public hearings, Senator Joker Arroyo and Rep. Villafuerte argued that the Constitution did not provide any minimum population requirement for the creation of congressional districts within a province.

They added that while the Constitution requires that cities must have at least 250,000 inhabitants to be entitled to a legislative district there is no such requirement for provinces.

The provinces of Batanes, Camiguiin, Siquijor among others have less than 250,000 inhabitants yet have their own legislative districts.

Before Rep. Act 9716, the First District is composed of the towns of Del Gallego, Ragay, Lupi, Sipocot, Cabusao, Libmanan, Minabalac, Pamplona, Pasacao and San Fernando with a population of 417,300 two years ago.

The second district is composed of the towns of Gainza, Milaor, Pili, Ocampo, Camaligan, Canaman, Magarao, Bombon, Calabanga and Naga with a combined population of 474,899 in 2007.

With the reapportionmen of the two districts, the first district will have a population of 176,383 while the second district will have a population of 276,777.