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[av_heading heading=’Treñas pushing for 2 districts in Iloilo City ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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MANILA – Rep. Jerry Treñas vowed to push for the passage of a bill dividing Iloilo City into two representative districts when Congress resumes on Monday.
“We have to work on it,” Treñas told Panay News.
His measure was approved in the House of Representatives but failed to hurdle the Senate in the 15th Congress.
If House Bill 1219 gets passed, Iloilo City will be split into First District (Jaro, La Paz and Mandurriao) and Second District (Arevalo, City Proper, Lapuz, and Molo).
The Ilonggo representative believes his proposal will best address the needs and build capacity at the local level.
“Just like Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Marikina, and Makati, where they added legislative districts, more assistance can be provided to the constituents (in Iloilo City),” he said.
In filing the bill, Treñas — citing the Supreme Court case of “Aquino vs. Comelec” — explained that a city is not required to increase its population by another 250,000 to be entitled to an additional district.
Iloilo City has a population of 447,992, according to the 2015 Philippine Statistics Authority census.
Marikina City was allowed to have two legislative districts despite having a population of only 424,150, Treñas pointed out.
“It is about time that Iloilo City, which has long been acknowledged as the cultural, commercial, academic, religious, and government center in Western Visayas, gets another legislative district,” said the congressman./PN
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