DAET, Camarines Norte—A P30-million government center, a P30-million transport terminal and an improved airport are among the large-scale face-lift projects that Camarines Norte’s capital town plans to embark on as it aggressively vies for cityhood.
The projects, including a new face of the town plaza, were presented by Mayor Tito Sarion in an executive report last month. “The enhancement of the elevated plaza is necessary to decongest the downtown in an attempt to rebuild the center of the commercial district,” he said.
Sarion said the United Architects of the Philippines had agreed to design the new plaza through a P3-million grant provided by the party-list group Bayan Muna. A telephone company would build “an attractive landmark” at the fountain area, he said.
The funds for the government center and transport facility will be borrowed from the Land Bank of the Philippines, while the revitalized Bagasbas airport project will be funded by the Air Transportation Office (ATO).
Sarion said the proposed government center would make transactions with provincial and national government agencies more convenient while the new legislative hall would “create a breathing space and a better working environment at the municipal hall, where offices are crowded.”
Integrated terminal
All public utility jeeps and buses would be housed in an integrated terminal to solve street congestion caused by illegal private terminals.
These measures would address the foreseen crowding of Daet in five years, Sarion said.
In coordination with the National Parks Development Board, the municipality is starting a sightseeing destination along the Daet River with the construction of the Daet River Park Promenade.
But the most important development project could be the repair of the Bagasbas Airport, a secondary facility that has been idled. Airport officials said the ATO would start the rehabilitation next year in time with the return of commercial flights to Daet.
The capital town is also negotiating with the owner of a private land that it wants to turn into the Daet Light Industrial Park. Such facility would position the town as a location for business processing and outsourcing, Sarion said.
3 requirements
Daet, 365 kilometers southeast of Manila, has been aspiring for cityhood but has been unable to meet the requirements set by the Local Government Code.
It could reacquire sufficient land area based on newly found old maps that show that it wrongly lost territory when the neighboring towns of Basud and San Vicente were created, Sarion said.
The law requires that a municipality may be converted into a component city only if it meets two of three requirements: locally generated average annual income of P100 million for the last two consecutive years, contiguous territory of at least 100 square kilometers, or a population of not less than 150,000 inhabitants.
While Daet’s income is only more than P50 million, Sarion said it would be easy for the first-class town with a population of 98,184, to meet the P100-million threshold.
Rep. Elmer Panotes (second district), who supports the cityhood bid, said Daet would have more chances of becoming a city with the revival of a House bill calling for the automatic creation of a city in provinces without a city, such as Camarines Norte.