THE region recently celebrated its 26th founding anniversary sans the autonomy that has been longed after E0 220 was signed and Cordillera has moved forward with the continuing economic growth.
Baguio City used to be the lone city for the region but it became two, when Kalinga’s Tabuk was formally given the cityhood after three times of flip flopping by the Supreme Court.
Now, a third city is in the works for the region.
Not La Trinidad, which is the capital town of Benguet, just a few kilometers away from the Summer Capital but Bangued, the capital town of Abra.
A resolution by Bangued Sangunniang Bayan member Avelino Bello was recently filed seeking Congressional nod on their cityhood.
With the support from officials including Abra rep. Ma Jocelyn Bernos, the cityhood bid is now in the committee level for second reading when the House of Representatives convene in their next session.
If all is well, Bangued, having 10,570 hectares in land area and with a total population of 43,936, would soon be the third city in the highland Cordillera region after Baguio (1909) and Tabuk City in Kalinga (2007).
All is well so far in the grassroots and a wide support is expected from Bangued residents.
The economy of the municipality is heavily dependent on agriculture, followed by trade and industry where Chinese businessmen dominate trade and manufacturing as a common preoccupation of the populace.
Commercial activity of Bangued is confined in the urban core establishing a linear pattern of development along major thoroughfares. This is evident from Torrijos Street to Taft Street of Zone 5, McKinley Street to Santiago Street and Partelo Street of Zone 4, and Capitulacion Street of Zone 1 and Zone 2.
With 31 barangays, there is much to do though with the process to reach cityhood particularly the local economy.