2023 San Jose del Monte conversion plebiscite

A plebiscite was held in the province of Bulacan, Philippines, on October 30, 2023, with the purpose of determining if San Jose del Monte should be converted into a highly urbanized city. If carried, San Jose del Monte will be politically, fiscally, and administratively independent from Bulacan; if rejected, the city will remain a component city of Bulacan.

The city government was for the proposal, while the provincial government did not oppose it. The measure was rejected, with a narrow majority of voters in San Jose del Monte itself voting against the proposal.

The plebiscite was held concurrently with the 2023 Philippine barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections; therefore, in Bulacan, a voter may receive up to three ballots.



Background
San Jose del Monte became a component city of the province of Bulacan on September 10, 2000 through Republic Act No. 8797 which was authored by Angelito Sarmiento, the representative of its 4th congressional district at the time. The city later represented itself as a lone congressional district on December 18, 2003.

On December 6, 2020, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation No. 1057, proclaiming San Jose del Monte as a highly-urbanized city. The proclamation came after the city's Sangguniang Panglungsod passed Resolution No. 2019-059-09, requesting the President to proclaim the city as such due to meeting the requirements of having "a minimum population of 200,000 as certified by the Philippine Statistics Authority and an income of at least P50 million as certified by the City Treasurer". The proclamation will take effect after ratification in a plebiscite.

Scheduling
The plebiscite supposed to be held four months after the 2022 national and local elections but it was overdue ever since then. On September 11, 2023, the COMELEC scheduled the plebiscite on October 30, synchronizing with the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

Questions
The ballot question is as follows:

In Filipino:


 * "Pumapayag ka ba na ang Lungsod ng San Jose del Monte, Lalawigan ng Bulacan ay gawing isang 'Highly-Urbanized City' alinsunod sa Proclamation No. 1057 na naging ganap na batas noong Disyembre 4, 2020?"

English translation:


 * "Do you agree to the City of San Jose del Monte, Province of Bulacan becoming a 'Highly-Urbanized City' pursuant to Proclamation No. 1057 which became law on December 4, 2020?"

Voters were opted to write "yes" or "oo" if they agree, or "no" or "hindi if they oppose the proposal.

Campaign
The San Jose del Monte government kickstarted its 'Yes' campaign on September 9, 2023 with the Tanglawan Festival. According to Representative Rida Robes, the city "desperately needs" its highly-urbanized city status, and if it stayed being a component city, it will have a small source of funds for service to its people. The League of Municipalities of the Philippines' Bulacan chapter pledged its support through a manifesto. All six members of the House of Representatives from Bulacan supported the proposal. The National Movement of Young Legislators Bulacan Chapter was also for the proposal. The Iglesia ni Cristo backed the proposal, as well.

However, the city's 2nd district councilor Romeo Agapito said that the city is not yet ready for the status, citing higher taxes, unemployment and aid from the provincial capitol becoming limited if it did become a highly urbanized city. The provincial chapter of the Liga ng mga Barangay is against the proposal. Two previous governors of Bulacan, Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado and Roberto Pagdanganan, opposed the conversion. The current governor, Daniel Fernando, remarked that "no father is happy when he sees his child leave," but left the choice to the people.

Results
The majority of voters rejected the conversion, as declared by COMELEC two days after the plebiscite, while a tenth of those who participated in the conduct did not vote, leaving blank ballots.

COMELEC explained that the involvement of the entire Bulacan in the plebiscite is due to a Supreme Court ruling on a similar case in Nueva Ecija, G.R. No. 203974: Umali v. COMELEC. Unlike before when only the city itself could participate in such cases, the decision indicated that all residents affected by the change of constituency in such an entity should be consulted.

Per legislative district
For purposes of representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines, Bulacan is divided into seven congressional districts, the 1st to 6th congressional districts of Bulacan, and San Jose del Monte's district.

For purposes of representation in the Bulacan Provincial Board, it is identical to congressional districts, except that San Jose del Monte is not treated separately but is instead included in the 4th provincial board district.