Residents of the province of Rizal’s second district may look forward to being served better by their local government as the Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill reapportioning it into three legislative districts.
“While it is a fulfilling challenge trying to serve the 2nd district, the reality is that as is, our resources always have to be stretched thin so that it could reach our more than one million constituents, which amounts to over half of Rizal’s entire population,” said Deputy Majority Leader and Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles.
Nograles is the author of House Bill No. 6222 which seeks to reapportion the 2nd district.
Once passed into law, the current second district would retain the municipalities of Cardona, Baras, Tanay, Morong, Jalajala, Pililla, and Teresa.
The proposed measure would then establish the town of San Mateo as the third congressional district and Rodriguez (Montalban) town as the fourth legislative district of the province.
“Additional representation equals additional resources, which would lead to a much more equitable distribution of government services to the people of Rizal,” Nograles said.
Nograles said the reapportionment will have an immediate impact on the province’s pandemic recovery efforts as the representatives of the new districts would already be selected in the 2022 elections once the President signs the bill.
“This means that our countrymen will not be passive spectators in the recovery efforts because they will choose their representatives,” he said.