Many residents may not know it, but San Pedro City is now in “limbo” over its legal status – a limbo that has both legal and political implications for the city’s 300,000 residents.
To recall, the 1st legislative district of Laguna had been reduced to just the city of San Pedro after the cities of Biñan and Santa Rosa gained their own seats at the House of Representatives.
And this is where the trouble started, over the apportioning of seats for the city’s Sangguniang Panglungsod.
While the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has decided that the city, considering its population and its “de facto” status as a lone congressional district, should have 12 councilors, some sectors have objected, saying that only Congress can decide on the allocating of seats for its city council.
It’s worth noting that this legal dispute has political undercurrents, as the two councilors who are now battling for the legitimacy of their seats are members of the former administration’s coalition.
And despite repeated calls for “unity” from both camps at the City Hall, sources have told OpinYon Laguna that this legal dispute has been tinged with dirty politics that have plagued the city for years.
Laguna’s 1st District Representative Ann Matibag has good sense to settle the dispute once and for all through appropriate legislation.
Through House Bills 4497 and 4498, Matibag hopes not only to ultimately end this “limbo” for San Pedro City but also to set a precedent for other similar cases that may arise in the future.
It’s vital, after all, to settle this legal stalemate before it affects the city government’s performance and in serving the interest of San Pedronians.