By Rjay Zuriaga Castor
Newly proclaimed Iloilo City lone district Rep. Julienne “Jam-Jam” Baronda said the proposal to divide the city into two legislative districts will not be a priority during her final term in Congress.
“The president and the House of Representatives decided, not only for Iloilo City but for the whole country, that it is not a priority to divide the respective districts,” Baronda said on Tuesday, May 13.
She suggested the decision may be due in part to the already large number of sitting House members.
“What is more important is that I can still do the work alone,” she added, while expressing openness to future efforts for reapportionment.
Baronda first filed House Bill 6817, or the “Act Reapportioning the Lone Legislative District of the City of Iloilo,” on July 29, 2019.
She refiled the bill in January 2023, but it remains pending before the House Committee on Local Government.
In the bill’s explanatory note, Baronda argued that the city’s rapid development and growing population justify more equitable congressional representation.
“With the passage of time, the fast-paced development of Iloilo City and the increasing population, there is a concomitant need to ensure equal representation and empowerment of people,” she said.
Under the proposed measure, Jaro, La Paz and Mandurriao would form one congressional district.
City Proper, Molo, Arevalo and Lapuz would comprise the other.
Efforts to divide the city into two districts date back to the terms of former congressmen Raul Gonzalez Jr. and Jerry Treñas, who filed similar bills during the 14th, 15th and 17th Congresses.
In 2021, Baronda’s earlier bill—House Bill 3074—was approved by the House but stalled in the Senate due to concerns about population thresholds.
Article VI, Section 5 of the Constitution states that each city with a population of at least 250,000, or each province, shall have at least one representative in the House of Representatives.
The provision also clarifies that a city does not need an additional 250,000 people to qualify for another district.
Reapportionment and the creation of additional districts depend on congressional legislation and updated census data.
Congress is also mandated to conduct reapportionment every three years following the census to adjust legislative boundaries as needed.
The 2020 census by the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that Iloilo City has a population of 457,626.
This figure meets the minimum requirement for the creation of at least two congressional districts.
