We may be welcoming a new component city soon. On 26 October 2020, the Senate Committee on Local Government deliberated on Senate Bill Nos. 1737 and 1825 authored by Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian and Senator Francis N. Tolentino, respectively, converting the Municipality of Calaca to the City of Calaca. The Municipality of Calaca has met the requirements provided under the Local Government Code, having the required locally-generated average annual income and land area. The law requires converting municipalities to have a locally-generated average annual income of PHP100 million pesos & either land area of 100 sq. km or 150,000 inhabitants.
At the Senate Committee on Local Government public hearing, the League of Cities of the Philippines, consistent with its long-standing position to support compliant municipalities to be converted into cities, supported the cityhood bid of Calaca. The League recognized that the municipality complied with cityhood requirements under the Local Government Code of 1991 and Republic Act No. 9009. As certified by the DOF-Bureau of Local Government and Finance, the Municipality of Calaca has an average locally-generated annual income of PHP164,961,000 for FY 2017-2018 and a land area of 111.8394 sq. km, as certified by the Land Management Bureau. The League also reiterated during the deliberation that it supports the conversion of municipalities to cities for as long as they meet the criteria outlined in the Local Government Code of 1991. The Senate Committee on Local Government unanimously approved the bill with Senator Joel Villanueva, Senator Imee Marcos, Senator Ronald dela Rosa, Senator Nancy Binay, and Senator Bong Go as co-authors. Pursuant to Section 10, Chapter 2 of the Local Government Code of 1991, the COMELEC is directed to conduct a plebiscite within one hundred twenty (120) days from the effectivity date of the new law.