The Sangguniang Panlungsod is showing renewed interest in the creation of a second congressional district in Bacolod as politics starts to heat up in the city.
The SP during its regular session Wednesday, April 28, unanimously passed a resolution inquiring from Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya about the status of his proposed bill entitled:“An act reapportioning the lone district of Bacolod City.“
Gasataya told DIGICAST NEGROS his proposed bill is pending before the House Committee on Local Government, and a resolution from the city council favoring the reapportionment is needed for it to be acted on.
Hopefully, it can then be included in the next hearing of the Committee on Local Government when the House resumes sessions in May, he said.
However, he cannot predict if the bill can be passed into a law before the elections in May 2022 with limited time left, Gasataya said.
The approved SP resolution authored by Councilor Al Victor Espino said that in July 2016 Gasataya introduced House Bill 147 in the 17th Congress, which is an act reapportioning the lone legislative district of Bacolod and thereby creating a second legislative district for the city.
In July 2019, Gasataya filed the measure again as House Bill 566 in the 18th Congress, he added.
The reapportionment is proper, legal and feasible in Bacolod City because of the significant increase in its population, Espino said.
Paragraph 3, Section 5, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution states that each legislative district should have a population of at least 250,000.
The population of Bacolod City based on the 2015 census alone is 561,875 making it qualify for two national representatives under the minimum requirements set in the 1987 Constitution, Espino said.
The reapportionment of Bacolod City into two legislative districts will spur economic growth and development and provide the people of Bacolod with more programs, projects, and services, the resolution said.
The SP is open to support the reapportionment of the legislative district of Bacolod City, it added.*