Santo Tomas is 4th city of Batangas

BATANGAS, Philippines – Santo Tomas is now officially converted into a component city of Batangas province after the ratification in a plebiscite Saturday, September 7, of Republic Act 11086 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in October 2018.

According to Santo Tomas election officer Juan Aguila, 22,858 voted “Yes” in the plebiscite,  while 431 voted “No”. There were 98,583 registered voters in Santo Tomas, 22% participated in the plebiscite.

“Naging tagumpay naman ang ginawa nating plebisito, although ang turnout ay hindi ganoon kalaki, but still ang interest ng tao na suportahan ang kagustuhan nila ay naipakita,” Aguila said.

(The plebiscite was a success, although there wasn’t much turnout. But still we saw the  people’s interest in supporting the move.)

Formerly a first class municipality, Santo Tomas is one of the oldest towns of Batangas located at the foot of the legendary Mt. Makiling. It is sixty (60) kilometers south of Manila and is known as the birthplace of General Miguel Malvar, the last Filipino general to surrender to the American colonizers.

It has a of population of 179,844 and a land area of 10,032.38 hectares based on the 2015 census.

Santo Tomas became the 4th city of Batangas following of Lipa, Tanauan and its capital Batangas.