MALAY, Aklan – This municipality is striving for a cityhood that aims to achieve unprecedented growth and to improve the level of local government, according to acting Malay town mayor Frolibar Bautista.
As part of their bid to the mission, Bautista issued Executive Order No. 54 that would establish Malay Cityhood Technical Working Group (TWG) tasked to conduct assessment and evaluation on the requirements of cityhood. They would also assist the Sangguniang Bayan of this town to craft a resolution requesting the House of Representatives about it.
“Malay, Aklan is a class of its own, center of trade and commerce, capable of fiscal independence, point of convergence of transportation, rich haven of agricultural, mineral, and other natural resources, and a grand tourism spot of Boracay,” the EO states.
The acting mayor will head the TWG, while Malay Legal officer Atty. Melanio Prado will act as the secretariat.
Proposed by the Sangguniang Bayan of this town in 2010, the plans and consultation of the Malay cityhood with the stakeholders are already in the preliminary stages.
Bautista aims to convert the town into a component city with a mission “to enhance local autonomy in its truest sense, not only by legislative enabling acts but also by administrative and organizational reforms.”
The conversion is primarily envisioned to promote Malay’s economic potential and spur investstments.
The town’s bustling economy is anchored on tourism activities in the world-famous island of Boracay, the Airport and port of Caticlan, and the ports of Sambiray, Tambisaan, Cagban and Tabon.
It also has more facilities like banks and telecommunication companies, and more developed infrastructure than other towns in this province.
This first class municipality with 17 barangays – three of them in Boracay Island – has met the requirement for locally generated funds. However, it also needs to qualify the criteria on land area and population before it could be converted into a city.
Also, the town has a total 52,973 population based on 2015 Census of Population and 66.01 square kilometers of land area.
Republic Act No. 9009, which amended Section 450 of Republic Act No. 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991), requires a population of at least 150,000, a land area of at least 100 square kilometers and a minimum of P100 million locally generated average annual income for the last two consecutive years for a municipality or cluster of barangays to be converted into a component city.(With a report from Akean Forum/PN)
