Comelec en banc to vote on House reso on EMBO barangays

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc is set to decide on a concurrent resolution of the House of Representatives seeking to include the 10 Enlisted Men's Barrios (EMBO) barangays in the two legislative districts of Taguig City and the municipality of Pateros.

In an interview Friday, Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Carcia said the en banc resolution will decide on how more than 200,000 registered voters in the EMBO barangays will cast ballots and be properly represented in the Lower Chamber for 2025 national and local elections (NLE).

They may currently vote for mayor, vice mayor, party-list, senators, Sangguniang Panlungsod as Taguig City residents.

"Kahapon ng hapon nakatanggap ang Comelec ng concurrent resolution, the sense of Congress, na tinulad sa ginawang ordinansa na 'yung tatlo isinama sa kabilang distrito at ang pito ay sinama sa kabila," Garcia said at the Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel.

(Yesterday afternoon, the Comelec received a concurrent resolution from Congress, which is similar to the ordinance that combined three barangays into another district and seven into another.)

"Ngayon na sa amin 'yun upang desisyunan 'yung pagdadagdag. Kung di namin gagawin at di aaksyunan ng Kongreso, di makakaboto ang mga mamamayan ng 10 barangays ng kanilang congressman sapagkat 'di sila kabilang sa kahit anong distrito at 'pag dumating ang next week sa filing ng candidacy, kung may mag-aambisyon sa 10 barangays na tumakbo na congressman, hindi namin alam kung saang distrito siya tatakbo," he said.

(Now, we have to make a decision on the matter of addition. If we don't do it and Congress doesn't take action, the residents of 10 barangays won't be able to vote for their congressman because they don't belong to any district. And by next week, when the filing of candidacies begins, if someone from one of the 10 barangays decides to run for congressman, we won't know which district they'll be eligible to run.)

The Comelec previously said the EMBO barangays in Taguig would not be able to vote for a congressman in Eleksyon 2025 as they were not included in any legislative district.

Last Thursday, the poll body issued Resolution 11069 adopting the recommendations of its Election Records and Statistics Department (ERSD) and the Office of the Deputy Executive Director for Operations (ODEDO) to adopt Taguig City Ordinance 144, approving the inclusion of the barangays in the first and second legislative districts of the city and increasing the number of seats for the Sangguniang Panglungsod from eight to 12 for each councilor district.

The First Legislative and Councilor District includes:

• Comembo
• Pembo
• Rizal

The Second Legislative and Councilor District are as follows:

• Cembo
• South Cembo
• East Rembo
• West Rembo
• Pitogo
• Post Proper Northside

"Asahan niyo na ngayong araw na ito mailabas namin ang desisyon sa naipadala ng Kongreso na resolution. 'Yan ba ay sapat para idagdag 'yung tatlo at pito sa distrito o kakailanganin ba talaga ng batas para gawin yun. In the meantime, we will always rule and decide based on the right of people to vote," said Garcia.(We may issue the resolution today. Whether the concurrent resolution is enough or if a law is needed for it. In the meantime, we will always rule and decide based on the right of people to vote.) — VDV, GMA Integrated News