“Maglahi ta para di ta madiktahan sa probinsya (We will separate so that the province cannot dictate us),” he said.
He said the city is “more than qualified” to become an “independent city.”
He admitted that it is not a priority, nor he is pushing for it in Congress.
“Wala pa man ta’y initial [action]. Di man ta gusto ana… Sa karon nga samok-samok, dili nila gusto og progress, di gusto og ayuda sa tao (We still don’t have initial [action]. We don’t want that [to separate] … But with the present conflict, they don’t want progress, they don’t want aid for the people) we are now contemplating,” he added.
The mayor said this would have a huge impact to the provincial government in terms of National Tax Allotment (NTA).
“Pag muhawa ta, [mag-]independent ta, minus ang ilang population. Minus pud ang yuta… So tanan, ilang NTA mu-reduce pud na (If we separate, and be independent, their population and land area… all, even their NTA will decrease),” Uy said.
Tagum was converted from a municipality to city of Davao del Norte through Republic Act 8472 on March 7, 1998.
The city’s land area is at 19,850 hectares with a total population of 296,202, based on the 2020 census of the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Meanwhile, the city officially started their celebration of the founding anniversary on Thursday, March 7, where a Civic and Military Parade was held. RGL
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