Bulacan pols divided on proposed new district

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines – Political leaders in Bulacan are still divided on the proposed creation of a fifth congressional district.

This developed as re-elected third district Rep. Joselito Mendoza vowed to re-file in the new Congress his bill that seeks to create the new congressional district.

“We now have at least three million in population and we can have seven congressional districts but we only have four,” he said, without including the lone district of San Jose del Monte City.

Mendoza said he filed the bill in the 15th Congress, but Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado opposed it.

“I don’t know his reasons, but as far as I’m concerned, it met all the requirements,” he said.

As proposed, the proposed district will be composed of Norzagaray town from the third district and Sta. Maria town from the fourth district.

Mendoza said the land area of the third district is almost half the total land area of Bulacan. “My problem is the land area of my district it is too big and I cannot implement enough projects,” he said. 

Mendoza’s co-sponsor, re-elected fourth district Rep. Linabelle Villarica, also vowed to re-file the measure.

She also took potshots on Alvarado’s opposition to the proposed new district. “He just opposed it but did not mention his specific objection,” Villarica said in Filipino.

In an interview, Alvarado said reapportioning the province must be properly planned.

He said he is not necessarily against reapportioning the province, but is opposed to the plan agreed upon by only two leaders. 

He described the move of Mendoza and Villarica as “gerrymandering.”

“There must be proper consultation, we must all sit down, including the other congressmen and the mayors in the province and discuss the plan,” he said.

If Sta. Maria town is removed from the fourth district, Alvarado said only the towns of Marilao and Obando and Meycauayan City would be left in the district.

He said the population of Meycauayan, the third component city of the province, may soon qualify it for a lone congressional district.

“What will happen to Marilao and Obando,” he said, adding that there are also plans to convert Marilao into a component city.

For his part, second district congressman-elect Gavini Pancho said the proposal must be re-studied.

As chief of staff of his father, outgoing Rep. Pedro Pancho, the younger Pancho admitted that they also opposed the proposal of Mendoza and Villarica, saying it was made without the consent of mayors of the affected towns.