Bulacan city to have 3 new barangay

MANILA, Philippines — San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan will have three more villages participating in the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections this October.

This developed after residents of Barangay Muzon agreed to the division of the village into four barangays following a plebiscite conducted on Saturday, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Official results of the plebiscite showed that 12,324 voters or 93 percent of the total number of votes cast were in favor of the division of Barangay Muzon.

Only 969 voters or seven percent of the total votes cast objected to the ratification of Republic Act 11896, which would divide Barangay Muzon into Muzon Proper, Muzon East, Muzon West and Muzon South.

The Comelec said the plebiscite had a voter turnout of 30.43 percent, with only 13,322 of the 43,771 registered voters joining the electoral process.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the low voter turnout did not diminish the results of the plebiscite.

“It doesn’t matter if many or few voted. As long as there is plurality between the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes, the Comelec will proclaim the results,” Garcia said.

He said the electoral exercise was successful and peaceful.

“There was no violence, threats, intimidation and failure of elections. We just don’t talk about how many actually voted,” Garcia said.

The San Jose del Monte plebiscite was the second to be conducted in Bulacan within  a period of three months.

A similar process converting the municipality of Baliwag into a component city was conducted in December.