A resolution favorably endorsing to the House of Representatives through the office of Bacolod Rep. Anthony Golez Jr. the proposal for the re-apportionment of the Lone District of Bacolod into two districts was approved by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod Wednesday.
Those who voted in favor were Councilors Caesar Distrito, Em Legaspi-Ang, Homer Bais, Al Victor Espino, Roberto Rojas, Kevin Ramos and Diosdado Valenzuela, while those who abstained were Councilors Catalino Alisbo, El Cid Familiaran and Archie Baribar. Councilors Sonya Verdeflor, Elmer Sy and Carl Lopez were out of the SP session hall during the voting. Familiaran said the request of the mayor for the endorsement of the proposed redistricting of Bacolod City was submitted to the SP only on Wednesday. So he and Verdeflor requested to be given a week to study the recommendation of the task team, he said. He also asked that all members of the SP be given enough time to study it because he wants to get a unanimous endorsement from them. Familiaran, Distrito, Bais and Valenzuela are members of the study task team for the redistricting. Familiaran said they were the ones who submitted the recommendation to the SP on the divisions of the barangays. He said the mayor is not in a hurry and has even suggested that a copy of the project study be given to Golez for his evaluation. Meanwhile, Distrito said it is their right to study a proposal, but personally, he has studied the matter already and has attended a forum on the redistricting of Bacolod which was a campaign promise of their party, he said. Distrito said he believes time is of the essence since there are other cities who also want to be redistricted and it is high time that they pass a resolution endorsing the proposal for the redistricting. The study team has recommended that Bacolod be divided into Bacolod North District and Bacolod South District. The Bacolod North District will be composed of Barangays 1 to 12, 17 to 31, 41, Alangilan, Banago, Bata, Estefania, Granada, Mandalagan, Montevista, Villamonte and Vista Alegre which have a total population of 238,107 based on the National Statistics Office census of 2007. While the Bacolod South District will be composed of Barangays 13 to 16, 32 to 40, Alijis, Cabug, Felisa, Handumanan, Mansilingan, Pahanocoy, Punta-Taytay, Singcang, Sum-ag, Taculing and Tangub which have a total population of 261,390 as of 2007. Meanwhile, the SP ratified the memorandum of agreement entered inot by the President’s Bridge Program of the Department of Public Works, the City Government of Bacolod, the DPWH-Region VI Office on the construction of the Lacson-Circumferential Road flyover, Wednesday. Distrito, who moved for the ratification of the MOA, said he also conducted a hearing on the construction of the project and submitted a report recommending the ratification of the agreement, and authorizing Mayor Evelio Leonardia to sign it since the project will help in decongesting traffic in Bacolod City. No funds will be released on the part of the city for the flyover project, he said.*CGS BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO Visayan Daily Star
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A resolution favorably endorsing to the House of Representatives through the office of Bacolod Rep. Anthony Golez Jr. the proposal for the re-apportionment of the Lone District of Bacolod into two districts was approved by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod Wednesday.
Those who voted in favor were Councilors Caesar Distrito, Em Legaspi-Ang, Homer Bais, Al Victor Espino, Roberto Rojas, Kevin Ramos and Diosdado Valenzuela, while those who abstained were Councilors Catalino Alisbo, El Cid Familiaran and Archie Baribar. Councilors Sonya Verdeflor, Elmer Sy and Carl Lopez were out of the SP session hall during the voting. Familiaran said the request of the mayor for the endorsement of the proposed redistricting of Bacolod City was submitted to the SP only on Wednesday. So he and Verdeflor requested to be given a week to study the recommendation of the task team, he said. He also asked that all members of the SP be given enough time to study it because he wants to get a unanimous endorsement from them. Familiaran, Distrito, Bais and Valenzuela are members of the study task team for the redistricting. Familiaran said they were the ones who submitted the recommendation to the SP on the divisions of the barangays. He said the mayor is not in a hurry and has even suggested that a copy of the project study be given to Golez for his evaluation. Meanwhile, Distrito said it is their right to study a proposal, but personally, he has studied the matter already and has attended a forum on the redistricting of Bacolod which was a campaign promise of their party, he said. Distrito said he believes time is of the essence since there are other cities who also want to be redistricted and it is high time that they pass a resolution endorsing the proposal for the redistricting. The study team has recommended that Bacolod be divided into Bacolod North District and Bacolod South District. The Bacolod North District will be composed of Barangays 1 to 12, 17 to 31, 41, Alangilan, Banago, Bata, Estefania, Granada, Mandalagan, Montevista, Villamonte and Vista Alegre which have a total population of 238,107 based on the National Statistics Office census of 2007. While the Bacolod South District will be composed of Barangays 13 to 16, 32 to 40, Alijis, Cabug, Felisa, Handumanan, Mansilingan, Pahanocoy, Punta-Taytay, Singcang, Sum-ag, Taculing and Tangub which have a total population of 261,390 as of 2007. Meanwhile, the SP ratified the memorandum of agreement entered inot by the President’s Bridge Program of the Department of Public Works, the City Government of Bacolod, the DPWH-Region VI Office on the construction of the Lacson-Circumferential Road flyover, Wednesday. Distrito, who moved for the ratification of the MOA, said he also conducted a hearing on the construction of the project and submitted a report recommending the ratification of the agreement, and authorizing Mayor Evelio Leonardia to sign it since the project will help in decongesting traffic in Bacolod City. No funds will be released on the part of the city for the flyover project, he said.*CGS BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO Visayan Daily Star THE City Council of Bacolod City has endorsed the proposed reapportionment of the lone district into two legislative districts.
Councilors Caesar Distrito, Em Legaspi-Ang, Al Victor Espino, Bobby Rojas, Kevin Ramos and Diosdado Valenzuela voted in favor of the proposal while Councilors El Cid Familiaran, Catalino Alisbo and Archie Baribar abstained. Earlier, Mayor Evelio Leonardia requested the City Council to endorse the proposal after he and other key members of the Bacolod City elected officials endorsed the proposal. The mayor, when he made the request, provided the City Council with the project study submitted by the composite team headed by city administrator Rogelio Balo. According to the study, the current population map distribution of the lone congressional district of Bacolod City needs to be re-drawn to meet the constitutional guidelines on the make up of each legislative district. Bacolod, with the population of 499,497 based on the 2007 census, now has a population of 531,942 based on the projected at 2.12 percent annual growth rate. Thus, the city can qualify to have two legislative districts because its population surpasses the 250,000 minimum requirements for one legislative district. The redistricting will have an economic impact on the whole community, because the addition of one legislative district for Bacolod City will have a significant fiscal windfall on the whole community. An additional district fund equivalent to P70 million per annum would definitely provide a jumpstart in the local economy. This amount could even be multiplied five or more times, and be translated into more growth and development in infrastructure, more social and medical services as well as increase in employment generation. BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia believes that the proposed two congressional districts are better than the present lone congressional district for Bacolod City.
Adding one district to the existing one has its economic value and will far outweigh the perceived disadvantages that the Negrenses for Noynoy Movement (N4NM) have raised in its position paper, the mayor said. This was Leonardia's reaction after N4NM issued a position paper questioning the proposed redistricting of Bacolod as well as the construction of the two flyover projects in the city. Leonardia and Bacolod City lone district Representative Anthony Golez see eye-to-eye on these issues, as they believed there is nothing disadvantageous in these proposals for the people of Bacolod. Golez is set to file his proposed bill on the redistricting of Bacolod within this month, as the proposal has already been favorably endorsed by the majority of Bacolod's barangay captains. In line with the re-districting proposal, Leonardia had requested Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson and members of the City Council to pass a resolution favorably endorsing the re-apportionment of the lone district of Bacolod City into two legislative districts. "Pursuant to your Resolution No. 435, series of 2010 and other previous resolutions similar or related to the same, may we furnish you a copy of the project study submitted by a composite team coming from our executive and legislative branches," the mayor stated in his letter request. Leonardia created a Study Task Team composed of city administrator Rogelio Balo, councilors El Cid Familiaran, Homer Bais, Diosdado Valenzuela, Caesar Distrito, city legal officer Joselito Bayatan, and executive assistants Federico Guanzon and Butch Soliguen. Based on the 207 census, Bacolod City has a population of 499,497. At the projected 2.12 percent annual growth rate, the city's present population is projected to be 531, 942, thereby the city eligible to have two legislative districts because its population surpasses the 250,000 minimum requirement for one legislative district. He added it will not shake the coffers of the National Government if Bacolod will have two congressional districts. |
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