EDITORIAL - Another Sugbuak move

Eyeing a return to Congress, Toledo City Mayor John Osmeña has caused a stir after pronouncing that he will push for the creation of a separate province in Cebu once elected congressman in the May 13 midterm elections.

During a campaign rally in his city last week, Osmeña promised that the first bill he will file at the House of Representatives will be a measure creating a new province out of the third district, where he is running for a congressional seat.

Under his plan, Osmeña said the entire third district --from Barili town to Tuburan municipality-- will be named Cebu Occidental. With Toledo City as capital, the new province will have at least two congressional districts.

It remains to be seen if such a move will gain steam. The last time we checked, the measure filed by Lapu-Lapu City lone district Representative Aileen Radaza in Congress years ago seeking to turn Mactan Island into a new province remains stuck in the locker of the Lower House.

More than a decade ago, there were House proposals seeking to divide Cebu into several provinces, a move that was notoriously branded as the Sugbuak. The move did not prosper considering the strong opposition of majority of the Cebuanos.

Can the fresh move dividing the province succeed this time? Will it suffer the same fate as those previous Lower House measures that failed to reach even the first base despite the aggressive push from their proponents?

This early, many see Osmeña’s plan as another useless undertaking doomed to fail. That is because, based on previous attempts, it would be hard for the veteran politician to convince Cebuanos, especially those in his district, about the need to create another province.

As far as the Cebuanos are concerned, the province is as strong as ever that the option of entertaining the thought of dividing it is no longer needed. In fact, Cebu is the richest province in the country today. So why fix it when it ain’t broke?