Friday, July 13, 2007 Dev’t package seen in Tabuk cityhood
MORE irrigation systems, funds for livelihood projects, lighted streets, concrete roads, scholarship grants, health insurance services for more poor people and more classrooms are coming with Tabuk now as city.
The city’s first Mayor Camilo Lammawin Jr. stressed the priority move at hand is to put in place the adjusted budget of the City Government so there would be smooth transition.
He said there is a need to constitute a body to draft the city’s urban master plan and the medium term plan as greater targets would be piling ahead for us.
Lammawin said he started convening his technical staff about the new concerns of the City Government for the preparation of its development blueprint.
Tabuk, which became a full-pledge city after a majority approval in the June 23 plebiscite, is the second in the Cordillera Administrative Region. It has a total land area of 73,300 hectares, the 2nd largest city in the country next to Davao. It has a population of 98,863 based on the 2006 National Statistics Office record.
Tabuk is among the 19 municipalities that sought cityhood from the 13th Congress and joins the 118 existing cities in the country.
Based on early documents on its cityhood, Tabuk’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share can possibly go up three times higher than its present share.
Lammawin, though, realizes that certain issues that have to be clarified this start of the cityhood and appealed for unity and support to push Tabuk forward. Let us aim higher now and join hands in pushing our city to greater heights.
Allaying fears on increased taxation, Lammawin said he would see to it that local taxation based on the animated system shall not create further burdens and be oppressive to the business community.
He assured that with Tabuk now a city, more opportunities shall be opened for our people to be more productive. This, he said, is a strong deterrent to crimes.
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