In Negros Oriental: Valencia town readies bid to become a city

CEBU, Philippines - The geothermal-rich town of Valencia in Negros Oriental has geared itself of being converted into a city with support from local solons who will be filing a proposed measure in the House of Representatives  after complying with all the requirements.

Valencia Mayor Edgar Teves disclosed the town is now qualified to become a city having an annual income of more than  P100 million, a land area of more than 14,000 hectares even with a population of more than 31,000 only.

When two of the three requirements are complied with, a local government unit is already a candidate for cityhood, explained the mayor.

Teves said Reps. George Arnaiz of the 2nd district and Pryde Henry Teves of the 3rd district, while drafting the proposed bill, have requested from the Provincial Board for an endorsement for cityhood of Valencia.

When converted into a city, Valencia's IRA is expected to increase five to ten times higher than what it is receiving as a municipality and that the real property tax (RPT) paid by the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) for the use of the geothermal energy, will also  directly go to its coffers, without sharing it to the province, said Teves.

However, its negative impact would be the imposition of higher taxes, migration of people from other municipalities and other concerns to include peace and order.

In lieu of this development, Teves had initial talks with Dumaguete City Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria for the revival of the Metro Dumaguete Concept, which has snowballed  during the time of former Mayor Agustin Perdices.

Teves said it is high time for local government units, under the Metro Dumaguete Concept, to complement each other in terms of peace and order, health concerns and disposal of garbage, the possible site of which is in Barangay Malaunay going to the hinterland barangay of Dobdob.

The mayor said Bacong town, for its part, had signified its intention to support the establishment of a sanitary land fill (SLF) in Valencia and needed to confer  with Sibulan Mayor Emmanuel Diputado.

Sagarbarria, on the other hand, welcomed the plan of Teves, but was not totally sold to the idea of putting up of an SFL, which he said was a thing of the past considering that residential wastes will still be there.

Sagarbarria instead suggested to come up with a zero-waste management program, like recycling plastics as feedstocks to run factories and the like. (FREEMAN)