By Tracy Cabrera
PARAÑAQUE CITY, Metro Manila — Voters in five coastal villages in Parañaque City overwhelmingly ratified City Ordinance No. 2023-19 on Saturday, July 25, 2026, officially redistributing jurisdiction over the lucrative Manila Bay reclamation zones.
The people-approved measure secured 11,597 “yes” votes against 2,254 “no” votes, settling boundaries among Barangays Baclaran, Tambo, Don Galo, La Huerta and San Dionisio.
A total of 79,251 eligible voters across the five coastal barangays turned out to ratify the local law overwhelmingly by a percentage of more than 388 percent.
The plebiscite was overseen by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which canvassed all 151 returns before proclaiming the victory.
Parañaque City mayor Edwin Olivarez welcomed the results, stressing that this finally settles the jurisdictional issues, establishing a straight-line policy that replaces vague or disputed limits with geometric straight lines based on fixed points, roads and property markers.
Based on high-value zones, the affected coastline includes major commercial business hubs and economic parks like Aseana City, Entertainment City and Asiaworld, which are all lucrative areas of revenue.
“Realigning the boundaries defines which local village collects business taxes, issues land titles and governs specific portions of the Manila Bay reclaimed properties,” Olivarez pointed out while noting that it sets precise and legal parameters for the creation of land titles, taxation and jurisdictional boundaries.
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