GMA signs Gapan cityhood

GAPAN, Nueva Ecija — President Arroyo has signed into law Republic Act 9022 converting this first class municipality into a component city.

Mayor Arthur Velayo said that the law will then be ratified in a plebiscite held for this purpose this month.

"Once it becomes a city, the town of Gapan which is the show window of the province of Nueva Ecija will have an internal revenue allotment of around P150 million which is thrice as big as the one we have," he said.

Gapan looms as the fifth city in the province. The existing cities are Cabanatuan, San Jose and Palayan the provincial capital and the Science City of Muñoz. — Manny Galvez