Good and bad news
for my adopted city

I spent my childhood days in Toledo City . And late last year, I got word from my cousin Nestor Rodriguez (he is secretary of the SP) that I would be honored by Toledo City as an outstanding son as a journalist for more than 50 years.

But I declined the honor, pointing out that I have stayed in Negros and Bacolod City the past few decades, although, I have made it a habit to pass by Toledo City and my favorite romping ground in Barangay Ibo every time I visit Cebu City .

Still, my heart throbs for Toledo City where I first learned about Cebuano folklore. And first heard the legend of Don Juan Tiñoso and Ibong Adarna from my late grandfather, Doroteo Espina. He was a proficient Spanish speaker. Actually, he was more at ease in Spanish than in Cebuano or other languages.

Anyway, that's not the point, I learned recently from Bobbit Avila, Inside Cebu columnist of the Philippine Star, that Toledo City Mayor Arlene Zambo has also protested the rash of conversion of towns into cities. This has resulted in the drop in Toledo City 's expected Internal Revenue Allotment share from P307 million to only P276 million or a shortfall of P31 million.

That certainly means a lot in terms of the ability of the city government to spend for social services.

But there is also the good news. The 246-megawatt power plant in Sangi ushers in the opening of the Carmen Copper Corp. This is the one that will operate the former Atlas Copper Mining and Development Corp. that was considered the Asia 's biggest copper and third largest in the world.

That's welcome news, because there was a time when Toledo promised to be one of the most developed cities of Cebu and the country. But labor problems led to the closure of the copper mines.

Some of my relatives were among the casualties of the mine closure. And it has taken a long time for it to be rehabilitated. But there is the promise of its return to its previous status and, of course, dynamic growth for Toledo City . This city is just opposite San Carlos City of Negros Occidental.

That's one reason why I, as I suppose are most Bacolodnons, support the protest led by Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia against the approval of the conversion into city status of municipalities which do not conform to the requirements of the Local Government Code.

A few years back, I had already warned against the scramble for city status among first class municipalities. And, the truth is that with the cake to be divided among the new cities (which are not actually eligible to be converted into such status), the IRA pie gets smaller and smaller for the cities that are now existent.

The cut in Bacolod 's IRA share is considerable. And the impact of such a decrease is incalculable. It means not only less funding for the education of schoolchildren, but also less funds for health services and even a cut down on casuals. Not really bad, the latter. But it could even mean layoffs of city personnel.

It is good that the League of Cities of the Philippines has decided to file a case before the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of this gerrymandering bill.

It should not only be the city officials and the city government employees that should wear the black arm bands. Every citizen should try to show our support for the city by doing the same. And writing our senators and congressmen what we think is right for they will know what to do with the proposal.

More important. City officials should mount a determined campaign to educate the public on what the protest is about and what it means to them to lose that much money from their IRA share.

****

Last week, I commented that City Legal Officer Allan Zamora may have stunned the local legal profession with his twist in his legal point – the BREDCO does not have the legal personality to file a suit against city officials for their passage of the takeover ordinance.

During the weekend, I heard former Vice Mayor Renecito Novero point out that the ordinance was for the takeover of the BREDCO properties and equipment as well as other facilities.

In short, it is BREDCO that is the target, not Top Harbor International Inc. And the point adduced by Novero is that a contract is sacrosanct and cannot be rescinded without approval by both parties. And to settle questions about the contract that is needed is the ruling by the court. Not unilateral action by the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

Well, the issue have been joined. The only thing we can do now is to await the court ruling. And this may take sometime to be reached.

Meanwhile, the thing is that Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas gloated over the unexpected success of the Dinagyang last week in Iloilo City.*

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