The Supreme Court was asked Tuesday to declare as unconstitutional Republic Act 9716 creating another congressional district in Camarines Sur for failing to meet the population requirement.

The petition was filed by Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo.

“Under the present Constitution, the principle of proportional representation mandates that congressional districts shall be apportioned on the ratio of one representative for every 250,000 inhabitants, except for newly created provinces,” the petitioners said.

The petitioners noted that RA 9716 created a third district in the said province whose population after the first two districts have been realigned was down to only 176, 383 which is below the constitutional requirement.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Malacanang respects the decision of Aquino to question the measure before the Tribunal, but said the move would somehow create an awkward atmosphere in the legislative body.

To uphold the measure, the petitioners told the High Court, is to give congressmen “unbridled power to reapportion their districts to suit their political interests and in effect legitimizing gerrymandering which the Constitution strongly abhors.”

Pending resolution of their petition, Aquino and Robredo asked the Tribunal to issue an order restraining the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from issuing a resolution implementing RA 9716.

Aquino, standard bearer of the Liberal Party in next year’s presidential elections, intimated to newsmen that a third district was created to accommodate Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya who intends to run for Congress again.

Without a third district, Andaya would have to run against presidential son, incumbent Rep. Diosdado “Dato” Macapagal Arroyo, in the first district.

Aquino made it clear that he is not against additional representation in Congress but said such representation should be based on a “uniform and progressive ratio as provided for in the Constitution.”

Aquino admitted that with CamSur’s present population of 1,693,821, it is entitled to another district. What he is opposed to, he said, is the creation of a new district that “blatantly transgresses” the Constitution.

As chair of the Senate committee on Local Government, Aquino proposed amendments to HB 4264 authored by Rep. Luis V. Villafuerte to make the districts comply with the population requirement, but Sen. Joker Arroyo rejected his proposed amendments.

Senator Arroyo said the Senate would be intruding into the exclusive domain of the Lower House if it reconfigures a redistricting bill. Aside from the fact that some congressmen do not want their districts to be affected by HB 4264, a waterway separates the town of Libmanan from the towns comprising the proposed first district.

Linguistic differences, Senator Arroyo pointed out, also prevent the inclusion of Libmanan in the proposed first district. The senator hails from Bicol.

Villafuerte has maintained that in reapportioning the composition of the First and Second legislative districts in Camarines Sur and creating a new legislative district, there is no population requirement for provinces in creating additional congressional districts like in the cases of Camiguin, Siquijor and Zamboanga Sibugay where the population at the time of their creation was less than 250,000.

The Senate approved HB 4264 which later became RA 9716 realigning the First and Second districts of Camarines Sur to create a third district that will include Naga City and the municipalities of Pili, Ocampo, Camaligan, Canaman, Magarao, Bombon and Calabanga.

Malacañang expressed hopes that Aquino’s intentions in questioning the legality of the law were “well-motivated.”

“It is his right within the law so he is free to do what he feels is best and kami naman po sa gobyerno, always abide by our legal judicial process. Pero medyo may pagka-asiwa yata na gagawin niya ‘yan, after all the Congress has already passed that including the Senate,” he said in an interview shortly before the Cabinet meeting in San Fernando, Pampanga Tuesday.

“Para bang wala kang tiwala sa isang institusyon na kabilang ka and there is the danger of inviting judicial intervention or encroachment in the legislative process which may bring a question on the aspect of the system of check and balances or the principle of co-equal branches of the government. “But of course, karapatan ni Senator Aquino ‘yun,” he said.

Anti-government camps believed that the law would only benefit Rep. "Dato" Arroyo, the incumbent congressman of Camarines Sur's first district, who will run virtually unopposed next year should Andaya run in the new district. Andaya used to represent the first district.