MATI : A MUNICIPALTIY AGAIN WITH PRIDE  
7/13/2009
by Neela G. Duallo

 Mati, Davao Oriental – After so many sleepless and seemingly endless nights, the battle is over for Mati and to the rest of the League of 16, for now. 
 
The Supreme Court favored the petition of the powerful League of Cities, and converted Mati into a municipality again. 
 
In the Conference on the Effects of the Adverse Ruling of the Supreme Court to the Citihood Law Creating the City of Mati held on June 19, 2009 at Casa Rosa, a power point presentation delineated the brief history of the struggle of Mati for citihood, and the devastating effects of unmaking a city, particularly for Mati. 
 
 Commemorating the citihood of Mati  
 
Mayor Michelle Rabat emphasized that the citihood of Mati is really worth commemorating. 
 
 “For a year, we were able to provide more services to our constituents. For a year, we were able to accommodate the requests of the Phil. Nat’l Police, the requests of the 26 barangays, the requests of the Dept. of Education, and the requests of the needy and the sick,” she said.  
 
The Local Government of Mati is now asking help from the national agencies, like the Dept. of Budget and Management, the Dept. of Interior and Local Government, to guide Mati on how to go about the conversion. 
 
Mayor Rabat said that the national agencies can help in explaining to Mati the guidelines in unmaking a city, just like what happened to Mati. 
 
 Deprived of Dreams and Aspirations   
 
“ My heart bleeds for everybody, for all Matinians, for the people who voted yes in the last plebiscite they were not heard, because we are deprived of our dreams, of our aspirations by a few men. They say the issue here is money because the League of Cities strongly protested the addition of the League of 16 to their group because it will mean a reduction to their Internal Revenue Allotment. But I was enlightened with the homily in the Mass commemorating the citihood of Mati and celebrating the 6th Pujada Bay Festival,  that it’s not really money, but the attitude of people in greed,” she added.  
  
The Mayor explained that with Mati now back to the municipality status, the province will shoulder all the eleven local government units again.  
 
“ The League of Municipalities now will suffer a reduction of their IRA to accommodate the converted cities, and this includes the municipalities of Davao Oriental. While the League of Municipalities has to accept such fate, our neighboring provinces like Davao del Norte with 3 cities already, will further enjoy an increase to their Internal Revenue Allotment with the decision of the Supreme Court, and the money will just revolve around in that Province. And for Davao Oriental, the Province will again shoulder the requests of all municipal mayors and all the barangays. We are already on our way up, but we were pulled down,” she explained. 
  
 Good Argument  
 
Mayor Rabat furthered that Mati and the League of 16 gave a good argument to the case.  
 
The citihood of the sixteen cities cannot be called unconstitutional because the criteria was stipulated in the Local Government Code, and the Local Gov’t Code which was enacted by Congress, enabled by Congress, and can be amended by Congress. 
 
 Reaching the Illusive One Hundred Million Peso 
  
With the illusive 100  Million peso standard income requirement for citihood, Rabat is very optimistic that such is reachable. 
 
“ If all of us will say that it is achievable, then it will be, and we can. Let’s get our acts together and the media can help us in our campaign to increase our income, and have the income of what it takes to be a city,” she stressed.  
 
 Best Was Done for Citihood  
 
Earlier, the author of the Republic Act 9408, the bill creating the City of Mati, former Congressman Mayo Almario said that the best was done for the citihood of Mati. 
 
 “We exerted our best efforts. We prayed really hard for it. Even if the decision also pains me because I’ve been through a lot for the citihood of Mati, lobbying to the senators even during unholy hours, and there were instances when I almost gave up, but this happened under the law, and so we have to abide. The best thing to do now is to accept the reality, the decision of the Supreme Court,” Almario reminisced.  
 
But the former lawmaker hurled a challenge of making what happened as an eye opener. 
 
“We failed because we did not reach the income requirement. Why is Mati’s income low? It is because we do not have sufficient collection as yet. And where do we get our income?  We get it from the business permits of the businessmen, from the residence certificates, among others. No matter how much you pay, but that will contribute in bringing us to where we want to go. Needless to say, we have to strengthen all the more our tax campaign. Even the students can explain and entice their parents to pay their taxes with the students well informed of the necessity of tax payments. 
 
    
 Citihood: Best Thing that could Have Happened to Davao Oriental  
 
Governor Corazon Malanyaon also shares the sentiment of Mati, but let out some very consoling words for Mati. 
 
 “We should not be in mourning. As you see, we are commemorating our citihood, we are celebrating the 6th Pujada Bay Festival, and the forthcoming 42nd Araw ng Davao Oriental. Most importantly, as Mayor Rabat said, we should not give up. True, we are experiencing the adverse effects with the conversion of Mati. Mati lost a sure income of almost 400 million pesos. And this could have been used for development projects. Just imagine the employees who were laid off simply because of Mati can no longer afford their compensation as city employees. Such amount is really a big loss,” she reiterated.  
 
The Governor said the best thing that could have happened to the province of Davao Oriental is having its first city in Mati. 
 
 “Perhaps this is the right time for us, an opportunity to reflect on what we are going to do to achieve the target income to qualify as a city. While its true that basically Mati, as well as the other local government units rely on real property taxes, but with all the initiatives that we are jointly doing, we can increase our revenues through other sources. That is why we will now be focusing on revenue generation. Let us just remember that in every thing that will happen, there will always be some compensating advantages. It’s just a matter of attitude. If we will work together, we can do wonders. Let us be one as residents of Mati, and as residents of Davao Oriental,” she pointed out.  
 
With adjustments to be made with the status now of Mati, Malanyaon calls for prudent spending, and proper setting of priorities. 
 
 Life Goes On  
 
 “We cannot dwell on the past because that’s water under the bridge. It already happened. Officially we already received our municipal IRA. Life goes on. It may not be this year, or next year, but definitely, they cannot stop Mati from getting there. As I said, citihood for Mati is what we believe in for always. And no matter what, a city or a municipality, I will say this again that Mati is for Matinians, Mati is where we belong, home of God-fearing and peace loving people,” concluded Mayor Michelle Rabat.