2 Eastern Visayas towns prepare for cityhood
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Lawyer Jose Nick Mendros, assistant regional director of the Comelec, said the two towns have allocated over P3 million each for the conduct of the plebiscites.
“We are now ready for the plebiscites to be conducted in the towns of Baybay and Catbalogan,” Mendros said.
A simple majority vote for yes is enough to turn the two towns into cities. The three-member plebiscite committee is equivalent to the board of election inspectors in regular elections.
Mendros said that aside from Baybay and Catbalogan, the town of
The three towns are bidding to become cities, hoping to attract more investments and acquire a bigger share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).
But the League of Cities of the
At present, the
Baybay Elections Officer Rutche Cerro said they met with the town’s 92 barangay leaders for them to inform their respective constituents of the forthcoming plebiscite.
Streamers were also posted in strategic locations in Baybay as part of the information drive about the plebiscite.
“We are hoping that all registered voters of the town will vote, whether they are in favor or not for Baybay to become a city,” Cerro added.
Baybay has 52,015 registered voters with an annual income of P96 million. It is considered the bailiwick of the Loreto clan, which include Gov. Carlos Jericho Petilla, his mother outgoing first district Rep. Remedios Petilla and aunt fifth district Rep. Carmen Cari, among its members.
Baybay Mayor Jose Cari said he is looking forward to seeing his town become a city as it would help open doors to more investors.
In Catbalogan, Mayor Coefredo Uy has formed plebiscite advocacy campaign teams tasked to urge the town’s 48,483 registered voters to vote for “yes.”
Earlier Catbalogan,
Catbalogan, the provincial capital of
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