Noynoy: Additional Districts must meet Constitutional Requirements

Senator Benigno "Noynoy" S. Aquino III, Chairman of the Committee on Local Government, agrees that legislative districts in the House of Representatives should be increased but stressed that it should be done in strict compliance with the requirements of the Constitution and the law.

"One of the principles of our democracy stems from equal representation. Every citizen is entitled to representation, and the constitution mandates that it is proportional representation. In 1986 when the constitution was conceived, the population of the country was such that 200 congressional seats were considered adequate to represent all of the country's citizens."

"Today, our population has ballooned to around 90 million which is practically double than when the Constitution was ratified. Our population has grown to such proportions where one congressperson cannot adequately represent them. It is only logical that with such doubling of the population, the number of our representatives should double too."

"However, increasing the number of congressional seats should meet the minimum 250,000 population requirement so as not to abuse the people's right to equal representation. Take Camarines Sur as an example. The local government of the province, which was apparently not consulted during the House of Representatives' deliberations on the proposal to redistrict the province, opposes the creation of an additional district on the grounds of not meeting the minimum population requirement set by the Constitution. It is important that issues such as this be settled first before additional districts are created."