TACLOBAN CITY – More officials have opposed House Bill No. 11077 introduced by Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez that seeks to split the province of Leyte into Western and Eastern Leyte.

ACIDRE (FB)

Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said he supports Gov. Jericho “Icot” Petilla’s stand against splitting Leyte into two.

“We are in favor of keeping the status quo,” Acidre said. "There's nothing totally wrong with the idea of thinking of providing more responsive local governance if it is really the intention but we hope that it should not be sudden," he added.

The official said other members of the House from Eastern Visayas were not consulted over the measure, including House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Petilla.

"I think issues like these should be treated more objectively and that includes rigorous consultations not only for the western, but also us from the eastern part of Leyte because all of us will vote if there is a plebiscite."

The League of Municipalities of the Philippines-Leyte Chapter led by Palo, Leyte Mayor Remedios Petilla passed a manifesto rejecting House Bill No. 11077 during their final quarterly meeting.

Mayorga Mayor Alxander de Paz echoed the sentiment of 40 other mayors. “I strongly oppose the said splitting. Ever since, the City of Ormoc and other Visayan-speaking LGUs have been and will always be and form part of Leyte in Eastern Visayas,” he said.

HB No. 11077 is based primarily on linguistic and geographical distinctions – the western part of the province, which mainly consists of Cebuano-speaking communities, would form Western Leyte, while the Eastern part, largely inhabited by Waray-speaking residents, would constitute Eastern Leyte.

The measure states that Western Leyte would be comprised of Albuera, Kananga, Matag-ob, Merida, Palompon, and Isabe, Calubian, Leyte, San Isidro, Tabango, Villaba, Bato, Hilongos, Hindang, Inopacan, Matalom, and the cities of Baybay and Ormoc. The remaining municipalities and cities will comprise Eastern Leyte.