Pampanga barangay wants to split into two

By Ian Ocampo Flora

Officials here are now moving to have the House of Representatives and the Senate approve the proposal to partition Porac's Barangay Pio into two separate villages.

The demarcation of the proposal would separate the Pio Model Community, the resettlement area for the victims of Mt. Pinatubo eruption in the 1990s, and the old Barangay Pio.

The residents consist of people from the town’s eastern villages that were ravaged by lahar as well as a few lahar affected residents from Santa Rita. The resettlement community and the old village had been at odds over the political and administrative aspects of the two communities.

The Porac Model Community outnumbers the residents of the old community which means that the resettlement area can overpower the old community in terms of election results potentially directing administrative preference for the community.

Mayor Condralito Dela Cruz told Sun.Star Pampanga that the old residents of Pio feel left out of the current set up. With the population between the two communities at a ratio of three to one, the residents of old Pio would like to have the community to stand on its own, according to Dela Cruz.

Dela Cruz added that the separation of the two communities would benefit both communities and will provide for proper distribution of resources. The proposal has been forwarded to the House of Representatives.

Just recently, town officials have asked the help of Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV to move the proposal in the Senate.

(Reposted from SunStar Pampanga.  Original title: Porac wants Barangay Pio split into 2 villages.)