Puerto Princesa now a highly urbanized city

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – Majority of residents here voted yes to Presidential Declaration 1264 making Puerto Princesa the country’s first component city to become a highly urbanized city.

In Monday’s plebiscite, 21,896 residents affirmed President Arroyo’s declaration last March 26, while 12,803 voted no. Ninety-eight ballots were considered “spoiled” by the Commission on Elections.

Re-elected Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn is hopeful that the city’s conversion will pave the way for more developments, though without compromising the environment.

“With this, surely a lot of things will be addressed for the convenience of the public. And the more we should be on guard to preserve our environment,” he said.

Puerto Princesa became a component city on Jan. 1, 1970. Back then, just a single tricycle cruised Rizal Avenue, the city’s center of commerce.

Since then, developments have sprouted fast, along with the growing population. Early this year, the National Statistics Office certified that the city had more than 200,000 residents.