Lawmaker confident bill to split Eastern Samar into 2 congressional districts will be OK’d

Eastern Samar map. INQUIRER FILES

ORAS, Eastern Samar — Rep. Marcelino Libanan of the 4Ps party-list group remained optimistic that his bill splitting into two the current lone congressional district of Eastern Samar will be realized.

Libanan, the current House minority floor leader, said it’s high time the province, composed of Borongan City and 22 towns, will be divided.

According to Libanan, who once served the lone congressional district of the province from 1988 to 2007, he was confident that his measure would be the first or among those to be approved.

“If there is such a measure to be approved under the 19th Congress, I am confident that my bill will be given the priority with me being the minority floor leader,” Libanan said in an interview on Tuesday, April 11, where he led the groundbreaking of a farm-to-market road covering eight villages of this town.

READ: Bill seeks to split Eastern Samar congressional district into two

Under his measure, the first congressional district will be composed of Borongan City and the municipalities of Arteche, Can-vid, Dolores, Jipapad, Maslog, Oras, San Julian, San Policarpo, Sulat, and Taft, with a combined population of more than 270,600.

The towns of Balangiga, Balangkayan, Gen. MacArthur, Giporlos, Guiuan, Hernani, Lawaan, Llorente, Maydolong, Mercedes, Quinapondan, and Salcedo will compose the proposed second congressional district.

If approved, only Biliran has a lone congressional district in Eastern Visayas.

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