Consolacion town eyes cityhood

CEBU, Philippines - The municipality of Consolacion is gearing forward to elevate its status into a city.

This was according to the incumbent Mayor Teresa Alegado during the 888 news forum last Tuesday at Marco Polo Plaza Hotel where the mayor said that they are hoping for the cityhood to take place so it would help Consolacion grow more and residents’ opportunities like employment would be strengthened. Alegado said with the recent developments in their town, including the major investment of SM Prime and other big establishments, the economy has become very bullish for Compostela.

She clarified though that their main purpose in pushing for investments is to be able to provide employment opportunities for the residents and not to purposely help them become a city.

However she said that if given the opportunity, it would greatly help Consolacion and in return, they will continue to invite and bring in more investments to their town.

Alegado said Congressman Luigi Quisumbing of the 6th district has yet to file the bill for the cityhood.

Atty. Jocelia Bighani, chief of staff of Quisumbing, explained that initiative would come from the municipal council who shall submit a resolution along with cityhood requirements which Quisumbing will use for the bill.

In 2010, when Quisumbing sat as representative of the sixth district, Bighani said that he fully supports the aim of Consolacion to become a city but would need to accomplish the requirements first.

Bighani said that Quisumbing wanted to make sure everything would be in order prior to submitting a bill since it was also the time when the Supreme Court decided to quash the declaration of the cityhood of some cities in Cebu.

She said that Quisumbing certainly would want Consolacion to be elevated in to a city and has backed the proposal since he first stepped into office.

But due to the strict requirements, they wanted to make sure that everything would be complied.

However, Bighani said they will review the decision of the Supreme Court since there may be a new ruling on the requirements and may not require the same prerequisites as before. She said that if investments would be the basis, Consolacion can possibly qualify already.

Bighani added that they may file for the bill prior the campaign and election period but the chances for it to be tackled may be slim since there are a number of priority bills pending like the Freedom of information bill, the Sin tax bill and more. — (FREEMAN)