Voters reject split

Fewer than half of voters show up in poll precincts

Of the 28,421 registered voters in Barangay Guadalupe, only 12,097 or 42.5 percent voted in yesterday’s plebiscite; of that number, 8,107 (67 percent) voted “no” Former congressman Antonio Cuenco says he respects the voters’ decision, but expresses disappointment that some top Cebu City Hall officials did not vote

BARANGAY Guadalupe, the largest barangay in Cebu City, will remain intact. The “no” votes or those against the separation of Sitios Banawa and Englis from Guadalupe won in the plebiscite yesterday.

The plebiscite was supposed to ratify Republic Act (RA) 9905, the law drafted by then south district congressman Antonio Cuenco to create Barangay Banawa-englis.

But there were 4,117 more voters who picked “no” compared to those who chose “yes”.

Out of the 28,421 registered voters in Guadalupe, 12,097 or 42.5 percent actually voted, said the Board of Plebiscite Canvassers headed by south district election officer Atty. Edwin Cadungog.

Cuenco, in an interview, said he respects the results of yesterday’s plebiscite.

“The people have already spoken. They do not agree to the split, so moyukbo ko niana (I will yield to that). Ang kana nga balaud gipanday nako to serve as mechanism sa atong mga igsuon sa Banawa ug Englis nga mahatagan ug higayon nga madungog ang ang ilang gusto (I wrote that law to give the residents of Banawa and Englis a chance to be heard). I respect your decision so congratulations and congratulations for this beautiful exercise,” he said.

Because of the results, Cuenco said that RA 9905 is dead.

Jeffrey Cartilla, vice president of the United Banawa-Englis Association Inc. (UBEAI), said they accepted the results.

“Sakit sa kasing-kasing (It is painful),” he said, “pero ang among grupo motahod ug moyukbo sa resulta sa plebisito (but our group will respect the results of the plebiscite.”

UBEAI, Cartilla said, waited for 25 years for the plebiscite to happen.

Asked if the law creating the new barangay in the city can be revived, Cuenco said that is possible, particularly if majority of the residents in Guadalupe will already be for it.

However, another law will have to be crafted and another plebiscite held.

Of the 12,097 who voted, 8,107 of them (67 percent) voted against the Guadalupe-Banawa-Englis split, while only 3,990 (32 percent) voted in favor.

The canvassing of the election returns (ER) from the 79 clustered precincts for the plebiscite started at 7:15 p.m. and lasted until 10 p.m.

It was supposed to end at 9 p.m., but one envelope in a clustered precinct did not contain the actual ER, which prompted the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to search for the actual ER.

Results of the plebiscite were announced around 10 p.m., seven hours after the voting ended.

Respect

Reasons

Majority of the residents of Guadalupe headed by Barangay Captain Michael Gacasan had expressed opposition to the separation of Banawa and Englis from the barangay. It would have meant less revenue, a smaller territory, and fewer voters.

In a separate interview, Gacasan also welcomed the results. At the same time, he assured the residents of the two sitios that they will not be left behind in the delivery of basic services.

The reportedly inefficient delivery of basic services was one complaint of some residents of the two sitios, which prompted them to ask for a separate barangay.

The new barangay was supposed to cover 37 puroks in Sitio Banawa, 19 puroks in Sitio Englis as well as some 13 sitios from Barangay Labangon.

It would have had a population of 40 percent of the total population of Guadalupe, which was 49,956 based on the 2007 census.

Officials

Former congressman Cuenco and his son Councilor Ronald Cuenco voted yes. Guadalupe Barangay Captain Michael Gacasan and former village chief Eugenio Faelnar voted no.

But Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) and wife Councilor Margarita Osmeña abstained from voting, while Mayor Michael Rama was in Yeosu, Korea for an official trip.

The elder Cuenco voted past 11 a.m. yesterday.

“I’m a bit disappointed why the other officials are shying away from this when this is an important exercise. You are adding one more barangay as part of the city,” said Cuenco.

He believes the Osmenas were playing it safe, fearing the ire of the voters of Guadalupe if they vote “yes” and the ire of Banawa-Englis voters if they vote “no.”

Congressman Osmeña earlier said he will leave it up to the Guadalupe residents to vote because they know the issues better.

The Guadalupe barangay officials who earlier said they will stay neutral decided to campaign for people to vote “no” at the end of the campaign season.

Services

Barangay Captain Gacasan explained that he could not take that BanawaEnglis residents are hitting the barangay council for services so as village chief, he had to defend the misnomer.

Councilman Ventura Montecillo explained that if Banawa-Englis residents are lamenting the delayed collection of garbage, the barangay is no longer in charge of that but the Department of Public Services of City Hall.

However, they still use the barangay’s garbage trucks.

Barangay Captain Gacasan’s predecessor Faelnar also voted “no”, saying his stand never changed. Since he was still the barangay captain in 2010 when the plebiscite was first scheduled, Faelnar said he has always been against the splitting of Guadalupe.

The voting was generally peaceful.

The “Barangayan” program of radio station DySS invited officials and residents to share their opinions on the proposed split.

The discussion got heat- ed when Labangon Barangay Captain Buendia arrived. He had campaigned against the ratification of the law, because Labangon residents were not made voters of the plebiscite when 13 Labangon sitios would have become part of Banawa-Englis.

13 sitios

But Cuenco explained the 13 sitios have always been part of Banawa-Englis, based on the survey of Geodetic Engr. Leopoldo Tuastumban. This was in turn based on the barangay boundary monument buried by the Spanish colonial administrators.

Former congressman Cuenco brought a map to the polling precinct to show to the reporters.

It was the same map used in the crafting of the city ordinance creating Barangay Banawa-Englis.

While Buendia also questioned the validity of the ordinance without a public hearing, Councilor Ronald Cuenco said there was a public hearing back in 1996, when the ordinance was crafted. Buendia, he said, can get a copy of the ordinance from the Sangguniang Panlungsod records section.

Both Buendia and former congressman Cuenco were also contemplating on filing cases in court after the plebiscite.

If the “yes” votes had won, Buendia planned to go to the Supreme Court to have Cuenco’s law nullified.

Cuenco, for his part, earlier said that if the “yes” votes won, he would file a disqualification case against Buendia through a writ of quo warranto, because Rosalina Village where Buendia resides would become part of Banawa-Englis.

Transfer

Briefly, there was a threat of violence when it was reported that the canvassing of votes will be at the Cebu City Hall Social Hall.

Councilman Montecillo said that the barangay council has decided that if the issue will not be clarified, the officials would bar the ballot boxes from leaving the precincts.

This was based on a communication from Comelec south district election officer Edwin Cadungog, dated July 26, that the canvassing of votes will be done at the sports complex.

Cadungog, however, explained that the Comelec en banc sent his office a copy of Resolution 8774 last Friday, stating that the can-

AFTER votes were cast in yesterday’s plebiscite, the two opposing camps in the separation of Sitios Banawa and Englis from Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City remained competitive.

Both camps stationed themselves across each other in front of the Guadalupe Elementary School, even if it was drizzling, when the voting ended at 3 p.m.

While waiting for the ballots to be counted in the 79 clustered precincts, each camp heckled the other.

“Wala na mo, daog na mi (You’ve got nothing, we’ve won),” said one of the team that favors the creation of a new barangay, while pointing a finger to the other camp.

Those against the split immediately booed and told the other camp the “no” votes were leading in the tally.

When the voting began, the “yes” team was just outside Guadalupe Elementary School, under the tents they had set up. Those from the “no” team camped across the school.

Fortunately, their differences did not result to violence.

It was not the first time the two camps had an encounter. They also faced each other when the “no” team held a noise barrage in front of the house of former south district congressman Antonio Cuenco, who wrote Republic Act 9905. That law called for a plebiscite for the creation of Barangay Banawa-Englis.

Strike three

Some registered voters complained yesterday after they failed to find their names in the voters list. Some went home without voting.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) south district election officer Atty. Edwin Cadungog explained those who didn’t see their names were the ones who failed to vote in the last two national and local elections or those who failed to register before March 31, 2012.

Mark Mejares was among those waiting for his turn to look for his name in the voters list, to find out which precinct he was supposed to cast his vote.

He had decided to vote “no”.

“Guadalupe is a very big barangay in Cebu City. Personally, I don’t like the idea that someday, residents will no longer be united, rules and responsibilities will be divided,” Mejares said.

Barangay Captain Michael Gacasan said that being the biggest barangay in the city should be seen as an honor.

Evangeline Pacaña, a nursery teacher for 21 years in a school in Sitio Englis, also decided to vote “no”.

She believed that a new set of barangay officials and a change in the rules might affect the teachers’ honoraria.