Bacoor City holds plebiscite for barangay merging
LUCENA CITY — Residents of Bacoor City in Cavite will hold a plebiscite Saturday, July 29, to decide whether to merge 49 barangays into 18 villages.
The political exercise will be held from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
In a statement, the local government urged all affected villagers to vote in the plebiscite.
“Together, let us promote unity today, July 29, 2023, to express our collective decision for the unification of the barangays in the City of Bacoor,” the city government of Bacoor said on its Facebook page.
The local officials led by Mayor Strike Revilla have since been conducting “Ugnayan sa Barangay” meetings urging the residents of the affected barangays to vote “yes” and approve the merging.
The merging, once approved in the plebiscite, will increase the share of the merged barangays in the National Tax Allocation that can be used to launch more development projects.
It also aims to reduce red tape as well as promote effective peace and order campaigns and the reduction in the cost of local governance.
On March 28, the local government of Bacoor passed City Ordinance 275-2023 to merge 49 barangays into 18 barangays.
Five other barangays are also set to be renamed as a consequence of the merging.
The Comelec issued Resolution 10917 on May 17 for the conduct of the plebiscite.
The affected barangays were consulted by the local government and approved the proposed merger and renaming of their villages.
Lawyer Justine de la Cruz, Bacoor City election supervisor, said that if the “yes” vote wins, there will be 23 less barangays in the city.
“Bacoor City will only have 50 barangays,” De la Cruz said in a television interview.
A plebiscite among the affected villagers is all that is left for the merging to take effect.
The Commission on Elections imposed the mandatory two-day liquor ban that took effect on Friday and Saturday (July 28 and 29) in Bacoor City for the holding of the plebiscite.
The police have also implemented a gun ban during the plebiscite period from July 28 to Aug. 5.
READ: Bacoor barangay plebiscite set July 29
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