The renaming of the province of Compostela Valley into Davao de Oro was officially declared by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

With a total number of 410,261 registered voters, about 179,958 voted in the plebiscite last Saturday.

Official tally showed 174,442 “yes” votes while those who thumbed down the province’s renaming accounted to only 5,020.

In a statement on Monday, Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy said the “yes” votes affirmed all the efforts poured by the various sectors advocating for the renaming of the province.

“We have nothing but gratitude to all who helped us in the campaign. To all local government officials, employees of the provincial government and everyone who helped us get the message of this renaming across, to the security sector, teachers and election officers who worked hard to give us a seamless plebiscite and most especially, to the people of Davao de Oro to whom this change is inspired, we thank them for going out last Saturday and casting their vote — no matter what that vote is,” Uy said.

The governor noted that for the last 20 years of being named the Compostela Valley province, the residents endured “lessons of resilience, convergence, cooperation and collective responsibility.”

“The making of history does not end here. This is only the beginning. We will work on making Davao de Oro true to its name, a province where people come, people live, and people prosper,” he said.

In his previous interview, Uy said the renaming would cement its identity of the province as part of the “Davao family” since its breakup from Davao del Norte in 1998.

The renaming, he said, would pave the way for the creation of more economic zones in the province. He also pointed out that the province is rich in natural resources and has a stable economic status.

Representatives Maria Carmen “Maricar” Zamora, Ruwel Peter Gonzaga and Pedro Acharon Jr. filed House Bill 7363 on May 15, 2018 which seeks to rename the province as Davao de Oro.

Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Sonny Angara filed Senate Bill 1746 on December 10, 2018.

The bills were consolidated on January 29 and RA 11297 (An Act Renaming the Province of Compostela Valley as the Province of Davao de Oro) was then signed into law on April 17 and made public on May 22 this year. (PNA)