Rizal 2nd District Rep. Juan Fidel Felipe Nograles has filed a bill that will split Rizal’s second legislative district into three new districts to “ensure proper representation for Rizaleños.”
In a statement Monday, Nograles said that while Rizal is among the most populous provinces in the country, the province has “only four legislators representing close to 2.9 million” residents.
“On average, the ten most populous provinces in the country have six representatives each in the House of Representatives,” Nograles said, citing the province of Cebu which has 10 congressmen representing 4.6 million people, or a ratio of around 1:460,000.
“In Rizal, you have four legislators representing around 2.9 million people, or a ratio of one for every 721,000 people. In terms of population, Rizal has roughly the same population as Pangasinan and Batangas, but these provinces have six legislative districts each. The disparity, I believe, is self-evident,” Nograles stressed.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Nograles said the population of Rizal’s second district doubled between 2000 and 2015, from 533,299 to 1,070,852.
In House Bill No. 336, the lawyer proposed that his current district, consisting of the municipalities of Baras, Cardona, Jala-Jala, Morong, Pililla, Rodriguez (Montalban), San Mateo, Tanay, and Teresa be split into three separate legislative districts.
Under the bill, the new First District would be composed of the towns of Rodriguez and San Mateo and Second Legislative District would be composed of the town of Taytay.
The municipalities of Angono and Binangonan would be the Third Legislative District, while Cardona, Baras, Tanay, Morong Jala Jala, Pililia and Teresa would be the province’s Fourth Legislative District.
The additional districts would give the province of Rizal a total of seven legislative districts.
The province currently has four districts: Antipolo First District, Antipolo Second District, Rizal First District and Rizal Second District.
Aside from demographic issues, Nograles explained that the 2nd district is composed of “non-contiguous areas with characteristics, features, and qualities different from each other.”
“Different characteristics mean different constituents will have different needs. These will be better addressed if they have proper representation––representation that will be possible with the redistricting of Rizal’s second district,” he argued.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1139070/rizal-congressman-wants-2nd-district-split-into-three
Monday, July 8, 2019
SEN. BONG REVILLA JR. SPEAKS UP ABOUT ALLEGED NON-RENEWAL OF ABS-CBN’S FRANCHISE
- During the Thanksgiving party of Senator Bong Revilla Jr., he was asked about the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN
- According to the Senator, the issue will be tackled and there will be no problem with the renewal if the network didn’t violate anything
- Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) Secretary Lito Yabut formerly explained that it will be impossible to shut down the network giant just because of an expired franchise
- Together with the other pending bills, the ABS-CBN franchise bill will be re-filed once the 18th Congress opens on July 22, 2019
With the news about the alleged freezing of the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise, the media didn’t let the chance slip to get the insight of Senator Bong Revilla Jr. regarding the issue.
During his thanksgiving party, the Senator was asked his opinion about the problem that ABS-CBN is currently facing.
Senator Revilla stated, “Well, una magsisimula naman yan sa lower house. Pagkatapos yan sa lower house, sasampa yan sa upper house, sa Senate. So, sa akin, wala naman akong nakikitang problema. I just hope na maging maayos ang lahat ng bagay.”
The Senator affirmed that the case of ABS-CBN will be tackled and he sees no problem for the bill to pass and for any amendments to happen especially when the network didn’t violate anything.
” Siyempre, wala namang siguro na violate ang ABS-CBN but tignan naten… Pag-uusapan naman yan and ibig sabihin ita-tackle yan sa floor. So, I dont see any problem na.
“Basta ako as I said, I’m for the people tandaan ninyo, ‘di ako maapektibong tao. Wala akong tanim kahit kanino man. Politika lang yan.. Masaktan ako, okay lang. Pero umasa kayo patas si Bong Revilla,” he added.
He was also asked about the death of Eddie Garcia who met an accident on the set of his series. According to the Senator-actor, what happened was an accident and it’s hard to just point out who is to blame.
He said, “Wala naman may gusto nun eh, so accidente yon. Pero mahirap naman tayo mag pinpoint kung sinong may kasalanan. Pero siyempre lahat tayo nagmamahal kay Tito Eddie. Pero aksidente, basta I’m sure masaya na rin si Tito Eddie ngayon. Sana ‘wag nalang mahaluan ng intriga yung pagkamatay niya. Siyempre ayaw naman natin magka watak-watak, mapapag piestahan pa yung pagkamatay.”
Earlier, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) Secretary Lito Yabut had already stated that it is impossible to shut down the network giant just because of an expired franchise.
The Congress has also cleared up that there’s no ‘freezing’ of the bill that happened in the House Of Representative despite the vivid “disgust” of the President Rodrigo Duterte with the network whom he thought sabotaged him during his Presidential campaign in 2016.
Nonetheless, the Congress will see to it that the pending bills, including ABS-CBN’s franchise bill, will be re-filed once the 18th Congress opens on July 22, 2019.
Celebrities have been vocal with their sentiments and dismay with what’s happening to their home network through social media. Some of them even signed a petition to appeal to the Congress to approve the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN that will be expiring in the year 2020. Coco Martin, Lea Salonga, Piolo Pascual, Jaime Fabregas, John Arcilla, Angel Aquino, Ricky Lee, and Joel Lamangan to name a few.