Saturday, March 17, 2007 Bill converting Bogo into a city now a law By Jeanette P. Malinao Sun.Star Staff Reporter
IT DOES not bear the signature of President Arroyo but the bill converting the northern municipality of Bogo, Cebu into a city already “lapsed into law,” its author said yesterday.
“It’s a sure thing, Bogo is already a city,” Rep. Clavel Martinez told Sun.Star Cebu. She said that the law, Republic Act (RA) 9390, was certified by Malacañang and delivered to her office at the House of Representatives last Wednesday.
Even without President Arroyo’s signature, the bill is deemed approved 30 days after Malacañang received the document signed by House Speaker Jose de Venecia and Senate President Manuel Villar.
Martinez said, though, that the people should not give meaning to the absence of Arroyo’s signature on the bill.
“That was really the agreement because of the counter-pressure given by the League of Cities. You know how the league advocated against this, they even said they will not support senatorial candidates who support the creation of new cities,” said Martinez.
The only thing that Bogo officials have to do now is publish RA 9390 in the newspapers.
For the legislator, the conduct of the plebiscite is only “just a formality” because residents of Bogo have been supportive of the move.
She said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc already issued a resolution holding the plebiscite of all new cities simultaneous with the May 14 polls.
But Martinez said she will still confer with Bogo officials, who initially want a plebiscite before the elections but were told that Comelec personnel are busy preparing for the polls and will not have time for the plebiscite.
They may just opt to hold it 15 days after the May 14 national and local elections, she said.
“Wa pa mi ka decide, we still have to talk about this,” Martinez said in a phone interview.
Her son, Mayor Celestino “Tining” Martinez III, is on his last term as mayor of Bogo and is planning to seek the congressional seat in the district.
It may be true that the conversion of Bogo into a city will increase tax rates in the city, but Martinez said the increase will be gradual.
Also, the increase in taxes will mean “more perks for the town and more basic services to be delivered.”
Congress had decided to exempt at least 20 towns who wanted to be cities from the new income requirement.
Lawmakers reasoned that the bills for their conversion were filed long before the P100-million annual income (excluding Internal Revenue Allotment) was imposed. The old law required only P20 million as income.
Aside from Bogo, the conversion of Carcar into a city was also approved by the Senate, but the law for Carcar has yet to be released. (JPM)
