KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 14 July) – The municipality of Tupi in South Cotabato is now composed of 16 villages with the ratification on Saturday, July 13, of Barangay Juan-Loreto Tamayo, named after the grandparents of South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr.
John Rex Laudiangco, Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson, said majority of the voters favored the creation of Barangay Juan-Loreto Tamayo.
The new village, named after Juan is carved from Barangays Cebuano, Linan and Miasong.
In a statement, Laudiangco said that out of the 9,765 registered voters of the affected villages, 2,485 actually voted – 2,393 for “yes” (96.30 percent) and 89 (3.58 percent) for “no” – or a voter’s turnout of 25.45 percent.
“The Comelec extends its gratitude to all its partner agencies, which made the conduct of the plebiscite orderly, peaceful, and secure,” he said, citing the police, military and the local government unit of Tupi.
Tupi Mayor Romeo Tamayo lauded the ratification of Barangay Juan-Loreto Tamayo, the village named after his parents.
The mayor is the brother of Angat partylist Rep. Reynaldo Tamayo Sr., the father of Governor Tamayo. Governor Tamayo had pushed for the creation of Juan-Loreto barangay while serving as mayor of Tupi from 2010 to 2019.
Juan and Loreto, both deceased, were the parents of Romeo and Reynaldo, Sr. and grandparents of the governor. Loreto once served as Vice Mayor of Tupi.
“(We have a) new barangay in Tupi, Barangay Juan-Loreto Tamayo. The 16th barangay of Tupi and 200th barangay of South Cotabato,” Mayor Tamayo said in a Facebook post.
Earlier, an environmental group raised concern on the creation of Barangay Juan-Loreto Tamayo as it is allegedly located within the 15,600-hectare Mt. Matutum Protected Landscape (MMPL).
The Save Mt. Matutum Protected Landscape (SMMPL) expressed fears the creation of a new village will attract the influx of people or investors, which could threaten the area’s natural protected landscape.
The group noted that so far, it has observed “the massive and continuing selling of our forest lands, the proliferation of business establishments, development of millionaire’s village and illegal constructions of buildings and houses despite the notice of violations and stoppage orders issued by Mt. Matutum Protected Area Management Board.”
The subject area is covered by Republic Act 11038 or the Enhanced Integrated Protected Area System Act (E-NIPAS), designed to enhance biological diversity and protected against human exploitation, it said.
The SMMPL urged the Senate and the House of Representatives to conduct a joint oversight committee investigation in aid of legislation” to arrest the continuing destruction and seemingly deliberate alteration of the natural beauty of Mt. Matutum.
The Mt. Matutum Protected Landscape Management Board, which is under the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office-South Cotabato of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is headed by Efren Hibaler. MindaNews sought him for comment but he has not replied as of Sunday.
Richel Castor, Comelec-Tupi election assistant officer 2, said Barangay Juan-Loreto Tamayo covers 2,304.58 hectares.
Of that size, at least 1,489.78 are from Barangay Miasong, 292.25 hectares from Barangay Cebuano and 522.55 hectares from Barangay Linan, she added. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
