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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Saturday, February 18, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Dividing this capital city into two legislative districts will be beneficial to the public, several local officials told Panay News.
Rep. Greg Gasataya is pushing for the creation of another legislative district.
House Bill No. 147 is “in pursuit of efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of basic services and equal representation for the people of Bacolod,” he said.
Gasataya also sought an official position from the local government.
“Long overdue” was how Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran described the proposal.
Having two legislative districts will allow for more funding, which will redound to more projects, Familiaran said.
Three members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod also expressed support to the proposal.
It is high time that Bacolod be given “equal representation” in Congress vis-à-vis the number of constituents, said Caesar Distrito.
Redistricting will also open the capital of Negros Occidental to “more projects and opportunities,” Distrito stressed.
Two people representing Bacolod in the House of Representatives is better than one, according to Cindy Rojas. And there could be “more developments,” too, she said.
Em Ang has a similar opinion: the plan would allow Bacolod to have “more equitable representation in Congress,” and “more projects” would mean “more progress.”
She hopes the bill gets passed soon.
Familiaran, Distrito, Rojas, and Ang all belong to the local political group Grupo Progreso led by Mayor Evelio Leonardia. Gasataya belongs to the same group.
Section 5, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution provides for a 250,000 minimum population for a legislative district to merit representation in Congress.
“Each legislative district shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact, and adjacent territory,” the Constitution stated. “Each city with a population of at least two hundred fifty thousand, or each province, shall have at least one representative.”
According to the City Planning and Development Office, the city is projected to have a population of 579,101 this year, based on a 1.78-percent annual growth rate.
Gasataya said he and Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Stephen Paduano introduced in July last year bills seeking redistricting in Bacolod.
“But his (Paduano) bill was a reintroduction of the bill filed by former congressman Anthony Golez in 2010, while my bill was based on the present situation of the barangays,” Gasataya explained.
Golez’s measure was approved in the House but not in the Senate.
Gasataya said the House committee on local government has referred his bill to a technical working group he leads as chairman.
“It is [worth noting] that the same proposal was endorsed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod previously,” he said./PN
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