Press Release
January 4, 2016

Koko seeks the creation of San Pedro City
as a separate congressional district

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III is seeking the separation of the City of San Pedro from the first legislative district of Laguna province to constitute a lone congressional district.

Pimentel filed Senate Bill No. 3029 recently for the creation of the City of San Pedro as a separate district to commence in the next national and local elections.

He said that a city may qualify as a legislative district if it has a population of at least 250,000 and the reapportionment is done within three years following the return of every census.

The City of San Pedro has a registered population of 294,310 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census of Population and Housing.

Moreover, the City of Santa Rosa is also a candidate for lone congressional seat with registered population of 284,670 inhabitants.

Pimentel, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said there is a gross disproportion between the current population of some local government units (LGUs) and the number of congressional districts.

To illustrate the situation, he said the City of Biñan with population of 283,396 has one legislative district and the City of Las Piñas with population of 552,573 has also only one legislative district.

"This disparity shows that there is no equal representation and voice of the people in Congress," said Pimentel.

He said to remedy the situation Congress may enact laws to create separate legislative districts once the population criterion is met.

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