General Santos City proposed as separate legislative district

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – South Cotabato officials are pushing for the separation of this city into a separate legislative district before the May 2013 midterm national and local elections.

Current legislative districts of South Cotabato province and General Santos City

Rep. Daisy Avance-Fuentes (South Cotabato, 2nd District) said Friday they are presently working for the referral to the committee on local government of House Bill (HB) 6038 or “an act reapportioning the composition of the first (1st) and second (2nd) legislative districts in the province of South Cotabato and thereby creating a new legislative district from such reapportionment” when Congress resumes its sessions next week.

She said they expect the committee to immediately schedule the hearings for the proposed measure, which was filed by Rep. Pedro Acharon Jr. (South Cotabato & Gen. Santos City, 1st District) last March 19. “Right now, our target is to have this bill passed and hold the first elections for the reconfigured districts in [May] 2013,” she said.

Fuentes, who is the bill’s co-author, said the measure mainly provides for the reapportioning of the present composition of South Cotabato’s first and second congressional or legislative districts.

She said the reconfiguration will pave the way for the creation of a separate or lone congressional district for this city.

 

The first district presently comprises this city and the municipalities of Tupi, Tampakan and Polomolok in South Cotabato. The second district is composed of Koronadal City and the municipalities of Tantangan, Banga, T’boli, Surallah, Sto.Nino, Norala and Lake Sebu in South Cotabato.

Under HB 6038, Fuentes said South Cotabato’s first district will be reshaped into the towns of Polomolok, Tupi, Tampakan and T’boli. Koronadal City and the six remaining towns will compose the province’s second district.

“We decided on this reconfiguration with the consideration of pushing later on for the creation of another separate district for Koronadal City,” she said.

Proposed reapportionment for South Cotabato province and General Santos City

Koronadal, which is a component city of South Cotabato, is the province’s capital and the seat of Region 12 or the Soccsksargen Region.

The city, which has a population of 538,086 based on the 2010 census, has long been classified as an independent and highly-urbanized locality but it has remained a part of South Cotabato’s first
congressional district.

It was originally a component of the undivided Cotabato empire province until Congress approved its charter in 1968.

Based on the 2010 census, the municipalities of Tupi, Tampakan and Polomolok of South Cotabato posted a combined population of 236,370, which is short of the 250,000 population requirement for the creation of a new congressional district.

The authors carved out T’boli town, which has a population of 79,175, from the second district to complete the population requirement.

Early last year, the South Cotabato provincial board passed Resolution No. 5, which sought for the separation of General Santos City from the province’s legislative configuration and the re-apportionment of the area’s existing districts.

Vice Gov. Elmo Tolosa, co-author of the resolution, said the proposal would significantly benefit the province in terms of increased allocation from the congressional Priority Development Assistance Fund
or PDAF and guaranteed representation at the House of Representatives for local constituents.

Tolosa said they believe that being a first class province, there’s a need for South Cotabato to have more representation in Congress to cope with its rapid growth in terms of economic and social development.

With a population of 827,200 based on the 2010 census, the province’s total population was projected to reach around 851,000 this year based on its annual average growth rate of 1.46 percent.

Source: MindaNews

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BayanTel's Lola Techie meets SOCCSKSARGEN Bloggers

GENERAL SANTOS CITY - Bayan Telecommunications (Bayan) brings it's popular brand ambassador and the 'Net Generation's favorite lola - Lola Techie - to the vibrant and bustling city of General Santos to take part in a series of activities in conjunction with the city government's computer literacy training program for senior citizens.

Bayan has partnered with city government of General Santos thru it's S.H.E.E.P. - Computer Literacy Program (SHEEP-CLP) and the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (abbrev. OSCA) in its mission to continue propagate its award-winning Teach Lola advocacy campaign that is geared towards encouraging the older generation to connect with present Internet Generation by breaking the digital divide spawned by the generation gap by way of learning computer skills that will get them connected to world via the World Wide Web.

Lola Techie featuring the SOCCSKSARGEN Bloggers

In a culmination program organized by the city government's SHEEP-Computer Literacy Program and the OSCA dubbed "Lola Techie salutes the Generals" held at the atrium of Robinsons Place mall, Bayan's likeable Lola Techie lead the roster of special guests from both Bayan and the city government of General Santos spearheaded by Mayor Darlene Magnolia Antonino-Custodio, in presenting the certificate of completion to the more than 100 participants who have undergone the three-day computer literacy workshop.

As the inspirational speaker at the event, Lola Techie told the GenSan's senior citizens graduates of the program to never stop learning and asked them to continuously keep abreast with the changing times by way of mastery of the use of computers as a medium of communication.

She cited Bayan and the City Government of General Santos for their untiring commitment in helping the senior citizens, whom she said comprises now the majority of the nation's population, become more useful and productive citizens of our society.

Lola Techie said she is glad that Bayan as a service provider and technology company continues to bring to the market product and services like different DSL internet packages and bundles that are affordable, reliable and easy to use.

Wacky pose with Lola Techie ☺

She also provided words of encouragement to the audience gathered by telling them not to look at their old age as a hindrance to be able to connect with today's younger generations as well as the coming future generations, but rather see it as a vital tool to connect with the present generation because of the vast learning experiences that they can offer to them from all that they have gone thru their lives.

A highlight of the program was the turn-over by the City Mayor's Office of five (5) brand new computer sets and Bayan Telecommunications' donation of internet connection to the OSCA in support of the City Government's computer literacy program.

The said donation will be used to continue offering of FREE training on basic computer operations and Facebook to interested and bona fide senior citizens of the city.

SOCCSKSARGEN Bloggers inspired Lola Techie to own and create a blog on her own. Let's wait for that. ☺

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