‘There’s really no chance’: Pavia drops bid to become a city

Mayor Luigi Gorriceta said he is no longer expecting that the town of Pavia will become a city.

In an exclusive interview, Gorriceta said Pavia is not qualified in terms of land area.

“Unfortunately, there is really no chance for us (Pavia) to become a city. Pavia is the smallest town in the Second District of Iloilo and the second smallest in the whole province,” Gorriceta told IMT NEWS.

Pavia, a second class municipality, has a total land area of 27.15 square kilometers, equivalent to 0.54 percent of the province’s land area.

The Local Government Code of 1991, requires a town to have a land area of at least 100 square kilometres to become a city.

“Waay man kita sang pwede mareclaim or mapangayuan sa iban nga towns,” said Gorriceta.

But in terms of population and income, Pavia, according to the mayor, is close to being qualified.

The town has a population of 55,603, based on the 2015 census. It is one of Iloilo City’s neighboring towns and tagged as the Regional Agro-Industrial Center in the Western Visayas region.IMT