Bulacan to have special election after May 10

Bulacan will have a separate special election after May 10 to elect the representative of the province’s first district in the House of Representatives, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Monday. This was after the Supreme Court nullified Republic Act 9591 that created a separate lone legislative district for Malolos City, which used to be part of Bulacan’s first district, according to Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal. The high court last March nullified RA 9591 because it supposedly did not fulfill a constitutional provision requiring a minimum population of 250,000 for a city to have its own representative in Congress. With the nullification, the first district of Bulacan is now again comprised of Malolos City, Hagonoy, Calumpit, Pulilan, Bulacan and Paombong. Larrazabal said they would first have to combine the congressional candidates from the supposed lone district in Malolos with the other candidates running in the first district. The candidates who were supposed to run for a congressional seat in Malolos City were Francisco Aniag (Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino), Francisco Cruz (independent), three-term Malolos City Mayor Danilo Domingo (Liberal Party), and Tomas Valencia (independent). On the other hand, the original candidates who were running in the first district were former Agrarian Reform secretary Roberto Pagdanganan (Nacionalista Party) and incumbent representative Marivic Sy-Alvarado (Lakas-Kampi). Sy-Alvarado was the one who filed House Bill 3693, which brought about RA 9591. Her husband is incumbent Bulacan Vice Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado, who is running for governor in May. Larrazabal said the poll body has yet to decide whether it will use the same ballots used in the May polls. He likewise said that they would still have to determine the best date for the special elections. "That will still be decided by the en banc," he said. - KBK, GMANews.TV