AGREE Daraga townsfolk seek implementation of law annexing town to Legazpi (Feature) By Danny O. Calleja DARAGA, Albay, Oct. 28 (PNA) — A 41-year-old law that annexes this first class urban town with its neighboring city of Legazpi has been dug up from the closet and local residents are enthusiastic about it. “If this can be implemented, then it would make me a Legazpeño once again. For more than 40 years, I became a resident of this town, and sad to say, the moments to be proud as a Daragueño were not persistent. The gaps of contentment versus discontentment were so long and wide,” Jose Briones, a retired government employee, said. Briones was referring to Presidential Decree No. 125 issued on Feb. 5, 1973 by then President Ferdinand Marcos that amended certain provisions of Republic Act No. 2234, otherwise known as the City Charter of Legazpi. It states that “WHEREAS, Article I, Section 2 of Republic Act No. 2234, otherwise known as the City Charter of Legazpi, provides that The City of Legazpi, which is hereby created, shall comprise the present territorial jurisdiction of the Municipality of Legazpi, Province of Albay; WHEREAS, the steady growth and continuing urbanization of the City of Legazpi on account of its strategic importance and location as the hub of commerce, industry, transportation and communications and as the regional center of government offices in the Bicol Region, urgently necessitate a wider area or territory for its expansion; WHEREAS, such present and future need for the expansion and consequent modernization of the City of Legazpi can be adequately met by including and making part of its territory the contiguous and/or adjacent Municipality of Daraga, Province of Albay; WHEREAS, under Republic Act 306, which created the City of Legazpi for the first time in June 18, 1948, the present Municipality of Daraga was in fact part and parcel of the City of Legazpi as provided for in Article I, Section 2 thereof, but which through the undesirable practice of gerrymandering possible under the old society, was separated therefrom for political expediency; WHEREAS, in the referendum conducted by and among the citizens assemblies in the City of Legazpi and in the Municipality of Daraga with a total of 43,303 persons attending, 40,694 voted for the annexation of the Municipality of Daraga to the City of Legazpi, while only 2,373 voted against the proposal; NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1 dated September 22, 1972, do hereby amend Republic Act No. 2234, particularly Article I, Section 2 thereof to read as follows: Territory of the City of Legazpi. The City of Legazpi which is hereby created, shall comprise the present territorial jurisdiction of the City of Legazpi and the Municipality of Daraga in the Province of Albay.’ For this purpose, the funds and obligations and property of all kinds of the Municipality of Daraga shall be transferred to and assumed by the City of Legazpi. The City of Legazpi as now constituted under this Decree shall be divided into three districts, namely, Daraga, Old Albay and Legazpi Port, each of which shall be entitled to four councilors to be elected in the manner provided for under Republic Act No. 2234 by the qualified voters in their respective districts. Any provision of existing laws, and rules and regulations in conflict with this Decree are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. This Decree is hereby made part of the law of the land and shall take effect immediately.” According to lawyer Oliver Olaybal, its implementation, however, was shelved as Marcos played politics after somebody made noise on the ground that it was the idea of the late Albay second district congressman Carlos Imperial, a former influential political ally of Marcos. “The beauty of this scheme is the distribution of voting power wherein four councilors from each district. No district shall monopolize representation in the Sangguniang Panglunsod,” he said. Nari Orellana Seladra, a local Facebook user, said somebody should initiate moves the soonest possible time toward the implementation of this decree. Vice Mayor Carlito Baylon, on the other hand, said on Tuesday he doubts if this law remains implementable even as it has not been repealed so far, considering that it has already been set aside under the Integrated Reorganization Plan, which involved the restructuring of local governments. Historically, this town has been several times part of Legazpi — initially when the latter was first declared a city composed of the municipalities of Legazpi, Albay Nuevo and Daraga under the Becerra Law of 1892. Following their occupation of the city in 1900, the American colonizers cancelled Legazpis city status. In 1908, the Americans split Legazpi into two separate towns, Legazpi Port and Albay District, which became the provincial capital of Albay. In 1922, this town regained its autonomy when the Philippine Assembly ordered its separation from the capital town. In 1948, under R.A. 306, this town was again incorporated into Legazpi as one of its districts, just to be separated again in 1954 under R.A. 993 that created the Municipality of Daraga whose name was changed to Locsin in 1959. In 1967, by way of R.A. 4994, the municipality known for its Cagsawa Ruins restored its old name, the name that it carried in rising into becoming a first-class town in terms of revenue as classified by the Department of Finance in 2008 based on its average yearly income of around Php 200 million. Despite this huge fund, however, the town government has not been able to buy out a reversal of its sluggish response to the stimulation being pressed into it by the aggressive development taking place in the neighborhood, according to Briones. (PNA) SCS/FGS/DOC/CBD/EDS
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 08:30:36 +0000
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