Senate panel OKs splitting Maguindanao into 2

 THE Senate is on track to tackle for plenary deliberations a counterpart bill splitting Maguindanao into two provinces following initial approval of the enabling legislation by the  Committee on Local Government.

The committee, chaired by Sen. Francis Tolentino, endorsed the division of Maguindanao, which has a total population of 1,173,933 as of 2015.

Justifying the split, Tolentino noted that Maguindanao “remains to be one of the poorest provinces in the country despite being blessed with rich and abundant natural resources.”

He stressed that “reforms must be done in order to remedy this predicament and one way to ensure this is by splitting the province into two.”

Enabling legislations are embodied in House counterpart bill No. 6413 authored by Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu; and Senate Bills No. 1824 and 1714 separately authored by Tolentino and Sen. Cynthia Villar, respectively, all seeking to partition Manguindanao into two separate provinces under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

As proposed, 11 towns will comprise Northern Maguindanao, with the capital based in Sultan Kudarat; while Southern Maguindanao will be composed of 25 municipalities, with Buluan as its administrative capital.

Proponents of the enabling law noted that the Department of Finance’s (DOF) Bureau of Local Government Finance greenlighted the proposed measures to divide Maguindanao into two separate provinces, noting the partition is financially compliant under Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991.

Tolentino reported that Director Ma. Pamela Quizon of the Bureau of Local Government Finance affirmed that the two new provinces to be carved out of Maguindanao have met the income requirements under the Local Government Code if the proposed partition will proceed.

The senator asserted that “unlocking Maguindanao’s potential is not just vital to help the people living in the said province but to bring down poverty in the entire country.”

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/10/26/senate-panel-oks-splitting-maguindanao-into-2/

The World Tonight | ANC (26 October 2020)

Senate committee OKs Maguindanao split

COTABATO CITY – The Senate Committee on Local Government has supported the proposal to divide Maguindanao province into two areas, a Maguindanao lawmaker said Monday.

This, as the Senate committee, chaired by Senator Francis Tolentino, approved on the same day House Bill (HB) 6413 that seeks to divide Maguindanao into Northern and Southern Maguindanao provinces pending the recommendation by the Technical Working Group (TWG) to determine the center of government in the “would-be” Southern Maguindanao.

The bill, which has hurdled its third and final reading in the House of Representatives, designates Buluan town as the provincial seat of government for the South while Datu Odin Sinsuat town will represent the North.

After the recommendation of the TWG, a Senate committee report will be submitted to the plenary, and it will be used as a basis for a bicameral meeting before the anticipated passing into law of the proposition.

HB 6413 is sponsored by Maguindanao 2nd District Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu along with Tarlac 3rd District Rep. Noel Villanueva and Maguindanao 1st District Rep. Roonie Sinsuat Sr. while Senate Bills 1714 and 1824 were filed by Sen. Cynthia Villar and Tolentino, respectively.

In his manifestation to the Senate committee, Mangudadatu urged the Senate leadership to support House Bill 6413 by adopting a substitute bill following the content and design of HB 6413 and SB Nos. 1714 and 1824 concerning SB No. 1274 filed by Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.

All three legislations similarly seek the creation of Northern and Southern Maguindanao provinces, including the naming of Buluan and Datu Odin Sinsuat as provincial seats of government, while SB 1274 filed by Revilla pursues the creation of Western Maguindanao instead.

“While we respect and appreciate Sen. Revilla for sponsoring and filing a counterpart SB towards the realization of an empowered Maguindanao, we would like to request Sen. Tolentino that our prayers and provisions illustrated in HB 6413 be adopted in a substitute bill,” Mangudadatu said in a statement Monday.

Mangudadatu said that with a smaller province, local resource management and the delivery of basic public services would be more efficient as most local government officials and employees will work and focus on programs that will best serve the interests of their constituents.

He said the division of Maguindanao aims to make public service more accessible and closer to the people.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1119711

Tolentino bats for division of Maguindanao into 2 provinces to speed up development

Senator Francis Tolentino, chairman of the Senate local government committee, today pushed for the division of Maguindanao into two provinces.

This followed a hybrid public hearing on bills creating local government units (LGUs), including his Senate Bill (SB) 1824, seeking to divide Maguindanao into two provinces, namely: Northern Maguindanao and Southern Maguindanao.

Maguindanao has been endowed with rich and abundant natural resources which that other provinces would be right to envy.

Despite the existence of this vast potential, the province ironically remains one of the poorest provinces in the country.

Tolentino said that reforms must be done in order to remedy this situation as unlocking Maguindanao’s potential is not just vital to help the people living in the province but also in bringing down poverty in the entire country.

“In order to achieve this goal, one solution would be to focus on socio-economic development activities in the province and making sure that these programs actually reach (the) majority of the people,” he pointed out.

The lawmaker said that one way to ensure this is through the enactment of SB 1824 and splitting the province into two.

“With this new set-up, government officials of each new province would be able to more properly focus their efforts in assisting lesser constituents and lesser territorial jurisdiction. The government of each province will now be able to create projects and programs that would better address the intricacies and special needs of their respective jurisdictions,” Tolentino said.

Under the bill, the Province of Northern Maguindanao shall be composed of the following municipalities: Barira, Buldon, Datu Blah Sinsuat, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Northern Kabuntalan, Parang, North Upi, Sultan Kudarat and Sultan Mastura.

The Province of Southern Maguindanao shall include the foillowing municipalities: Ampatuan, Buluan, Datu Abdulah Sangki, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Datu Hofier Ampatuan, Datu Montawal, Datu Paglas, Datu Piang, Datu Salibo, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Unsay, Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun, Guindulungan, Mamasapano, Mangudadatu, Pagalungan, Paglat, Pandag, Rajah Buayan, Sharif Aguak, Sharif Saydona Mustafa, Sultan sa Barongis, Talayan; Talitay and South Upi.

 

The hearing which was attended virtually by LGU officials, also discussed other bills seeking to redistrict certain areas, create and separate barangays, and declare local holidays in ten provinces.

https://mb.com.ph/2020/10/26/tolentino-bats-for-division-of-maguindanao-into-2-provinces-to-speed-up-development/

Bills dividing Maguindanao into two get Senate panels’ OK

Various measures seeking to split the existing province of Maguindanao into two were approved on Monday by a Senate joint panel.

Upon Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s motion, the Senate committee on local government joined with electoral reforms and people’s participation approved House Bill No. 6413 and several counterpart bills in the Senate that would divide the province into two — Northern Maguindanao and Southern Maguindanao.

Under the proposals, 24 of 36 municipalities of the province would be under the Southern Maguindanao while the remaining 11 municipalities would be covered by Northern Maguindanao.

The province of Southern Maguindanao will be composed of the following: Ampatuan, Buluan, Datu Paglas, Datu Piang, Pagalungan, Shariff Aguak, South Upi, Sultan sa Barongis, Talayan, General S. K. Pendatun, Mamasapano, Sultan Sumagka, Datu Montawal, Paglat, Guindulungan, Datu Saudi-Ampatuan, Datu Unsay, Datu Abdullah Sangki, Rajah Buayan, Pandag, Mangudadatu, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Datu Salibo and Shariff Saydona Mustapha.

The 11 municipalities under the Northern Maguindanao would be the following: Barira, Buldon, Datu Blah T. Sinsuat, Datu Odin Sinuat, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Northern Kabuntalan, Parang, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura and Upi.

For the purpose of this section, Cotabato City shall have its own legislative district effective upon the election and qualification of its representative to be held on the second Monday of May in the year 2022. The incumbent Representatives of the present Province of Maguindanao shall continue to represent their respective legislative districts until the expiration of their term of office.

In the proposed law it stated “Any municipality that may hereafter be created within the jurisdiction of their provinces shall automatically form part of its constituent units.”

“Not all redistricting is harmful. New jurisdictions may be warranted if the population has grown big enough and that preferences for public goods have become sufficiently heterogeneous,” Maguindanao Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, one of the proponents of the measures, said in his manifestation during the hearing.

Senator Francis ‘Tol’ Tolentino, meanwhile, lamented that the existing province, despite its “rich and abundant natural resources,” remains to be “one of the poorest provinces” in the country.

As of 2015, the current undivided Maguindanao has a total population of 1,173,933.

“Reforms must be done in order to remedy this predicament and one way to ensure this is by splitting the province into two,” Tolentino, chairman of the local government committee and one of the authors of the bills in the Senate, said during the hearing.

In moving for the approval of the measures, Gatchalian noted that the bills would still be subject to discussions in the Technical Working Group (TWG), to resolve the issue of where the “capital should be.”

“Just to move the bills forward, I move to approve the said measures and transition to a TWG,” he said.

Tolentino’s press release after the hearing, however, already indicated that Buluan would be the administrative capital of Southern Maguindanao while Sultan Kudarat would be the capital of Northern Maguindanao.

Senator Imee Marcos seconded Gatchalian’s motion, while Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa abstained from voting.

A consolidated measure will then be reported to the Senate plenary for consideration.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1352528/bills-dividing-maguindanao-into-two-get-senate-panels-ok

Anong Puwedeng Gawin Kung Hindi Puwedeng Bumisita sa Yumao? - Kape't Pan...