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Aklan Province now officially a First Class Province says Guv
KALIBO, Aklan- The Aklan Provincial Government is now officially considered a first-class province, according to Aklan Governor Jose Enrique Miraflores.
Miraflores announced this during Aklan’s 68th Foundation Day on April 25.
‘ “I am happy to announce that we are now a First Class Province,” he said over throngs of crowds at the ABL Sports Complex. The declaration of the Aklan Province category is under Republic Act 11964, known as the Automatic Income Classification of the Local Government Units.This means that a bigger internal revenue allocation for the province is expected.
Earlier, Vice Governor Reynaldo Quimpo said that the province this year has a population of 2,714,488,920. The budget last year (2023) was only P2.6 billion.
According to the reports of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Aklan Province in January 2024 had an inflation rate of 3.0. This is lower compared to the inflation rate in January 2023, which reached 7.9 percent.
The PSA also reported that Aklan province also registered the highest double-digit growth of 22.5 percent, the highest compared to other provinces in Western Visayas. Tailing to the second highest growth rate are Bacolod City with 9.8 percent and Iloilo City with a 9.6 percent growth rate.
The positive economic growth rate in the province is being attributed to the high influx of tourists coming to Boracay Island, a well-known tourism destination.
According to the reports of the Department of Tourism, some 1.75 million tourists visited Boracay in 2022. Over 2 million tourists in 2023.
