President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a bill creating the lone legislative district of General Santos City in the province of South Cotabato.
Duterte signed Republic Act 11243 on March 11 and a copy of which was released to media on Wednesday (March 20).
Under the law, “The First Legislative District of the Province of South Cotabato is hereby reapportioned in order to create the Lone Legislative District of General Santos City to commence in the next national and local elections after the effectivity of this Act.”
General Santos City is currently part of the province’s first district. The new law, however, established General Santos as the third district.
The legislative districts of South Cotabato will now be composed of: (a) First Legislative District (1) Polomolok, (2) Tampakan and (3) Tupi. (b) Second Legislative District (1) Koronadal City, (2) Banga, (3) Lake Sebu, (4) Norala, (5) Santo Niño, (6) Surallah, (7) Tantangan and (8) T’Boli General Santos City, meanwhile, has become the Third Legislative District.
The new law states that “the incumbent Representatives of the present First and Second Legislative Districts of the Province of South Cotabato shall continue to represent the districts until the new Representatives shall have been elected and qualified.”
Moreover, “the Commission on Elections shall issue the necessary rules and regulations to implement this Act within 30 days after its Effectivity.”
General Santos is the Philippines’ southernmost city, classified as a highly urbanized first-class city and the 15th most populous city in the country with 594,446 inhabitants as per 2015 census, according to the Philippine Information Agency.
This act shall take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
This Act, which originated in the House of Representatives, was passed by the House of Representatives on May 2, 2017, amended by the Senate on Sept. 3, 2018 and which amendments were concurred in by the House of Representatives on Jan. 29, 2019.
Meanwhile, the President has signed a law upgrading the Bacoor District Hospital into a general hospital to be known as Southern Tagalog Regional Hospital.
In Republic Act 11233 signed by Duterte on February 20 and released to the media on Wednesday, the Bacoor District Hospital is upgraded into a Level III general hospital.
Under the newly-signed law, the bed capacity of the hospital will be increased from 10 to 100.
The law also ordered the upgrade of existing service facilities and professional healthcare services in the hospital. It also tasked the Department of Health (DOH) to handle direct control and supervision of the said hospital.
The DOH, provincial and city officials forged a tripartite agreement in November 2018 to renovate and improve the services of the hospital.
Under the agreement, the parties agreed to provide the necessary budget, personnel, supplies and equipment as appropriate in providing primary and eventually secondary healthcare services to indigent residents.