San Jose del Monte gets 2 Bulacan council seats

Representative Florida “Rida” Robes said on Friday that the Supreme Court (SC) had granted her petition to allocate two seats in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Bulacan for their lone district of San Jose del Monte City.

She cited a 15-page ruling of the SC whereby a writ of mandamus directed the Commission on Elections to amend Section 6 of Resolution 10707 to conform with Section 41(b) of Republic Act 7610 in order to give two seats for SJDM in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

The High Tribunal argued that qualified voters have the right to elect their representatives in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan as much as they have the right to be represented in the lower chamber of Congress.

This right cannot remain clustered with the municipalities or cities in the fourth legislative district of Bulacan for purposes of electing its board members, Robes said, citing the ruling penned by Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao.

According to the SC, Robes, through her petition, has shown that the right of people to choose those who will govern them is primordial, sacred, and serves as the bedrock of the nation’s constitutional democracy.

Robes, for her part, expressed gratitude to the SC for granting her petition, a move which may serve as an inspiration for other districts to push for the rights of their constituents in the electoral process.