Provincial lawmakers on Friday expressed support for the proposed establishment of a fourth congressional district in Bohol after the league of barangay officials deemed the province eligible to carry out the initiative.
The Provincial Board (PB) during its regular session passed a resolution which officially bolstered the initial proposal raised by the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) which called for the creation of one more legislative district on top of the existing three.
The PB’s committee on rules led by Board Member Tomas Abapo Jr. spearheaded the resolution’s filing after looking into the ABC’s proposition earlier this week.
The ABC led by its president, ex-officio provincial Board Member Romulo Cepedoza, filed resolution No. 3 Series of 2018 last week urging lawmakers to create a legislative measure for the proposed initiative.
Based on the resolution, Bohol is now qualified to create another congressional district to improve quality in the allocation of projects and budget in the province.
One of the qualifications to establish a new district requires the area to have a population of at least 250,000 people.
The province has a population of 1,313,560 as of August 15, 2015, a data from the Philippine Statistics Authority stated.
According to Cepedoza, population was projected to have ballooned to over 1.4 million two years after the data was released.
The figure even qualifies Bohol to create two more congressional districts, he added.
The ABC president however noted that a series of consultations and studies are still required to be conducted before the plan is set in motion.
For his part, Governor Edgar Chatto expressed support for the proposal noting that it would boost the province’s representation in Congress.
Chatto, who was a congressman for the first district before being elected governor in 2010, said that a new district would improve total budget for the province and push progress.
“Madugangan ka ug tingog ug madugangan sab kag budget kay by congressional district man ang gilantaw sa mga pondo sa national government,” said Chatto.
He also pointed out that studies and consultations with the public are needed before officials start to push for the proposal. (rt)