For many years since he first became mayor here in 1995, Marino Morales has been lobbying to upgrade this town\u2019s status into a component city in pursuit of a dream.
\nTo Morales, the only local politician who was able to serve as chief executive for 17 straight years, this town\u2019s conversion into a component city is a long-time dream.
\nHis efforts initially produced a glimmer of hope in March 2005 when the Department of Finance officially certified that Mabalacat, where most parts of the Clark Freeport is located, had met the annual average income of P100 million as one of the requirements to become a city.
\nThe next step was for Morales and the municipal council to ask the provincial board to endorse this town\u2019s cityhood bid to Congress. But some board members refused, citing the town\u2019s failure to remit several millions of pesos in accumulated real property taxes over the years.
\nIt took the board about three years to pass a resolution of endorsement to Congress.
\nEven the League of Cities of the Philippines, which had vigorously campaigned against the conversion of 16 towns in various parts of the country into component cities, did not object to Mabalacat\u2019s bid.
\nMayor Oscar Rodriguez of the City of San Fernando, Pampanga, LCP president, earlier said Mabalacat had surpassed the requirements to become a component city, which include a locally generated average income of P100 million yearly for the past two consecutive years, a contiguous territory of at least 100 square kilometers, and a population of not less than 150,000.
\nOnly Tarlac officials are opposed to the conversion due to a pending boundary dispute between Mabalacat and Bamban town in Tarlac.
\nIn September 2007, Pampanga Rep. Carmelo Lazatin introduced House Bill No. 2350 (Mabalacat Cityhood Bill) in the House of Representatives. The bill, however, did not become a law until the 14th Congress adjourned in 2010.
\nUnder the 15th Congress, it was an entirely different story.
\nOn February 7, the Senate passed on third and final reading HB 4736 that seeks to convert this town into a component city. It was an echo of the House action on June 6 last year when 241 representatives approved Lazatin\u2019s measure.
\nHB 4736 was sponsored by Senators Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Miriam Defensor-Santiago in the Senate after considering Senator Manuel Lapid\u2019s Senate Bill No. 2926, which also seeks to convert Mabalacat into a component city. Lapid served as governor of Pampanga before he was elected senator.
\nIn his sponsorship speech, Marcos noted Mabalacat\u2019s rise \u201cto become one of the most progressive municipalities in Pampanga.\u201d
\nLocal officials expect the town\u2019s current P500-million income, including Internal Revenue Allotment shares, to increase to around P800 million once it becomes a component city.
\n\u201cAfter 300 years, Mabalacat will be a component city, complete with an international airport, a freeport zone and modern expressways,\u201d Morales said.
\nOnce the cityhood measure is signed by President Aquino, a plebiscite will be held within a month to allow Mabalacat residents to vote on it.
\nFAST FACTS:
\nMABALACAT
\nLand area: 83.18 sq km
\nPopulation: 203,307 (as of 2007 census)
\nRegistered voters: 90,872 (as of 2010)
\nBarangays: 27
\nIncome classification: 1st class
\nSource: NSCB, DBM<\/p>\n