The proposal to create a fourth congressional district in Negros Oriental will be revived by 2nd District Rep. Manuel Sagarbarria in the next Congress.
Sagarbarria said he is confident that all requirements can be complied with.
The 2nd District Solon’s proposal is to split the 2nd District in two, aware of the fact there could be towns whose residents might not be keen on being regarded as belonging to a new district.
Sagarbarria said the one part could be composed of Dumaguete, Sibulan, San Jose, and Amlan; and another could be composed of the municipalities of Pamplona, Mabinay, and the cities of Tanjay and Bais.
He said the 2nd District, with three cities and five municipalities with a population of more than 500,000 and with 339,000 registered voters, is “already a very big area”.
“Come 2022, the number of registered is expected to increase to 380,000,” Sagarbarria pointed out.
He said another option would be for the 1st and the 3rd Districts to each give up one municipality — Manjuyod in the north and either Valencia or Bacong in the south — to form the additional district.
With an additional District, it would be easier to manage, and more money can come in for Negros Oriental, the Solon disclosed.
Sagarbarria further said while re-Districting is an added budgetary burden to the national government, it is an added budgetary benefit to the Province.
The first re-Districting of the Province was in 1907; the second was in 1986, dividing the Province into three Congressional Districts. (Juancho Gallarde)
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