Cabanatuan City now ripe for HUC status

This refers to the news item “Bohol top in governance.” (Inquirer, 9/5/11) The report also mentioned Cabanatuan City as one of the component cities that scored high in the Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS) for 2010. Managed by the Department of Interior and Local Government, the LGPMS is a web-based, self-assessment tool that measures the performance of local government units (LGUs) in key governance areas.

It is heartening to note that Cabanatuan City has made it again to the top-performing or best-governed component cities. The first time our city received a similar award was in 2007, under the performance evaluation program sponsored and conducted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) for LGUs.

A once-upon-a-time riverine settlement, Cabanatuan was converted into a pueblo or municipality in 1777 and became a chartered city on Feb. 3, 1950 by virtue of Republic Act 526. As a component city of Nueva Ecija for 61 years, Cabanatuan today is raring to become a highly urbanized city (HUC). To borrow the historic pronouncements of Mayor Jay Vergara and former Sen. Nene Pimentel, “Ang Cabanatuan ay hinog na hinog na para maging HUC.”

A resolution to this effect was recently passed and approved by the city council. Once the resolution is approved by President Aquino and ratified by its residents, Cabanatuan automatically becomes a separate and independent political subdivision.

Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali, however, strongly opposes the resolution, saying that Cabanatuan is not yet ready to stand alone and that the city government still needs the support of the provincial government.

The prestigious 2007 and now 2010 awards for “good and effective housekeeping” given by AIM and DILG to the Cabanatuan City government should allay the honorable governor’s hollow fears.

—PRUDENCIO E. MAGPAYO,

freelance journalist,

MS Garcia, Cabanatuan City