BACOLOD City Lone District Representative Greg Gasataya has refiled House Bill No. 147 which seeks to create a second legislative district for Bacolod.

Gasataya said he refiled the bill on July 1 and it will be referred to the committee in Congress for a public hearing.

He said the proposed bill still need a resolution from the local government because the old approved resolution cannot be used in said bill.

“There was a resolution submitted in 2006, but the Congress will not accept that resolution because they wanted an approve resolution from the current members of the City Council for the redistricting,” he added.

In July 2016, Gasataya introduced HB 147 which is an act reapportioning the lone legislative district of Bacolod and thereby creating a new legislative district from such reapportionment which seeks to create another legislative district due to its consistently increasing population.

Gasataya said it’s up now to the city to assess and evaluate the proposed bill.

Gasataya noted that based on the study, it showed that Bacolod is already qualified to divide the city into two districts.

Section 1 of HB 147 provides that barangays 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 41, Alangilan, Banago, Bata, Estefania, Granada, Mandalagan, Montevista, and Villamonte will comprise the first district.

Meanwhile, barangays 28, 29, 39, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, Alijis, Cabug, Felisa, Handumanan, Mansilingan, Pahanocoy, Punta Taytay, Singcang-Airport, Sum-ag, Taculing, Tangub, and Vista Alegre will comprise the second district.

The bill also provides that the city council will be composed of the vice mayor as presiding officer, and the eight regular Council members for each district, including the president of Liga ng mga Barangay, president of Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council), and other sectoral representatives as members.

The 2010 Philippine Statistics Authority census showed that Bacolod has a total population of 511,820.

According to the City Planning and Development Office, Bacolod is projected to have a total of 579,101 population in 2017, based on a 1.78 percent annual growth rate.

Gasataya added that it is in pursuit of efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of basic services and equal representation for the people of Bacolod. (MAP)