Will Consolacion populace suffice?

CEBU, Philippines – The municipal government of Consolacion recently announced it is batting for the town's conversion into a component city of Cebu province.

Mayor Teresa Alegado said they are optimistic to meet the population requirement of 150,000 by 2016, citing the fast growing migration rate in the municipality.

As of now, Alegado said they are waiting for the official count of the Philippine Statistics Office. But based on its own tally, the town has a population of around 138,000 this year.  During the 2010 census, it registered a population of 106,649.

Aside from the population requirement, a town needs to satisfy the income requirement of P100 million for it to qualify for cityhood. Consolacion, according to Alegado, already met this requirement two years ago when the town hit the P100-million mark in local revenues.

The mayor is hoping that Cebu sixth district Representative Gabriel Luis Quisumbing would file a bill for the cityhood of Consolacion before the latter's term in Congress ends next year.

Quisumbing, for his part, expressed his support to the move to convert Consolacion into a city. He said his office will be closely coordinating with the town's officials to discuss about the proposal.

"For the last few months, we have been working closely with the municipality of Consolacion with regard to this matter. We are also working with our partners in the 6th district to find a long-term solution for all component LGUs (local government units) and I am happy to say that we seem to be making progress in that regard," Quisumbing told The FREEMAN in a text message.

At present, Consolacion is classified as a first income class municipality  covering a land area of about 37 square kilometers. The town is relying on its population to achieve its cityhood dream as it can't meet the land area requirement of 100 square kilometers.

Geographically, the town is bounded on the north by Liloan town, on the south by Mandaue City, on the east by the Mactan Channel and on the west by Compostela town and Cebu City.

In the aspect of local economy, Consolacion's recent economic trend is geared more toward the development and operation of housing and subdivision facilities. This is complemented by the presence of several medium-size manufacturing industries.

Consolacion was founded as a town in 1871 and was re-established in 1920. — With Flor Z. Perolina