''Sugbuak'' (

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsdivide the island province of

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

into four separate provinces in 2007. The issue, which had emerged before the 2007 general election, was a polarizing issue in provincial politics, pitting the anti-partition camp of Cebu Governor

Gwendolyn Garcia Gwendolyn Fiel Garcia (born October 12, 1955) is a Filipina politician serving as the governor of Cebu since 2019, a position she previously held from 2004 and 2013—being the first woman to hold that office. She was the representative of Ceb ...

, Cebu City Mayor

Tomas Osmeña Tomas dela Rama Osmeña (; born July 26, 1948), known as Tommy Osmeña, is a Filipino politician who served as the Mayor of Cebu City thrice: first from 1987 to 1995, again from 2001 to 2010, and lastly from 2016 to 2019. He also served as Congr ...

and Cebu City Representative Antonio Cuenco, against that of ''Sugbuak'' proponents Representatives Antonio Yapha Jr., Clavel Asas-Martinez, and Simeon Kintanar—all of whom were last-term congressmen at the time.

Etymology

The term ''Sugbuak'' is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsCebuano words ''Sugbo'' (the endonym for Cebu) and ''buak'' ('split' or 'break') and roughly translates to "the splitting of Cebu" or "Broken Cebu". The more pro-partition term ''Sugbuhi'' is conversely a portmanteau of ''Sugbo'' and ''buhi'' ('life-giving'), roughly translating into "giving life to Cebu".

History

The idea of a divided Cebu can be traced to 1967, when a proposal to split the island's lone congressional district into a new province failed. Gubernatorial candidates in that year's general election who supported the partition were defeated due to strong opposition from the Cebu electorate. The actual ''Sugbuak'' began in February 2005, when Representatives Yapha, Asas-Martínez, and Kintanar filed three bills proposing that the fourth, second and third

legislative districts of Cebu The legislative districts of Cebu are the representations of the province of Cebu in the various national legislatures of the Philippines. At present, the province is currently represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines by i ...

(which they held, respectively) be converted into three new provinces named Cebu del Norte, Cebu del Sur and Cebu Occidental. The remaining three districts of Cebu, in addition to the two legislative districts of Cebu City, would constitute a fourth province. The three provinces, according to their respective bills, would have their capitals in Bogo, Argao and Toledo. According to the congressmen, the motive for the ''Sugbuak'' is to bring the government "closer to the people" and to allow the new provinces to get an increased share in the

Internal Revenue Allotment The Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) is a local government unit’s (LGU) share of revenues from the Philippine national government. Provinces, independent cities, component cities, municipalities, and barangays each get a separate allotment. ...

, as well as to hasten the development of the districts, which were said to have been "neglected" by the provincial government.

Opposition

The filing of the bills triggered a massive campaign to keep Cebu united. The campaign led by Governor García claimed that the motive for the ''Sugbuak'' was more political than economic. An article published by ''

The Manila Times ''The Manila Times'' is the oldest extant English-language newspaper in the Philippines. It is published daily by The Manila Times Publishing Corp. (formerly La Vanguardia Publishing Corporation) with editorial and administrative offices at 2/F ...

'' claimed that the provinces would have become the "virtual

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

s" of Asas-Martínez, Kintanar and Yapha after the partition, an idea reinforced by the fact that all three congressmen were in their last terms as representatives of their respective districts. The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial council) of Cebu passed a resolution supporting the ''Sugbuak'' with a vote of 8–7; García, however, vetoed the resolution. García's call for a united Cebu met with strong support from local governments, business interests, civil society groups and even the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In August 2005, the

Archdiocese of Cebu The Archdiocese of Cebu (more formally the Archdiocese of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in Cebu; ; ; ; ) is a Roman Rite archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines and one of the ecclesiastical provinces of the Catholic Church in the cou ...

conducted a survey in its 138 parishes to gauge the level of support for the ''Sugbuak''. 71 parishes, including those of proposed capitals Argao, Bogo City and Toledo City, confirmed the belief of Cardinal

Ricardo Vidal Ricardo Tito Jamin Vidal ( la, Ricardus Titus Vidal; es, Ricardo Tito Vidal y Jamín; (February 6, 1931 - October 18, 2017) was a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church. Made a cardinal in 1985, he was Archbishop of Cebu from 1982 to 2010. ...

, Archbishop of Cebu, that a majority of Cebuanos opposed the ''Sugbuak''.

Notes

References

{{reflist

External links

Official anti-''Sugbuak'' website by the Cebu provincial government
as preserved by the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

on October 12, 2007 Politics of Cebu Partition (politics) Proposed provinces and territories of the Philippines