Voters turn down conversion of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan to highly urbanized city

“No” votes dominated the October 30 plebiscite for the conversion of San Jose del Monte (SJDM) City in Bulacan to a highly urbanized city (HUC), according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday.

Based on the certificate of canvass of votes released by the Comelec, a total of 820,385 voted “no” to the conversion while 620,707 voted “yes.”

"Certificate of canvass of votes and proclamation na po siya (This is the certificate of canvass of votes and it is already for proclamation),” Comelec chairperson George Garcia told reporters in a message.

Of the 2,092,248 registered voters in San Jose del Monte, only 1,608,004 people actually voted, according to the certificate.

The breakdown of votes provided by the Comelec showed that even in SJDM, the “no” votes were higher than the “yes” votes, with 97,954 and 92,714 votes, respectively.

The “yes” votes only won in the municipalities of Meycauyan and Marilao.

In an interview on Dobol B TV, Garcia said proponents could still try to convert SJDM into an HUC.

“Wala naman pong permanente na por que  ni-reject eh hindi na puwede sa mga susunod na panahon,” Garcia said.

(There is no rule that once the conversion is rejected, they cannot try again in the future.)

He also explained the Supreme Court decision on Umali versus Comelec, which states that qualified voters for such plebiscite are those not only from the city proposed to be converted to an HUC but also those from other political units directly affected by the conversion.

The Comelec had set the plebiscite for the conversion of SJDM to an HUC on October 30, the same day as the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

In a two-page manifesto, 23 Bulacan city and municipal mayors earlier expressed their support for the conversion of San Jose del Monte into a highly urbanized city.

They cited Section 452 of Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, which "provides that the cities with a minimum population of 200,000 inhabitants as certified by the Philippine Statistics Authority, and with the latest annual income of at least 50 million based on 1992 constant prices, as certified by the Treasurer, shall be classified as highly-urbanized cities." —Joviland Rita and Hana Bordey/KBK, GMA Integrated News