THE towns of Malay and the capital of Kalibo in Aklan province are hoping that the result of the ongoing census would qualify them for cityhood.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier announced that it is conducting census, which started in September. Census in the Philippines is usually conducted every five years.

Kalibo Mayor Emerson Lachica said he hopes that the result of the census would yield 150,000 residents for the town to be qualified as a city as required by law.

"We hope and pray that it could be realized," he said.

In 2015 census, Kalibo only yield some 83,000 residents.

Earlier, Malay Mayor Floribar Bautista said he had formed a technical team to study how prepared Malay is for its cityhood bid.

Malay in 2015 registered more than 50,000 residents despite the then bustling tourism industry in Boracay Island. (Jun N. Aguirre/SunStar Philippines)