Splitting Quezon: Quezon Del Norte and Quezon Del Sur
On September 7, 2007, the Charter of Quezon del Sur, known as Republic Act No. 9495, lapsed into law without the signature of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. If approved by the voters of Quezon, it will split the province into two. Quezon del Sur will comprise the towns of Agdangan, Buenavista, Catanauan, General Luna, Macalelon, Mulanay, Padre Burgos, Pitogo, San Andres, San Francisco, San Narciso, Unisan, Alabat, Atimonan, Calauag, Guinayangan, Gumaca, Lopez, Perez, Plaridel, Quezon and Tagkawayan.
Quezon del Norte (original province) will comprise Burdeos, General Nakar, Infanta, Jamalig, Lucban, Mauban, Pagbilao, Panukulan, Patnanungan, Polillo, Real, Sampaloc, Tayabas, Candelaria, Dolores, San Antonio, Sariaya, Tiaong and Lucena City. The capital of Quezon del Sur shall be Gumaca while Quezon del Norte shall be Lucena City. If the plebiscite of November 2008 will favor splitting Quezon into two provinces, Quezon del Norte and Quezon del Sur will still be part of the CALABARZON (Southern Tagalog, Region-4A) under their original acronym "ZON" (Quezon).
The Commission on Elections (Philippines) will hold the plebiscite on December 13, 2008, the 60th day after Republic Act No. 9495 will take effect. Gov. Rafael Nantes, one of the original authors of the law, and Vice Gov. Carlos Portes, opposed the division of the province. Board member Sonny Pulgar and businessman Hobart Dator Jr. launched the "Save Quezon Province Movement." The Comelec allotted P 50 million for the plebiscite. Academician Prof. Joseph Jadway "JJ" Marasigan provided what he called the "strong theoretical framework" that deems the said split as a step backward. He instead called for the professionalization of service institutions and the differentiation of functions as the answer to the province's increasingly becoming complex environment. He organized students and fellow academicians to oppose such move. His participation resulted in a grave misunderstanding with the Lucena Catholic Bishop Emilio Marquez who strongly supported the idea of splitting the province. Marasigan maintained that bishops have no business in dealing with entirely political matters and should refrain from using their influence over their flock. Gov. Rafael Nantes, has later softened his stand against the proposed creation of Quezon del Sur. Accordingly, upon request of Comelec Chair Jose Melo, a P38 million "Special Allotment Release Order" was issued by the Department of Budget and Management to the Commission on Elections (Philippines) to fund the holding of the plebiscite.
On November 17, 2008, Save Quezon Province Movement (SQPM) asked the Supreme Court of the Philippines to declare Republic Act 9495 as unconstitutional, and to restrain the implementation of a November 12 Commission on Elections (Philippines) Resolutions Nos. 8533, 8534, 8535, 8537, 8538 and 8539 setting the plebiscite.
Ultimately, the split did not push through, as the proposal was not approved.
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“Verily, chemistry is not a splitting of hairs when you have got half a dozen raw Irishmen in the laboratory.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)