Caloocan’s Barangay 176, most populated Philippine village, divided at last

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ largest village by population size is finally divided into six smaller barangays.

Residents of Barangay 176 — also known as Bagong Silang — voted to split their village into six, namely Barangay 176-A, Barangay 176-B, Barangay 176-C, Barangay 176-D, Barangay 176-E, and Barangay 176-F.

Plebiscite results on Saturday, August 31, showed 22,854 voted yes, while 2,584 voted no.

The vote came four months after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 11993, which legalizes the division of Barangay 176.

The 1987 Constitution says no province, city, town, or village may be created, divided, merged, abolish, or its boundary substantially altered without a majority of voters supporting the move through a plebiscite.

The division of the large barangay into six smaller ones is expected to expedite the delivery of services to residents — more than 200,000 of them — who were used to being governed by only one barangay chairperson.

Under the new law, each of the six smaller villages will have a village chairperson, seven village councilors, one Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson, and seven SK members appointed by the mayor. – Rappler.com