Ilagan cityhood campaign starts tomorrow

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – The campaign for the cityhood of Ilagan, Isabela’s capital town, officially kicks off tomorrow. 

If it succeeds in its cityhood bid in the Aug. 11 plebiscite, Ilagan will become Cagayan Valley’s fourth city after Santiago City and Cauayan City, also both in Isabela; and Tuguegarao City, the capital of Cagayan. 

Earlier, a gun ban was imposed throughout Ilagan, one of the country’s biggest towns in terms of land area, from July 11 to Aug. 16, under Commission on Elections Resolution 9495. 

Ilagan Mayor Jose Marie Diaz said this time they are confident that their constituents will rally behind the cityhood of Ilagan, whose first attempt in 1988 was frustrated as residents feared increases in taxes and prices of commodities.

The town leadership assured residents that tax hikes would not be imposed for five years once the cityhood bid succeeds.

“We do not want our constituents to be immediately burdened by new taxes once we become a city,” said Diaz, who looms to become the first mayor of Ilagan as a city.

The town’s cityhood bid earlier got further boost after the provincial leadership led by Gov. Faustino Dy III and Vice Gov. Rodito Albano, expressed all-out support for the town’s conversion into a city.