Bill on 2nd Aklan district gains in Congress

The House of Representatives has transmitted to the Senate a bill seeking to reapportion the 17-town lone district of Aklan into two congressional districts.

House Bill 7522, authored by Aklan Rep. Carlito Marquez, was approved on third and final reading before the House adjourned sine die on June 3.

Under the bill, the First District of Aklan will be made up of the municipalities of Altavas, Balete, Banga, Kalibo, New Washington, Libacao, and Madalang.

The Second District will be composed of the municipalities of Buruanga, Ibajay, Lezo, Makato, Malay, Malinao, Nabas, Numancia and Tangalan. Boracay Island shall be part of the Second District, being part of Malay.

Marquez said reapportioning the province is pursuant to Section 5, Article IV of the Constitution which provides that a city or a province with a population of at least 250,000 shall have at least one representative in Congress.

As of 2015, Aklan’s population was 574,823.

Adding another district “would mean enhanced representation and better governance, " Marquez said.

HB 7522 was transmitted on May 29 to the Senate.

Aklan has posted a solid performance in revenue generation. The Department of Finance said it ranked first out of 80 provinces in the Philippines in terms of its share of local income to total regular income, with a 45.3 rating.

Income from Boracay, a major international and local tourist attraction, helped Aklan generate R491.755 million in local revenues out of its R1.086-billion total regular income.

The measure tasks the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to issue the necessary implementing rules and regulations of the proposed measure.

"The aim of the creation of a new legislative district should be the improvement of the delivery of government services and this is the popular, prevalent and general sentiment and outlook of Aklanons, " Marquez said.

Aklan is the oldest province in the Philippines, organized in 1213 by settlers from Borneo. It became an independent province when President Ramon Magsaysay signed into law Republic Act 1414, separating Aklan from Capiz, on April 25, 1956.

Aklan was inaugurated as an independent province on November 8, 1956.