COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 25 May) – Angry residents here protested the inclusion of Cotabato City as part of the congressional district of the fledgling Shariff Kabunsuan province.
The protesters on Thursday also denounced the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) over its confusing resolutions on what congressional district should Cotabato City properly belong to.
“Led by employees of the city government, prominent residents from cross-section of the city took turn in appealing to COMELEC–Manila to review its last-minute Resolution No. 7902 promulgated May 10, 2007 that placed Cotabato City as part of the congressional district of Shariff Kabunsuan,” Bensar Usman, an employee, told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.
Eduardo dela Fuente, Jr., secretary to the City Mayor Muslimin Sema, argued that said Resolution is unconstitutional since only Congress has the sole power over congressional districting.
He said that Resolution 7902 is tantamount to usurpation by COMELEC of the prerogative and powers of Congress. “It is ultra vires (beyond one’s authority),” stressed dela Fuente.
Lawyer Diosdado Guillermo, past president of the Cotabato City chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, told thousands of protesters that under the Constitution, a province is automatically entitled to a representative and that each city with a population of at least 250,000 shall have at least 1 congressman.
He believes that Cotabato City has this number of people. Another lawyer, Anwar Malang, re-elected councilor, said Cotabato should have voted already for its own representative for Congress during national and local poll as on May 14 because it is the only remaining city in the 1st District of Maguindanao province.
Ten other local government units are now part of in the newly-created Shariff Kabunsuan. He said that even COMELEC recognized this fact when it issued Resolution 7845 on March 29.
Malang said he was also surprised when barely 3 days before the polls, COMELEC issued an “obviously hastily-done” resolution that lumps Cotabato City with the lone congressional district of Shariff Kabunsuan province.
The protesters issued a manifesto urging the COMELEC to “immediately rectify the grave error and injustice it committed against the people of Cotabato City”. They called on the COMELEC to amend its Resolution No. 7902 as they said the latter put them in “abysmal confusion”. (Dong Cusain)
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