MONTEVISTA, Compostela Valley—Gold-rich Compostela Valley is ready to rebrand itself as Davao de Oro, lining itself among the provinces of the Davao region, which all have the word “Davao” in their name, and remove the confusion of its location.
As Davao de Oro, it would also proudly announce its natural wealth that has long caught the eye of the corporate mining world and likewise “to proudly announce that we belong to the Davao region, much like the rest of the provinces, which have used the word Davao to designate themselves in the region, like Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental,” Compostela Valley Gov. Jayvee Tyron L. Uy said.
“Now,” he added, they will no longer “be mistaken for a neighbor of Cagayan Valley, or the Compostela town of Cebu, nor to be confused with our own Compostela town here.”
The province took the name Compostela Valley in 1998 when it was carved out from eleven eastern municipalities of Davao del Norte. Uy wondered aloud about “whatever happened to its naming that we are the only province in the region that has no Davao in it”.
Uy announced the province was likely to assume the new name anytime soon, as he appealed to the province’s 736,107 residents to vote affirmatively to the adoption of the name in a plebiscite next year, probably after the mid-term local elections on May 13.
The House of Representatives already passed the renaming bill on second reading, practically a go-ahead for its final approval, while two senators assured Uy they would also sponsor the resolution at the resumption of session next year.
“With the new name is the new direction,” he said, citing the leap in its achievements, including the 2017 Commission on Audit’s ranking of the province as the second richest among the Philippine provinces, next to Cebu province.
Compostela Valley, lying along the country’s so-called Eastern Mineral Belt for its rich gold, copper and nickel deposits, was the only Mindanao local government to land in the 10 richest provinces, at a comfortable second spot. It boosted of total assets reaching P18.95 billion.
He said the Davao de Oro name would bring the tagline, “The Living Treasure,” with its wealth attracting national business and investment when it landed 30th in 2017 among 67 provinces ranked on their business competitive index.
The most recent result of the teachers’ secondary licensure examination showed the Davao del Norte State College ranked as the third-best performing school in the Philippines, with four of its graduates notching the third, fourth and eighth spots in the top 10 examinees.
“Our new name will be our own promise. I will announce it during the Bulawan [gold] Festival in March,” he said.
https://businessmirror.com.ph/compostela-valley-today-davao-de-oro-tomorrow/
