San Jose del Monte City Gears Up to Become Highly Urbanized City
San Jose del Monte City (SJDM) lone district Rep. Florida “Rida” Robes emphasized the significance of the city’s upcoming conversion into a “Highly Urbanized City (HUC)” later this year. Rep. Robes shared her views during the 8th annual Tanglawan Festival, which means “light.”
“We really need this. Our population has been growing and we have qualified to become an HUC. Remaining as a component city means we won’t have as many resources for serving the public here in San Jose,” stated Rep. Robes.
As the population increases, so do the needs, affirmed the experienced lawmaker. Once the city achieves HUC status, Rep. Robes pledged that it would adopt three cities in the province and expand the provision of free education.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data from 2020, SJDM City’s population stands at 651,813 individuals residing in 156,871 households.
“This is the 18th most populated city in the country and the largest local government unit in Bulacan and Central Luzon,” noted Mayor Arthur Robes, Rep. Robes’ husband.
The city has easily met the required criteria of having at least 200,000 inhabitants and generating a locally-derived annual income of P250 million for two consecutive years.
The Robes duo is encouraging Bulacan residents to vote “yes” for the city’s HUC bid during the plebiscite on October 30, 2023. In December 2020, SJDM was officially declared an HUC by former president Rodrigo Duterte through Proclamation No. 1057. The implementation of this declaration awaits ratification following the plebiscite result.
