LCP to campaign against reelectionist senators who OK'd 12 new cities
Three of the reelectionist senators may lose millions of votes this coming May elections as the League of Cities in the Philippines (LCP) is set to come up with their own sample ballots casting out the names of said senators. This after the three senators voted for the approval of the conversion of 12 municipalities into new cities.
Mayor Jerry Treñas, who is the president of the LCP, said they are planning to make their own sample ballots containing the names of the senators which they deemed worthy of the support of the 118 city mayors in the country.
Treñas said the sample ballots would not include the names of Senators Ralph Recto, Edgardo Angara and Joker Arroyo.
However, Treñas said they are on the process of finalizing such action as they are still awaiting for the response of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo over the conversion of 12 new cities. The conversion of 12 municipalities into new cities will decrease the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of the existing cities in the country, a move strongly opposed by the LCP.
Earlier, the league approved a resolution requesting the President to veto the 12 cityhood bills of municipalities which did not meet the requirements provided for in the Local Government Code of 1991 as amended by Republic Act 9009. The league approved the resolution last February 8, 2007.
The 12 cities were exempted from the requirements such as the yearly income and number of population. Each town should have a P100 million annual income before they could be qualified into a city.
The Department of Finance (DoF) will issue a certificate for each municipality regarding their annual income. The certification should be based on the two year annual income of the municipality.
The chief executive said they are greatly disappointed about the approval of the 12 new cities.