This Week’s Milestones: July 9 to 15, 2017

July 12, 1744

King Philip V of Spain sent Sulu Sultan Muhammad Alimuddin I a letter requesting permission for Jesuit missionaries to preach Catholicism in the sultanate and for the people to be allowed to be converted if they so wished.

July 14, 2007

The municipality of Guihulngan in Negros Oriental province, became a city after then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ratified Republic Act No. 9409.

Fifteen months later, Guihulngan lost its cityhood after the Supreme Court granted a petition filed by the League of Cities of the Philippines declaring RA  9409 unconstitutional.

In December 2009, the high court reversed its ruling, restoring the cityhood status of Guihulngan.

It has a population of 95,969 and is the third most populous city in Negros Oriental, as of the 2015 census.

–Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer Research

Sources: Inquirer Archives, DOT, Historical Calendar (1521-1969), pia.gov.ph, asj.upd.edu.ph, coa.gov.ph, southcotabato.gov.ph, sarangani.gov.ph