Vol. XXI, No. 187 [ Business World Online ]
Thursday, April 24, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
TACLOBAN CITY — Local officials are lobbying for the city’s reclassification into a highly urbanized area with latest National Statistics Office (NSO) data that showed the population level has exceeded the minimum requirement for an upgrade.
Based on the census of population as of August 2007, Tacloban has a population of 217,199, which is above the 200,000 minimum requirement for a highly urbanized city.
Margarito Redoña, executive assistant to Mayor Alfred Romualdez, said congressional action and referendum are needed to reclassify Tacloban.
In terms of income, he said the city is qualified since it has been generating around P300 million annually from real property tax, business tax, economic enterprise, fees and charges.
Tacloban has the biggest population among the seven cities in the Eastern Visayas region. It is followed by Ormoc City, 177,524; Calbayog City, 163,657; and Maasin City in Southern Leyte, 79,737.
Among the three new cities in the region, Baybay (Leyte) has the biggest population with 102,526 followed by Catbalogan (Samar) with 92,454 and Borongan (Eastern Samar) with 59,354.
Regionwide, the population increased 8% to 3.9 million from 3.6 million in 2000. The Eastern Visayas region is comprised of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Samar, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Biliran provinces.
Mae Almonte, regional statistician of NSO-8, said this new population count placed Region 8 as the 10th largest populated region nationwide. — Lemuel L. Pagliawan
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