Lingayen bids for cityhood

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — This capital town of the premier province of Pangasinan, known for producing the best bagoong (salted fish), starts its bid for cityhood as local officials led by Mayor Ernesto Castañeda Jr. believe the time is right for the town to become a city.

Castañeda told The STAR that the Sangguniang Bayan is set to file a resolution expressing the town officials’ intent to bid for cityhood status.

This will then be forwarded to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan which will also endorse the bid. A strong support in Congress will be backed by Rep. Amado Espino Jr. whose jurisdiction covers Lingayen.

Espino, who is set to file a bill in Congress for the tåown’s cityhood bid, said he is hopeful that this town will soon become the fifth city of Pangasinan, next to Dagupan, San Carlos, Urdaneta and Alaminos.

No less than House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. expressed his support for Lingayen’s cityhood when he was invited to grace the town’s fiesta celebration earlier this month.

"I am very confident we will meet the requirements both in income, population and land area," Castañeda, now on his fourth term as mayor, said. — Eva Visperas