Angeles City as separate congressional district pushed

MABALACAT, Pampanga, Philippines – The mayors of this city and Angeles City are throwing their support behind the revival of a 10-year-old proposal to slice Pampanga’s first district and make Angeles City a distinct congressional district.

“This move will be to the advantage of (the two cities and one town) within the first district as this would entitle local folk to more representations in Congress, on top of other benefits,” Mabalacat Mayor Marino Morales said.

The proposal, first made in 2004, was recently revived in a resolution by Angeles City officials who called on political leaders of Mabalacat and Magalang town to also support the move.

At present, Pampanga’s first congressional district covers the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat and Magalang town.

Morales has urged first district Rep. Joseller Guiao to push through with the proposal for a new Pampanga district by immediately holding public consultations on it.

“First, we should know the real sentiments of the people in the government, private sector and multi-sectoral organizations in the first district,” Morales said.

Vice Mayor Christian Halili hailed the proposal as “a good political move on the part of Mabalacat City since this would lead to more chances of somebody from Mabalacat or Magalang landing in Congress.” Over the past decades, congressmen representing the first district hailed from Angeles City.

For his part, Magalang Mayor Romeo Pecson described the separation of Angeles City from the first district as a “win-win” situation. “If this pushes through, Mabalacat and Magalang will no longer have to share funds with Angeles,” he said.

Angeles Vice Mayor Vicky Cabigting said the city’s current population of around 300,000 qualifies the city as a lone congressional district.

The lone district proposal was first made in 2004 but did not take off. It was revived in 2007 by former congressman Francis Nepomuceno under House Bill 5317 which noted that the “conversion of Clark Field into the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport and its declaration as an international port of entry completed the transformation of Angeles City into a highly urbanized center of population not only in the province of Pampanga but also in Central Luzon.”

The proposal also noted that “separating Angeles, as a chartered city, from the two municipalities would only be proper since under Section 12, Article 10 of the Constitution, cities that are recognized by law as highly urbanized are to be considered independent of the province where they are located.”