From a mere fishing town once known as Katbalaugan to the booming commercial capital that we know today, Catbalogan has clearly come a long way and, was finally proclaimed as Samar's component city last June 16, 2007. It was with a mixed sense of joy, relief and vindication that the transition was achieved. Indeed, the journey towards cityhood has never been smooth sailing. It was filled with struggles with every filing and repealing, lobbying and counter lobbying for various house bills "converting the Municipality of Catbalogan into a component city of the Province of Samar."
The first step towards cityhood was taken in 1969 by Rep. Fernando P. Veloso through House Bill No. 1867 which was shelved in the Senate. Another step was taken in 1999 by then Mayor Jesus B. Redaja and Vice Mayor Gerardo C. Teves, leading to the filing of HB No. 6346 by Rep. Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura in the 11th Congress. Having been approved in the lower house and forwarded to the Senate, it was shelved again when Senators became preoccupied with the Impeachment Trial. The peaceful uprising that followed further buried all chances of the bill getting approved.
It was a proof of how the national political scene can derail local initiatives. The campaign for cityhood hit another snag on February 24, 2001 in the form of RA 9009, which increased the income requirement of every cityhood applicants from P20M to P100M.
In 2004, HB No. 2088 was filed in the 13th Congress by Rep. Catalino Figueroa and later substituted by HB No. 5998 amid the strong opposition by the League of Cities of the Philippines. Corrolary there to, Rep. Carmen L. Cari of the 5th District of Leyte filed Joint House Resolution No. 01 exempting 22 municipalities including Catbalogan from the P100M income requirement in their applications for cityhood. The said resolution was finally resolved in the Senate by Senator Alfredo Lim, Chair of the Senate Local Government Committee.
With the momentum now in their favor, Mayor Coefredo "Tekwa" T. Uy, Vice Mayor Manuel Van A. Torrevillas and Councilor Art Sherwin L. Gabon waged a dynamic campaign to finally put the decades old struggle for Catbalogan cityhood to an end. With sheer determination in lobbying for this cause and keeping constant vigil at the Senate proceedings, Republic Act No. 9391, "AN ACT CONVERTING THE MUNICIPALITY OF CATBALOGAN IN THE PROVINCE OF SAMAR INTO A COMPONENT CITY TO BE KNOWN AS THE CITY OF CATBALOGAN," was eventually clinched.
With every obstacle now nowhere in sight, Catbaloganons were finally given the chance to express their will. On June 16, 2007, a plebiscite was held where 95% of the 26,765 Catbaloganons voted in favor of the cityhood. This same day, after 239 years of being the capital town of Samar, the COMELEC declared the ratification of Catbalogan into a component city - bringing to its fruition every Catbaloganon's dream and long awaited aspiration.