Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez hopes the Sangguniang Panlungsod endorses the bill seeking the creation of two Bacolod congressional districts.*
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez said he supports Rep. Greg Gasataya’s bill seeking the creation of a second congressional district for Bacolod City.
“I hope that the city council would endorse that bill,” Benitez said in an ambush interview Wednesday, July 6.
Benitez said in the past the move to create a second congressional district did not prosper in Congress because of the lack of a Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) resolution endorsing it.
“Now we have a new council, I hope they pass that resolution,” he said.
Councilor Al Victor Espino said he will file a resolution of support for the creation of two Bacolod congressional districts before the SP.
Gasataya on Tuesday said he filed House Bill 297 on June 30 seeking to create the 1st and 2nd Legislative Districts of Bacolod by apportioning the 61 barangays of the city.
Philippine Statistics Authority records as of Aug. 1, 2015 show that that Bacolod City has a population of 561,875 with an average growth rate of 1.78 percent annually, he said.
The apportionment of the Lone District of Bacolod City into two Legislative Districts has become a matter of necessity, he said.
It will ensure that efficient and effective public service is rendered to Bacolod residents and that the city has adequate representation in Congress, Gasataya said.
It will also ensure Bacolod City receives its fair share of the national government’s resources, he added.*