Pelaez: Converting Mactan into province an absurd idea

CEBU, Philippines - Liberal Party Lapu-Lapu City mayoralty candidate Efrain Pelaez yesterday said that converting Mactan Island into a separate province will only invite hostilities from Cebu province and the town of Cordova.

In an interview with The FREEMAN, Pelaez said the proposal of mayoralty candidate and opposition Councilor Junard Chan is an imitation of a proposal made by former senator John "Sonny" Osmena in 2007.

"We have not even solved the problems of the city, now he wants to make it a province?" Pelaez said.

He said Chan’s proposal is premature and a ridiculous idea at that.

Pelaez said it will be premature to convert the island into a province since the next leader of the city will concentrate on delivering basic services and transform the city into next to Singapore should be prioritized being a highly urbanized city and a new congressional district.

When the problems are solved, Pelaez said "we can discuss provincehood and other ideas."

Pelaez said Chan has no track record in development and does not have projects to show while chairman of barangay affairs and as an incumbent councilor.

But former Cordova mayor and provincial board member candidate Arleigh Sitoy said he would wish the town to be annexed by Cebu City in the hope of bringing progress into their sleepy municipality.

While Cordova remains in the sixth congressional district of Cebu province, its compatriots Mandaue City and Consolacion town are deep into the mainland.

Sitoy said favoring annexation does not mean severing ties with the provincial government but a matter of survival.

Sitoy’s father, Adelino, is currently the mayor of Cordova.

Cordova’s population is currently 45,000, but with a low-tide land area of only 800 hectares, Sitoy said the town is fast running out of space. Its population growth rate is 5 percent a year.  (FREEMAN NEWS)