LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- Despite earlier disagreements, members of the municipal council approved on Tuesday a resolution requesting for the conversion of the municipality into a component city.
Councilor Guiller Galwan said the cityhood has been long overdue for the town, which is considered as a highly developed center with continued growth of business establishment, influx of migrants, educational institutions and other regional or district offices.
In addition, the municipality is the primary town adjacent to Baguio City where people converge and help in the socio-economic development to complete their needs.
Galwan added the conversion will certainly promote, invigorate and reinforce the economic potential of the municipality in establishing itself as an agro-industrial center in Benguet.
“We know La Trinidad is the capital town of Benguet, the conversion would greatly benefit the surrounding municipalities,” he further said.
The conversion to cityhood, said Galwan, will also accelerate the town's growth and advancement in terms of modernization and development including nearby towns considering the frequent interactions between its populace.
“In the committee report, colleagues supported this suggestion to pass the resolution and give way to Benguet Representative Ronald Cosalan to lobby a bill in the 17th Congress or seek for exemptions and we’ll see,” he added.
La Trinidad has long been ripe for cityhood as it surpassed the requirements for annual income with P131,445,297.69 in 2013 and P143,776,838.28 in 2014 which was also certified by the Bureau of Local Government Finance.
“The concern though is that we cannot comply with the population requirement and the land area. We need 40,000 babies more,” added Galwan since the population requirement is at least 150,000.
Earlier this month, Councilor Arthur Shontogan expressed his disappointment alongside his colleagues for a call of urgency towards cityhood because the town is not a qualified candidate yet.
Shontogan also added that there is still a need to re-study the situation specifically in sustenance and its other prerequisites.
Geographically, La Trinidad has a total land area of 7,004 hectares and 5.5 percent growth rate from 97,000 in 2007 increasing to more than 100,000 as of today.