Olongapo Says ‘No’ to Unlawful Cityhood
The Olongapo City Government has taken a stand strongly against the irregular conversion of sixteen (16) municipalities to cities despite failure to meet the necessary requirements.
Mayor James “Bong” Gordon, Jr., Vice Mayor Cynthia Cajudo, City Councilors, City Administrator Fernando Magrata and the heads of various departments of the city government manifested Olongapo’s opposition in a manifesto signed by many other Olongapeños.
“It’s unfair for our city, for the Olongapeños that there will be new cities to which we will share Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) with as a result of an irregular conversion process. We should protect our interest. We should fight for our allocations,” said Mayor Gordon.
The 1991 Local Government Code cites population and income as the primary bases of the conversion to a city of a municipality. Cities receive higher IRA as compared to municipalities.
At present, there are one hundred and twenty (120) cities sharing in the allocations coming from the national government.
“We are not against the conversion of municipalities towards being a city. It is a manifestation that our country is developing but it should be done through a legal and proper process,” said City Administrator Magrata.
“Hindi ko papayagan na mabawasan ang pondo ng ating lungsod dahil lamang sa illegal conversion into city ng ilang mga munisipalidad. Maraming proyekto ang maisasantabi dahil dito,” Mayor Gordon added.
James L. Gordon, Sr. worked hard for the Cityhood of Olongapo, thus it became a city on June 1, 1966 via Republic Act No. 4645. Olongapo City was further elevated to the highly urbanized city category, the first in Central Luzon on December 7, 1983.
Mayor James “Bong” Gordon, Jr., Vice Mayor Cynthia Cajudo, City Councilors, City Administrator Fernando Magrata and the heads of various departments of the city government manifested Olongapo’s opposition in a manifesto signed by many other Olongapeños.
“It’s unfair for our city, for the Olongapeños that there will be new cities to which we will share Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) with as a result of an irregular conversion process. We should protect our interest. We should fight for our allocations,” said Mayor Gordon.
The 1991 Local Government Code cites population and income as the primary bases of the conversion to a city of a municipality. Cities receive higher IRA as compared to municipalities.
At present, there are one hundred and twenty (120) cities sharing in the allocations coming from the national government.
“We are not against the conversion of municipalities towards being a city. It is a manifestation that our country is developing but it should be done through a legal and proper process,” said City Administrator Magrata.
“Hindi ko papayagan na mabawasan ang pondo ng ating lungsod dahil lamang sa illegal conversion into city ng ilang mga munisipalidad. Maraming proyekto ang maisasantabi dahil dito,” Mayor Gordon added.
James L. Gordon, Sr. worked hard for the Cityhood of Olongapo, thus it became a city on June 1, 1966 via Republic Act No. 4645. Olongapo City was further elevated to the highly urbanized city category, the first in Central Luzon on December 7, 1983.
Mayor James ‘’Bong’’ Gordon, Jr. (left) and City Administrator Ferdie Magrata (right) while expressing their opposition to the unlawful conversion into cities of sixteen (16) unqualified municipalities in the country.
Labels: OLONGAPO CITYHOOD
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9:03 AM
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