Mayor Torres pushes for cityhood of Kananga in Leyte

Kananga Mayor Manuel Vincent Torres inspects the Matin-aw Water Filtration Gallery in Sitio Matin-aw, Brgy. Rizal. | CDN Digital photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Kananga town in the province of Leyte is now ready to become a city and Mayor Manuel Vincent Torres made a promise to make this dream happen before he completes his third term in office.

Torres said that Kananga’s cityhood is a legacy that he will leave to the at least 60, 000 town residents.

“That is my reelection promise, to push for our cityhood,” said Torres, the younger brother of Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez.

READ: Ormoc Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez delivers her SOCA with a twist

He said that he already sought the help of his brother-in-law, Rep. Richard Gomez of the 4th district of Leyte, to sponsor the bill for Kananga’s cityhood.

Kananga Mayor Torres is currently serving his second term as town mayor and is seeking reelection for a third and last term in office.

READ: Ombudsman orders dismissal of Leyte town mayor, 10 others

He said that Kananga is now qualified to become a city based on their income and land area requirement.

Torres said that their town has been earning over P100 million per year for two consecutive years now. The bulk of their revenues is from the operation of the Tongonan Geothermal Power Station, which is a 232.5 MW geothermal power plant that is considered as the world’s largest geothermal power plant.

READ: Ormoc will have city hospital soon — Mayor Torres-Gomez

Kananga town also earns from its farms that produces rice and sugarcane, poultry and industrial contractors.

The new Kananga municipal building. | CDN Digital photo / Futch Anthony Inso

New Town Hall

As they prepare for their cityhood, Torres secured a P450 million loan from Landbank to start the construction of a new Town Hall in 2021, including a sanitary landfill.

The three-story structure sits on a 9, 000 square meter land that is part of their nine-hectare government and commercial center.

Torres said that the new Town Hall will accommodate frontline services on the first floor and the legislative department on the second floor.  The Mayor’s Office, together with national government agencies, will be situated on the third floor.

Nearby, they are also building new fire and police stations together with a mini-park and sports facility, among others.

Part of the their government and commercial center will also be leased to businesses, the first locator of which is Landbank.

With the target completion of their new Town Hall in December, Torres said that he plans to convert the old municipal building into an economic enterprise.

Water system

In addition, Torres said they are also working for the continued improvement of the Matin-aw Water Filtration Gallery located in Sitio Matin-aw in Brgy. Rizal.

The multi-million water filtration project that started in 2019 will ensure a steady supply of water in their town.

Engineer Fredo Donaire said they currently sell their water very cheap for only P3 per cubic meter.