CEBU CITY, Philippines — The bill that would make Mandaue City the newest lone district of Cebu province is good as approved.
Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) Secretary Adelino Sitoy, in a phone interview with CDN Digital on Friday, February 8, said he is confident that President Rodrigo Duterte will sign Senate Bill No. 8511, separating the City of Mandaue from the sixth legislative district of Cebu Province. The Bill passed in third and final reading at the Senate last Monday, February 4, 2019.
“That’s good as signed. Sigurado na nga pirmahan sa presidente,” Sitoy said.
Sitoy said that having Mandaue City as a lone district and the towns of Cordova and Consolacion remain in the sixth district is seen to bring in more focused projects for the local government units.
“Good for Cordova and Consolacion kay concentrated na ang mga projects sa mga lungsod. This is also good for the entire province of Cebu kay long overdue na ang pag-address aning atong underrepresentations. Kuwang man gyod ta sa number of districts. Karon nga naa tay bag-ong distrito, it means nga more projects, more representation in Congress,” Sitoy added.
However, Sitoy said that electing separate representatives for Mandaue City and the two remaining towns in the sixth district cannot be carried yet in the May 2019 midterm elections.
Sitoy said that this May, there will still be one representative for the entire sixth district, including Mandaue City, that will be elected.
He added that either a special elections for the sixth district may be conducted or the sixth district will have to wait until the May 2022 national elections before it can have separate representatives for Mandaue City and the remaining towns in the district. /bjo