San Pedro has 7 new villages

SAN PEDRO CITY—This city officially has seven new villages carved out from Barangay San Vicente.

The seven new villages are Pacita 1, Pacita 2, Chrysanthemum, Rosario, Fatima, San Lorenzo and Maharlika.

This brings the previous number of this city’s barangays from 20 to 27.

San Pedro election officer Marianne Marfori officially declared the creation of the seven new villages following a plebiscite on Saturday.

Records from the Commission on Elections showed an overwhelming number of “yes” votes at 6,541 against the “no” votes at 1,729.

The total number of votes cast, 8,270, represented 16 percent of the total voting population of Barangay San Vicente, which is 50,859.

As a single village, San Vicente, which houses several residential and commercial districts, had a population of about 92,000 and an internal revenue allotment of P55 million that could qualify it as a separate municipality.

San Pedro itself became a component city only in December 2013.

City Mayor Lourdes Cataquiz, through city information officer Sonny Ordoña on Sunday, thanked the city’s electorate for participating in the plebiscite.

Ordoña said the city government would set aside a still unspecified amount for each of the seven new villages, as each one could also now benefit directly from the programs of the city.

It was, however, not clear whether the city government would call for an election of new village chiefs or appoint interim village captains to serve until the next national barangay elections.