Comelec holds plebiscite in 5 Parañaque villages

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MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to announce today the result of the plebiscite that would ratify or reject a Parañaque ordinance that changes the territorial boundaries of the city’s five coastal barangays.

Voters of Barangays Baclaran, Tambo, Don Galo, La Huerta and San Dionisio were asked to approve City Ordinance 2023-19, passed in July 2023, changing the boundaries of the localities using the straight-line policy.

In the straight-line policy, boundaries are dictated using easily distinguishable divisions, such as roads and property lines.

The five barangays have jurisdiction over reclaimed areas along Manila Bay, where several economic parks are located, including Aseana City, Entertainment City and Asiaworld.

The coastal barangays have been in a border dispute for over 20 years.

The city council sought the changes to provide a “comprehensive, wise, just and fair distribution of resources, in the interest of public service and the general welfare of the inhabitants of the city as a whole.”

“Some might think that this is not a contested plebiscite. This is highly contested because there are people who oppose... the desire to divide the place of Aseana, which is the question in the ballot,” Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said yesterday.

The five barangays comprise a voting population of 79,300, according to Comelec.

Parañaque passed a similar ordinance in 2003 but was declared by the Supreme Court null and void in 2016 because no plebiscite was held.