Benguet seeks additional legislative district

LEGISLATORS in Benguet have requested Representative Nestor Fongwan Sr. to work for the creation of another legislative district of the province.

The resolution, on the motion of Board Member Robert Namoro said 32 years have passed since the effectivity of the 1987 constitution and there has been significant development in the country and there is a demand to increase legislative districts especially in a province such as Benguet.

This is not the first time the said move was proposed, back in 2016, under the watch

of former Congressman Roland Cosalan, Namoro also pushed for additional legislative district to hasten and aid the development in the province.

Namoro anchored his proposal on section 5 (3) of the constitution which states each legislative district should comprise as far as practicable, contiguous, compact and adjacent territory, each city with a population of at least 250,000 or each province have at least one representative.

The alderman added other provinces and cities have been granted additional legislative district through several laws enacted by the congress.

Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority census in 2015, the province has a population of 456,324 with 147,941 for district I and 298,283 for district II.

Benguet currently has two, with district I composed of the towns of Bokod, Itogon, Kabayan, Sablan and Tuba while district II is composed of Atok, Bakun, Buguias, Kapangan, Kibungan, La Trinidad, Mankayan and Tublay.

The approved resolution was signed by all members of the provincial board and approved by Governor Melchor Diclas and was forwarded to the office of the lone district representative.

Board Member Nestor Fongwan Jr. said Benguet will benefit in terms of funding from the national government for the province if the proposed measure is passed in Congress.