ANYTIME soon, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte may sign into law the Senate Bill 1746, known as Davao de Oro Bill. The Bill bid to rename the province of Compostela Valley to Davao de Oro Province by amending some sections of Republic Act No. 8470 that crafted Compostela into province two decades ago.
The bill that passed the third and final reading in the senate last Monday was sponsored by senators Zubiri and Angara after colligated with a house bill endorsed by Congresswoman Maricar Zamora of Compostela Valley province.
As required by the Local Government Code, the constituents of this province will ratify the rechristening of ComVal through ayes and nays in a plebiscite which most likely be conducted after the mid-term elections next year.
Compostela Valley province was once part of Davao del Norte that was knapped from its mother, the One Davao Region. The region is now composed of five provinces – Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur and Davao Occidental. Obviously, among the five provinces, Compostela is the only province in the region that totally abandoned the moniker and prefix “Davao.”
This may not be the strongest argument why it has to be renamed to Davao de Oro. Neither Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy’s argument holds water that renaming the province will attract more investors to the region and will avoid parody of Compostela in Cebu and Valley in mountain province. I would rather buy the school of thought of many, that the new name will describe the place as the nerve center of high grade gold in the region.
In fact, the Commission on Audit recently announced that Compostela is the second richest province in the Philippines.
Whether the name is appropriate or not based to its natural wealth, whether or not the golden name contributes to economy, whether or not renaming the province converses the pride of Comvalenyos, we don’t know yet. But we only hope that whenever the plebiscite concludes to change the name, it will serve the purpose and would not be for “who’s who” in political annals but for the good of every constituent.
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