Inaction on Cabanatuan plebiscite

This refers to the deferred HUC (highly urbanized city) plebiscite in Cabanatuan City.

It may be recalled that on July 4, 2012, President Aquino proclaimed Cabanatuan an HUC, stating that “it is the declared policy of the government to support local government’s initiative to attain their fullest development and make them effective partners in the attainment of national goals.”

The proclamation, which shall take effect only upon its ratification in a plebiscite by qualified voters, was favorably endorsed by prominent political personalities like Vice President Jojo Binay, former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Senators Chiz Escudero, Antonio Trillanes and Bong Revilla, former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim and former senator Nene Pimentel. Pursuant to the proclamation, the Commission on Elections scheduled the required plebiscite on Dec. 1, 2012.

Preparations were made for the anticipated event. Funds were appropriated by the city government to defray the cost of holding the referendum, law enforcers were deputized to ensure the peaceful and honest conduct of the referendum, and President Aquino declared Dec. 1, 2012, a nonworking holiday for Cabanatuan City, to allow its registered voters to actively participate in the plebiscite.

To the dismay of the Cabanatueños, the Comelec suddenly postponed and reset the referendum to an unspecified date after the May 13, 2013 elections. As a result, the grand preparations for the HUC referendum were wasted. Worse, excited first-time voters felt they were disenfranchised. According to a city official, one of the reasons given by the Comelec for postponing the referendum was: Its date of holding was too close to that of the 2013 midterm elections and the electoral body was engrossed and busy preparing for that nationwide political exercise.

With just two months left before the barangay and youth council elections, the Comelec is again preoccupied and busy. Cabanatueños fear the further postponement of the HUC plebiscite. For them, the holding of the much-awaited HUC referendum “is near and yet so far.”

—PRUDENCIO E. MAGPAYO, First Cabanatuan Ventures Corp., Cabanatuan City