Comelec to hold plebiscite in Marawi on March 9

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said all is set for the conduct of a plebiscite to ratify the creation of three new barangays in Marawi, Lanao del Sur.

According to a command conference on Friday, qualified voters of Barangays Dulay Proper, Kilala and Patani will be allowed to decide on the creation of new Barangays Sultan Corobong, Sultan Panoroganan and Angoyao through a voting on Saturday, March 9, 2024.

“Pagka nacreate yung tatlong barangays, wala pang opisyal pa sa kasalukuyan. In the meantime, nasa Local Government Code naman na pagka nagkaroon ng creation ay maaaring mag-appoint muna ang ating mayor ng kanilang [officer-in-charge] para sa barangay na yan, maliban na lang kung may nakalagay doon sa mismong ordinance tungkol sa kung paano yung sa transition,” Comelec chairman George Garcia said in a press conference after presiding over a command conference in the city.

(There are still no officials for the barangays that will be created. In the meantime, the Local Government Code states that the mayor may appoint a temporary [officer-in-charge] for a barangay upon creation, except if there already is an ordinance regarding the transition)

“Basta ang importante at least meron na isang separate political entity na mamamahala doon sa mismong barangay at magkakaroon ng regular na budget, magkakaroon ng regular na konseho,” he added.

(What’s important is that there is at least one separate political entity that will lead the barangay, and that there will be a regular budget [and] a regular council)

According to the Philippines’ Local Government Code Section 385 to 386, a barangay may be created, divided, merged, abolished, or its boundary substantially altered through an ordinance by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan or Sangguniang Panglungsod, subject to the approval of votes in a plebiscite spearheaded by the Comelec.

Barangays may be created if the National Statistics Office declares an area to have at least 2,000 inhabitants, or at least 5,000 in Metro Manila and other metropolitan cities, provided that the creation does not reduce the population of the original barangays to below the required number of inhabitants.

“Dito sa Bangsamoro, may kapapasa lamang na government code. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang probisyon, kung kasama rin yung area, population or yung income ng mismong bayan na yan o ike-create na bayan. Basta yon, sila ang magke-create niyan,” Garcia said.

(Here in Bangsamoro, a government code was just passed. I don’t know what the provisions are, if it also includes the area, population or the income of the area or the area to be created)

The command conference was also attended by Comelec Commissioners Aimee Ferolino and Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda, Jr.; executive director Teopisto E. Elnas Jr.; BARMM election regional director  Ray Sumalipao; and Marawi City Mayor Majul Gandamra, along with key personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.—Jiselle Anne Casucian/LDF, GMA Integrated News