Separate Mandaue City district passes Congress

MANDAUE is now one step closer to becoming a lone congressional district after the Senate approved on Monday Bill 8511 separating the city from the 6^th District of Cebu province. “This is really good news for Mandaue. The national government projects will now solely be focused on Mandaue unlike before when it’s distributed among Mandaue, Consolacion and Cordova. It’s about time,” Vice-Mayor Carlo P. Fortuna said. Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, author of the bill and chairman of the Senate committee on local government, said the bill will now just have to be signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte to become a law. “If Mandaue City is converted into a lone district, it will not only get its own congressional representative, but also appropriation from the national government for projects and services that will benefit its constituents,” Mr. Angara said in a statement. Cebu 6^th District Rep. Jonas C. Cortes, who sponsored the counterpart bill in the House of Representatives in 2016 welcomed the passage of the bill, which he is already long overdue. — The Freeman