Camarines Sur split: Economic issues (Second of 3 parts)

In the first part, I discussed the profile of Camarines Sur in relation to the 5 other provinces of the Bicol Region. This second part is focused on the 35 municipalities and 2 cities of the province in the context of the proposed division, and how Cam Sur fares vis-a-vis the requisites of creating Nueva Camarines. The last part will tackle the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed Cam Sur split. 

Table 1. The Camarines Sur Split
Old Cam Sur
Reduced Cam Sur (District 1, 2, 3)			Nueva Cam (District 4, 5)
Cabusao	Bombon	Caramoan	Tanambac
Del Gallego	Calabanga	Garchitorena	Baao
Libmanan	Camaligan	Goa	Balatan
Lupi	Canaman	Lagonoy	Bato
Minalabac	Gainza	Presentacion	Buhi
Ragay	Magarao	Sagnay	Bula
Pamplona	Milaor	San Jose	Iriga City
Pasacao	Naga City	Siruma	Nabua
San Fernando	Ocampo	Tigaon
Sipocot	Pili
1 city, 19 municipalities			1 city, 16 municipalities

 

As shown in Table 1, the municipalities of old Cam Sur will be relatively fairly divided because the reduced province will have 19 munipalities and 1 city, although Naga City is an independent chartered city. The new province, on the other hand, will have 16 municipalities and 1 city. The towns of Districts 1, 2 and 3 will be left with the reduced Cam Sur while Districts 4 and 5, specifically Rinconada and Partido areas, will constitute Nueva Cam. All in all, the reduced province will still have greater number of municipalities left than the proposed Nueva Cam, as well as more number of political districts.

Table 2. Poverty Incidence in the Municipalities of Cam Sur

Municipality	Poverty incidence	Municipality	Poverty incidence	Municipality	Poverty incidence	Municipality	Poverty incidence
Cabusao	61.23	Bombon	51.12	Caramoan	59.47	Tanambac	58.17
Del Gallego	57.79	Calabanga	46.95	Garchitorena	68.46	Baao	44.74
Libmanan	57.76	Camaligan	33.71	Goa	49.10	Balatan	63.26
Lupi	57.76	Canaman	31.72	Lagonoy	52.81	Bato	50.75
Minalabac	55.83	Gainza	45.24	Presentacion	60.57	Buhi	51.62
Ragay	56.51	Magarao	39.43	Sagnay	59.12	Bula	56.59
Pamplona	48.91	Milaor	42.12	San Jose	42.09	Iriga City	29.87
Pasacao	62.56	Naga City	18.91	Siruma	58.76	Nabua	39.03
San Fernando	47.02	Ocampo	55.85	Tigaon	51.07
Sipocot	52.3	Pili	38.01

 

Table 2 presents the small area poverty incidence of the municipalities of Cam Sur. The top 2 poorest towns, Garchitorena and Balatan, as well as 2 of the top 6 poorest, Presentacion and Caramoan, are all prospective parts of Nueva Cam. While 2 other poorest municipalities, Pasacao and Cabusao, are prospective parts of the reduced Cam Sur. On the contrary, 4 of the more well-off communities, Naga City, Canaman, Camaligan, Pili, are all found in the reduced Cam Sur. While only 2 of the 6 richer localities, Iriga City and Nabua, are located in Nueva Cam.

Table 3. Income Classification of the Municipalities of Cam Sur

Municipality	Income Class	Municipality	Income Class	Municipality	Income Class	Municipality	Income Class
Cabusao	5	Bombon	5	Caramoan	5	Tanambac	3
Del Gallego	4	Calabanga	2	Garchitorena	4	Baao	2
Libmanan	1	Camaligan	4	Goa	2	Balatan	5
Lupi	4	Canaman	4	Lagonoy	3	Bato	3
Minalabac	4	Gainza	5	Presentacion	5	Buhi	2
Ragay	3	Magarao	5	Sagnay	4	Bula	3
Pamplona	4	Milaor	5	San Jose	4	Iriga City	3
Pasacao	3	Naga City	1	Siruma	5	Nabua	3
San Fernando	4	Ocampo	4	Tigaon	4
Sipocot	2	Pili	2

 

Table 3 shows the income classification of the localities. Income class reflects the financial performance of the local government unit. First class towns are those whose govenrment earns an average annual income of P450 million or more. There are only 2 first class localities in the province – Naga City and Libmanan – and both of them are found in the reduced Cam Sur. Second class municipalities are Sipocot, Calabanga, Pili – all located in the reduced Cam Sur – and Goa, Baao, Buhi – all prospective parts of the new province. There are 9 fifth class localities, 5 of which – Cabusao, Bombon, Gainza, Magarao, Milaor – are found in the reduced Cam Sur, while the other 4 – Caramoan, Presentacion, Siruma, Balatan – are located in Nueva Cam.

Tables 2 and 3 reveal that good financial performance of a local government unit does not necessarily translate to better economic conditions of consituents. Cam Sur is a first class province but more than half or 58% of its municipalities belong to fourth and fifth income class.  

Table 4. Requisites in Creating a New Province

Category	Requisite	Old Cam Sur	Reduced Cam Sur	Nueva Cam
Land area	2,000 km2	5,266.8 km2	2,571.4 km2	2,695.4 km2
Population	250000	1,551,549	738,494	813,055
Income/IRA	P20 million	1,139,991,220	752,930,000	607,070,000
		Actual 2010 IRA (DBM 2011)	Computed 2012 IRA (UP-CLGR 2011)

 

The last table shows the requisites in creating a province. Both the new and mother provinces should each have a land area of at least 2,000 square kilometers, population of at least 250,000 and income of at least P20 million. Based on the table, both the reduced Cam Sur and Nueva Cam are well beyond the minimum requirements in creating a province in terms of land area, population and income. Moreover, the income classification of both new and mother provinces remain within the first income category since the respective local government incomes are beyond P450 million.