CITYHOOD OF THE

MUNICIPALITY OF DARAGA
John Don A. Mortega
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science 4

Pedro B. Bernaldez, DBA, DPS, Ph. D

Adviser
HOUSE BILL NO. 00066
DARAGA STATUS ON APPLICATION
FOR CITYHOOD
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

 What is the awareness of the Daragueños on the

proposed cityhood of Daraga, Albay?
 What are their views in terms of its advantages
and disadvantages?
 What are their stand on the proposed cityhood of
Daraga, Albay?
Table 1
Constituents and Barangay Officials’ Awareness
on the Proposed Cityhood of Daraga
Constituents Barangay Officials

Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage

Awareness

Aware 38 76 45 90

Not Aware 12 24 5 10

Total 50 100 50 100

TABLE 2
VIEW OF THE CONSTITUENTS ON THE PROPOSED CITYHOOD OF
DARAGA IN TERMS OF ADVANTAGES
Advantages Frequency Rank

Higher standard of living for the Daraguenos 39 1

Influx of national and local investors 35 2

Increase in income for the local government units 27 3

Increase in employment opportunities 24 4

Improvement in local governance 24 4

Improvement in social and welfare services 13 5

Boost the local tourism industry 11 6

Bigger budget allotment to barangays 9 7

TABLE 3
VIEW OF THE BARANGAY OFFICIALS ON THE PROPOSED
CITYHOOD OF DARAGA IN TERMS OF ADVANTAGES

Advantages Frequency Rank

Bigger budget allotment to barangays 48 1

Increase in income for the local government units 41 2

Increase in employment opportunities 40 3

Boost the local tourism industry 35 4

Improvement in local governance 28 5

Improvement in social and welfare services 24 6

Influx of national and local investors 18 7

Higher standard of living for the Daraguenos 15 8

TABLE 4
VIEW OF THE CONSTITUENTS ON THE PROPOSED CITYHOOD OF
DARAGA IN TERMS OF DISADVANTAGES

Disdvantages Frequency Rank

Higher amount of taxes 46 1

Increase of commodity prices and cost of living 42 2

Worsen waste disposal concerns 33 3

Traffic Congestion 29 4

Agricultural land conversion to 25 5

commercial/industrial

Uneven development between the far-flung areas 20 6

and the urban center
TABLE 5
VIEW OF THE BARANGAY OFFICIALS ON THE PROPOSED
CITYHOOD OF DARAGA IN TERMS OF DISADVANTAGES

Disadvantages Frequency Rank

Increase of commodity prices and cost of living 44 1

Traffic Congestion 35 2

Worsen waste disposal concerns 32 3

Higher amount of taxes 28 4

Uneven development between the far-flung areas 25 5

and the urban center

Agricultural land conversion to 23 6

commercial/industrial
TABLE 6
STAND OF THE CONSTITUENTS AND BARANGAY OFFICIALS ON
THE PROPOSED CITYHOOD OF DARAGA

Constituents Barangay Officials

Stand Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage

In Favor 43 86 40 80

Not In favor 7 14 10 20

Total 50 100 50 100

CONCLUSIONS
 The proposed cityhood of the of Daraga is known to both
constituents and barangay officials indicating that there are
information dissemination mechanisms in place and that they
partake on the issue of cityhood of the locale.
 While noting some disadvantages of the cityhood such as the
increase in the prices of the commodities and cost of living, the
constituents and barangay leaders see advantageous changes
particularly in the fiscal condition of the barangays such as
bigger budget allotments and increase income for the local
government units.
 Most respondents favor the proposed cityhood of Daraga
indicating that the advantages of the proposal still outweigh the
disadvantages it might cause to the locale. It implies further
that if comes plebiscite of the proposed conversion of the
municipality into city, the same would be successfully ratified.
RESEARCHER’S RECOMMENDATION
 The advocates of the proposed cityhood of Daraga and the
municipality should maintain and strengthen the information
dissemination on the proposal to enlighten the constituents and
barangay officials of its impacts to the locale. They should also
endeavour to undertake public consultations to translate the
awareness of the constituents into an involve and participative
action on their part.
 The barangay officials as well as the advocates of the proposed
cityhood should consider undertaking public forums on the
proposed conversion of the municipality into city to provide
constituents avenue to raise their views, concerns and offer their
insights on the proposal.
 With the result indicating that the constituents favor the
proposed cityhood, the author and advocates of the proposed
cityhood of Daraga should undertake measures and lobbying
effort to expedite the passage of the measure in Congress so that
the same would be submitted to the constituents of the
municipality for ratification in a plebiscite.
Thank You!