Bacoor now a city in Cavite after plebiscite; Imus town next

Bacoor formally became a city in Cavite province, after majority of its residents voted in favor of cityhood at a plebiscite there Saturday. The canvassing in the plebiscite showed some 80 percent of voters were in favor of Bacoor’s cityhood, radio dzBB’s Denver Trinidad reported. Mayor Edwin Mortel Bautista (a.k.a. Strike Revilla) thanked the supporters of the cityhood campaign for their effort, the report said. Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., the mayor’s brother, said cityhood will mean a bigger budget and more services to residents. “Ang annual budget ng Bacoor is P474 million. Pag naging siyudad na yan minimum na madadagdag diyan P200 to 300 million, almost double,” Sen. Revilla said in an interview on dzBB radio.  “Services, scholarships, trabaho para sa kababayan, malaking bagay talaga (It will mean a lot to people in terms of services, scholarships and jobs for the people there),” he added. He also allayed fears that cityhood may mean more taxes, saying there is a five-year moratorium on higher taxes, and a gradual increase after the fifth year. Revilla also said he is helping campaign for the cityhood of Imus, whose plebiscite will be held on June 30. “'Yan ang ating tinutulung-tulungan para maipasa yan, overdue na rin para maging siyudad siya,” he said. The Commission on Elections had set another cityhood plebiscite in Cavite, this time in Imus, on June 30. Last April, President Benigno Aquino III had signed into law Republic Act Nos. 10160 and 10161, which converted Bacoor and Imus towns into cities. — LBG, GMA News