Consolacion disputes population count

CONSOLACION Vice Mayor Teresa Nene Alegado is seeking a recount of the town’s population at the national level as she is not satisfied with the 2020 survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The survey shows that the Cebu town lacks 1,894 individuals to reach the 150,000-inhabitant requirement to help the town become a city.

Alegado told SunStar Cebu that Consolacion Mayor Joannes Alegado had sent a request for the recount of its population at the national level as they are not satisfied with the PSA regional office’s survey.

“We cannot believe most especially that they reported a decrease in population in our seven barangays while density is high, so it’s very ironic,” said Alegado. The barangays are Cabangahan, Cansaga, Nangka, Pitogo, Poblacion Occidental, Tugbongan and Tolotolo.

Alegado said three representatives of the town--former sixth district representatives Luigi Quisumbing and Jonas Cortes as well as the incumbent representative Emmarie Ouano-Dizon--wanted to file a bill for the town’s cityhood.

Dizon said she was ready to file a bill for its conversion, but with the PSA data showing the town’s population came up short, she would just “continue to look forward to the day that it becomes doable and when my time still permits in Congress, I will gladly steer it in the legislative process.” (KFD)