The proposed “One City for Every Province Act” will bring into reality the long-time aspiration of this capital town of Antique to become a city and further boost its economic development.

“The House Bill (HB) 9122 has been filed so every province would have a city,” said Antique Rep. Antonio Agapito Legarda, author of the bill, during the opening program of the “Tiringbanay Festival” (Coming Together) of San Jose de Buenavista on Monday.

In his message, he said that San Jose de Buenavista, being the capital town of Antique, would naturally become a city since the proposed law would remove some restrictions barring the conversion of capital towns.

Antique Gov. Rhodora J. Cadiao, in a separate interview, expressed her support for converting San Jose de Buenavista into a city, although it could not meet the land area requirement.

“San Jose de Buenavista’s economy is already thriving, but once it becomes a city, there would be more businesses coming in,” she said.

The governor said the bill was a very nice move, as she hoped it could be approved soon.

San Jose has a land area of 4,450 hectares, short of the contiguous territory of 100 square kilometers as provided under Republic Act 11683, which details requisites in converting municipalities into component cities.

“In terms of income and with a population of 65,000 residents, our municipality is qualified to become a city,” said San Jose de Buenavista Municipal Economic Enterprise and Development Officer Darcy Bungay.

He said that once San Jose de Buenavista becomes a city, they could receive bigger National Tax Allocation, and there would be an automatic increase in real property value.

He said the increase could enable their municipality to have more budget for infrastructure development to entice investors.

“The cityhood would definitely be an economic booster,” Bungay said.

Meantime, the Kadiwa ng Pangulo trade fair highlighted the start of the three-day festival held in honor of St. Joseph the Worker, bringing in local products of 36 agri-fishery exhibitors.

Mayor Elmer Untaran said that the festival is a reminder of the hard work of the people of San Jose de Buenavista to bring economic prosperity. (PNA)