Rizal congressman wants 2nd District split into three

MANILA, Philippines – Rizal 2nd District Rep. Juan Fidel Felipe Nograles has filed a bill that will split Rizal’s second legislative district into three new districts to “ensure proper representation for Rizaleños.”

In a statement Monday, Nograles said that while Rizal is among the most populous provinces in the country, the province has “only four legislators representing close to 2.9 million” residents.

“On average, the ten most populous provinces in the country have six representatives each in the House of Representatives,” Nograles said, citing the province of Cebu which has 10 congressmen representing 4.6 million people, or a ratio of around 1:460,000.

“In Rizal, you have four legislators representing around 2.9 million people, or a ratio of one for every 721,000 people. In terms of population, Rizal has roughly the same population as Pangasinan and Batangas, but these provinces have six legislative districts each. The disparity, I believe, is self-evident,” Nograles stressed.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Nograles said the population of Rizal’s second district doubled between 2000 and 2015, from 533,299 to 1,070,852.

In House Bill No. 336, the lawyer proposed that his current district, consisting of the municipalities of Baras, Cardona, Jala-Jala, Morong, Pililla, Rodriguez (Montalban), San Mateo, Tanay, and Teresa be split into three separate legislative districts.

Under the bill, the new Second Legislative District would be composed of the towns of Cardona, Baras, Tanay, Morong Jala Jala, Pililia and Teresa.

The municipality of San Mateo would be the Third Legislative District, while Rodriguez (Montalban) would be the province’s Fourth Legislative District.

The additional districts would give the province of Rizal a total of six legislative districts.

The province currently has four districts: Antipolo First District, Antipolo Second District, Rizal First District and Rizal Second District.

Aside from demographic issues, Nograles explained that the 2nd district is composed of “non-contiguous areas with characteristics, features, and qualities different from each other.”

“Different characteristics mean different constituents will have different needs. These will be better addressed if they have proper representation––representation that will be possible with the redistricting of Rizal’s second district,” he argued.  (Editor: Gilbert S. Gaviola)