New Leyte capitol to rise outside Tacloban

TACLOBAN CITY -- Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla confirmed on Friday the plan to relocate the provincial government to nearby Palo town after it was abandoned last month due to cracks sustained after the magnitude 6.5 earthquake last April 23.

“Imagine what the building had gone through in the past 100 years. The Japanese forces bombarded the building during World War II. It was hit by storm surges when Super Typhoon Yolanda struck in 2013. Several earthquakes also shook the building. Even if retrofitting is done, no one could guarantee if the building is really safe for occupancy,” Petilla said.

The historic structure is planned to be converted into a museum.

Petilla said the new Provincial Capitol will rise along the new Palo West Bypass Road in Palo town, 13 km. from Tacloban. Several regional offices of national government agencies are also located in Palo.

The governor is eyeing to complete the construction of the new building within three years.

“We will find ways to finance the construction of the new capitol not from our internal revenue allotment share. The provincial engineer has yet to come up with the budget required to construct the building,” Petilla added.

Since the third week of May, departments of the provincial government have been using office spaces of nearby facilities, such as the Small and Medium Enterprises Development building, makeshift offices of the Office of Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery, newly-renovated provincial gymnasium, and the Leyte Academic Center in Palo town.

Leyte Vice Governor Carlo Loreto said his office will coordinate with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) on how to develop the old capitol building into a museum.

“As part of the restoration of the building, the governor tasked me to talk with the NHCP and the National Museum to look into the possibility of creating a network of museum in the province, which means, any files or artifacts that we have in the capitol will also have a copy in other places in the province for preservation in case a calamity happens,” Loreto said in a phone interview.

The capitol building was constructed in 1917 during the administration of then-governor Salvador Demetrio. It was completed and inaugurated in 1924 during the term of governor Honorio Lopez.

The building was the seat of the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines (Oct. 23, 1944 to Feb. 27, 1945) when then-president Sergio Osmeña came into power in 1944 with the World War II Liberation Forces.

Gen. Douglas McArthur had sworn Osmeña into office inside the building.

In 1964, the original edifice was renovated, expanded and improved 40 years after upon assumption to office of then-governor Norberto Romualdez Jr., brother of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1071827

Consolacion, Liloan and Minglanilla, on the verge of Cityhood

Minglanilla, Consolacion and Liloan are municipalities in Metro Cebu that are now on the verge of cityhood based on the qualifications set forth by R.A. 9009, the governing law on cityhood or conversion of a municipality to a city.

Republic Act. 9009

• locally generated income of at least ₱100 million (based on constant prices in the year 2000) for the last two consecutive years, as certified by the Department of Finance, AND
• a population of at least 150,000, as certified by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA); OR a contiguous territory of 100 square kilometers, as certified by the Land Management Bureau, with contiguity not being a requisite for areas that are on two or more islands

Size

For the territorial requirement of 100 square kilometers, not one among the three Metro Cebu towns can qualify since they all have a smaller land area, with Consolacion having only 37sq.km, the smallest of the three.

So the only way to go is to comply with the two other requirements. Income and Population.

100M Annual Income

Money seems not a problem these days for Consolacion, Liloan and Minglanilla as they all have annual earnings exceeding the minimum parameter of 100M.

150,000 Population

On the question of population however, not one of the three can make the cut. That is if we refer to the latest census of 2015:

Liloan: 118,753

Minglanilla: 132,135

Consolacion: 131,528

But that is four years ago. These are fast growing urban areas that are averaging 4% to 10% year-on-year growth on its population.

Looking at the demographics, both Consolacion and Minglanilla should have breached the mark already as early as last year (2018), while Liloan will also make it in 2020 or 2021 at the latest.

Cities enjoy greater autonomy from the national government and a much bigger share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

But the biggest change of all for new cities aside from the label, is the prestige and distinction it gives to all its residents.

A moment of pride and collective excitement for the milestone in history, when their once sleepy town finally ‘arrived‘ to join the big league.

Of course it is the people through a plebiscite who will eventually decide the fate of any cityhood proposal, but almost always, the excitement and human instinct for self -advancement prevails.

To the people of Minglanilla City, the City of Consolacion and Liloan City, congratulations in advance and please keep your city clean.