THIS IS a reaction to the news item “Cabanatuan now a highly urbanized city” (Inquirer, 7/16/12).
It is welcome news for Cabanatueños that President Aquino fully supported and has approved the conversion of Cabanatuan City into a highly urbanized city (HUC).
In Proclamation No. 418 dated July 4, 2012, President Aquino said that having met the HUC minimum requirements of 200,000 residents and an annual income of P50 million, “Cabanatuan is qualified to upgrade its status from a component city to a highly urbanized city.” The President also stated that “it is the declared policy of the government to support local governments’ initiatives to attain their fullest development as self-reliant communities and make them effective partners in the attainment of national goals.”
The same proclamation has doused cold water on the petty contention of the anti-HUC camp that Cabanatuan is not yet ready to become an HUC or separate political subdivision—and that the city still needs the support of the Nueva Ecija provincial government.
—GERTUDEZ M. DULLE,
former barangay chair,
MS Garcia, Cabanatuan City