MANILA — Residents of Bulacan voted "no" to converting San Jose Del Monte into a highly-urbanized city in the plebiscite held last October 30, the same day that the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls were conducted.

A total of 820,385 voted against the conversion, which would have made San Jose Del Monte independent of the province while 620,707 votes "yes".

Supporters of the reclassification said it would give local officials more direct control of programs and would bring better opportunities to the city.

• Bulacan to decide San Jose Del Monte's fate in barangay elections

Those against it worried it would mean hyper-urbanization, higher taxes, and a loss of support and benefits provided by the provincial government.

Under the Local Government Code, cities with a population of at least 200,000 inhabitants and annual income of at least P50 million a year can be classified as highly urbanized upon presidential declaration.

That declaration — made in Proclamation 1057 by then President Rodrigo Duterte in 2020 — must be ratified in a plebiscite.

Based on the Certificate of Canvass, 1,608,004 million cast their votes, out of the more than 2,092,248 registered voters.

• BSKE 2023 'smooth, generally peaceful': poll watchdogs

Commission on Elections Chairman George Garcia personally observed the canvassing Tuesday night.