Metro Naga

Metro Naga is a metropolitan area in the Bicol Region of the Philippines, centering on the city of Naga and includes 14 neighboring municipalities of Camarines Sur province. The metropolitan area, which is managed by the Metro Naga Development Council, also includes Pili, the capital of the Camarines Sur, and covers most of the 2nd district of the province and part of its 1st, 3rd and 4th districts. Metro Naga comprise about 40% of the total population of the province, while covering 22.9% of the province in area.HistoryWhen there came a world oil crisis in 1991 as a result of the Gulf War, developmental planners in Naga and its surrounding municipalities had to rethink their goal and direction. They had to address more of their commonality rather than their diversity, resource sharing rather than politicking.Inasmuch as almost all of the gasoline stations in Metro Naga are located in Naga, its then city mayor convened the mayors of the adjacent municipalities to map out their needs and priorities in setting the system and procedure for rationing available fuel supply. The resulting scheme kept vital services running and its success paved the way for other cooperative efforts and undertakings – all leading to the creation of an institution – the Metro Naga Development Council—that would address these cross-boundary issues and problems.Another impetus was the enactment of the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991 which mandated the absorption of devolved personnel, creating chaos in the budgets of many Local government units (LGUs). Again, the mayors of Naga and its neighboring municipalities held informal meetings to share experiences and formulate common strategies to overcome the initial difficulties that accompanied the implementation of the LGC.