Bill creating more Rizal districts backed

MANILA, Philippines — The provincial government of Rizal is supporting a House proposal that seeks to increase the number of legislative districts in the province from four to six.

“There is a consensus among Rizal officials that such a measure is long overdue given the growth of Rizal’s population,” Gov. Rebecca Ynares said of House Bill (HB) 336 authored by Rep. Fidel Nograles of the second dristrict. 

Ynares said aside from the provincial officials, all 14 mayors in the province support the passage of HB 336. 

Two of the province’s districts are located in Antipolo. 

In filing the bill, Nograles wants his district to be split into three, giving Rizal pro-vince two more. 

Vice Gov. Reynaldo San Juan Jr. endorsed the bill, saying this would allow legislators to serve their constituents better.

“Nograles has to serve a little more than one million constituents as the second district has over half the entire population of Rizal. More representation in Congress means more legislators to serve the people,” San Juan said.

Rodriguez Mayor Dennis Hernandez said his town is the second most populous local government unit in Rizal, with 369,222 residents.

Nograles thanked his townmates for supporting his proposal.

“I am confident that my colleagues in the House will recognize the needs of my constituents and support this effort to give the people of Rizal a greater voice in the legislature,” he said. 

HB 336 seeks to split Rizal’s second district into three separate legislative districts.

Under the bill, Baras, Cardona, Jala Jala, Morong, Pililia, Tanay and Teresa will be retained in the second district.

San Mateo and Rodriguez will have their own districts.