Tuesday, October 07, 2008 Plebiscite may be held in January
REPRESENTATIVE Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south) said residents from other parts of Guadalupe have expressed support for the bill creating “Barangay Banawa Englis.”
He said residents acknowledge that Banawa and Englis have not been given adequate services by the barangay because officials have their hands full due to Guadalupe’s large area.
“I’m getting a lot of encouragements not only from residents of Banawa and English but also from other places of Guadalupe. They are in favor of the bill,” Cuenco said.
Signature drive
Last Sunday, officials of the United Banawa Englis Association Inc. (formerly Banawa Separation Movement), launched a signature campaign at the Alliance of Two Hearts parish in Banawa, to support House Bill 5234, which seeks to create “Barangay Banawa Englis.”
Cuenco filed House Bill 5234, or “An Act Creating Barangay Banawa Englis in the City of Cebu,” after the City Council continue to fail to set the plebiscite for Ordinance 1661, which divides Guadalupe into two barangays.
The group intends to collect 8,000 signatures of all registered voters of the barangay.
In the bill’s explanatory note, Cuenco said that Banawa Englis residents have been “strongly and consistently clamoring to convert their place into a full-pledged barangay” for the past 15 years.
As the bill is a “local” matter, Cuenco said he expects no objections from colleagues in the House of Representatives so that before the year ends, the proposal is already approved, both in the House and in the Senate.
And after President Gloria Arroyo signs the bill into law, Cuenco said he expects the plebiscite to be held either January or February next year. (RHM)
