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ILOILO CITY: The 118-member League of Cities of the
Philippines (LCP) is not happy over the churning out of new cities,
now that plebiscites for cityhood or converting towns into cities
have pushed through in some parts of the country.
According to Iloilo City Mayor
Jerry Trenas, League National President, they failed to get a
Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from the Supreme Court to stop the
referendum for new cities.
“We feel sad, it is just very
unfortunate that no TRO was issued,” he said.
The towns of Baybay in Leyte and
Catbalogan in Samar have held plebiscites on June 16 this year to
determine whether residents are in favor of the reclassification of
their towns into cities, while a similar plebiscite is scheduled on
June 20 for Borongan, capital of Eastern Samar.
Trenas said the league will still
push through with its petition despite the continuing referendum
done in the different towns up for cityhood.
The LCP is objecting the
conversion of 12 towns into cities because they failed to comply
with the minimum income requirement of P100 million as mandated in
the Local Government Code and amended by Republic Act 9009.
Addition of new cities will
likewise affect the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) fund of the
existing cities. Other towns that are to be converted to cities
include Tayabas, Quezon; Bayugan, Agusan del Norte; Cabadbaran,
Agusan del Norte; Bogo, Cebu; Tandag, Surigao del Sur; Lamitan,
Basilan; Carcar, Cebu; El Salvador, Misamis Oriental; Batac, Ilocos
Norte; and Tabuk, Kalinga.
--PNA
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