MANILA, Philippines – Residents of Ormoc City in Leyte voted to merge 28 barangays into three during a plebiscite on Saturday, October 8, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“With a clear collective vote of 89.34% for YES and just 10.08% for No, thousands of Ormocanons resoundingly voted to ratify Ormoc City Ordinance No. 052 (Series of 2021 dated January 19, 2021),” Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said in a statement. 

Since majority of Ormoc City residents voted for the affirmative, the villages will now be merged into the following:

• Barangay South: Barangay District Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 15, 17, 23, and 27
• Barangay East: Barangay District Nos. 9, 10, 11, 16, 18, 25, and 28
• Barangay West: Barangay District Nos. 14, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, and 26
• Barangay North: Barangay District No. 29 

The Comelec spokesperson said 53% of the 10,000 residents of the said barangays cast their votes on the plebiscite. The Ormoc plebiscite was the fourth to be held in the country this year after the plebiscites in Saranggani, Batangas, and Maguindanao. 

The August 20 plebiscite in Saranggani was to ratify the creation of Barangay New Canaan into a regular and distinct barangay in Alabel town.

Last September 3, residents of Calaca ratified in a plebiscite the conversion of their municipality into a component city of Batangas province.

While the September 17 plebiscite ratified the division of the province of Maguindanao into 2 independent provinces to be known as Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur.

Comelec chairperson George Garcia said the plebiscite was a success through the help of local government officials, election supervisors, and uniformed personnel.

“Napakaayos, napakaganda ng nangyaring plebisito. Makikita ‘nyo po ang magagandang ngiti ng ating mga kababayan and ‘yun pa lamang, sa atin eh very comforting na sa Commission on Elections (The plebiscite was organized and harmonious. You can see the smiles our locals and that alone is very comforting for the Commission on Elections),” the Comelec chairperson said in a statement.

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FAST FACTS: Ormoc City’s October 8 plebiscite

Garcia flew to Ormoc City for the plebiscite. Joining him were fellow Commissioners Socorro Inting, Aimee Ferolino, and Rey Bulay, were also present.

The plebiscite was based on the Comelec’s Resolution No. 10796, which also contained a January 2021 Ormoc City ordinance that seeks to merge 28 barangays into Barangays South, East, and West. A plebiscite was needed to ratify the ordinance.

Based on the 2020 census of the government’s statistics authority, Ormoc City has a population of around 230,998 people. Under the local government code, a barangay must at least have a population of 2,000.

Earlier, Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres Gomez said combining the villages could facilitate better development. – Rappler.com