BACOLOD City – Cong. Greg Gasataya filed on July 24 House Bill No. 2688 seeking to establish the Metropolitan Bacolod Development Authority (MBDA).
The bill seeks to provide for the clustering of the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Silay, Talisay, and the municipality of Murcia into a Special Development and Administrative Unit (SDAU) and creates the MBDA under the supervision of the Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
“Metro Bacolod is the eighth most populous and sixth most densely populated among the 12 metropolitan areas in the country. The common management of public needs in the local government units (LGUs) such as transportation and traffic management, waste regulation and management, health and sanitation, development planning, flood control and sewage, public safety, and land use planning will be a big help in avoiding the problems other metropolitan areas are facing now,” said Gasataya.
Bacolod City has become one of the fastest-growing cities in the country and its peripheries have likewise become urban centers, thus anticipating its central role in Metropolitan Bacolod is paramount, he added.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Western Visayas said last week a master plan for the proposed Metropolitan Bacolod is underway and NEDA Region 6 is planning to include the proposal in the 2020 budget.
According to Gasataya, he supports the move from NEDA and that it will have positive impact on the economy of the entire province as it could translate to the erection of a center of tourism, manufacturing, information and communications technology, and business.
“This will also be a big help in addressing woes on traffic congestion and waste management in the city. I am making the bill one of our priority measures in the 18th Congress,” Gasataya added./PN
