MANILA, Philippines – The province of Compostela Valley will now be known as Davao de Oro after a majority of voters ratified a law that renamed the province.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial plebiscite board of canvassers on Sunday night, December 8, declared that 174,442 people voted to give Compostela Valley a new name while 5,020 voted against it.

Of the 410,261 registered voters in the province, the Comelec said 179,953 participated in the plebiscite held on Saturday, December 7.

“On the basis of the foregoing, we hereby proclaim to ratify the renaming of the province of Compostela Valley to the province of Davao de Oro pursuant to Republic Act 11297,” said Comelec Regional Director Remlane Tambuang, who served as chairman of the provincial plebiscite board of canvassers.

Tambuang said votes from 11 municipalities were included in the plebiscite.

The plebiscite’s results make final the renaming of Compostela Valley after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11297 last April, providing for the new name.

Carved out of Davao del Norte in 1998, the province was named Compostela Valley for 21 years until lawmakers proposed the renaming so it would have “Davao” in its name. – Rappler.com