Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi, who is running for congressman in the upcoming elections, said he will aim for the creation of a second congressional district in the city.
Fresnedi and Rep. Rufino Biazon have teamed up under the One Muntinlupa unity party and have switched places for the May 9, 2022 elections.
Fresnedi, who is in his third and last term as city mayor, is seeking to become the next congressman of the lone district of Muntinlupa.
Biazon, who is serving his second term as congressman, opted to run for mayor to succeed Fresnedi.
According to Fresnedi, the creation of a second congressional district in Muntinlupa will be his top priority if he wins next year.
“The population of our city is enough to have an additional congressional district. That will be my top priority for the City of Muntinlupa,” he said Friday when he accompanied Biazon when he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Muntinlupa office.
Fresnedi filed his COC at the Comelec NCR office in compliance with the guidelines set by the poll body.
Under Section 5 of Article 6 of the Constitution, “Each legislative district shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact, and adjacent territory. Each city with a population of at least two hundred fifty thousand, or each province, shall have at least one representative.”
Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 2020 Census of Population and Housing, Muntinlupa has a total population of 543,445, which qualifies it to have a second legislative district under the constitutional guidelines.
The legislative district of Muntinlupa was created on March 1, 1995 when then President Fidel Ramos signed Republic Act 7926, which converted the Municipality of Muntinlupa into a highly urbanized city.
However, the law mandated that Muntinlupa would only have its first election of its first representative in 1998.
Before this, Muntinlupa and Las Pinas were grouped under one legislative district. Prior to this, Muntinlupa, Taguig and Pateros were under one legislative district.