Legislative district of Mountain Province

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The Legislative district of Mountain Province is the representation of Mountain Province in the various national legislatures of the Philippines. The province is currently represented in the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines through its lone congressional district.

The present-day provinces of Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao and Kalinga, as well as the independent city of Baguio, formed part of the old (pre-division) Mountain Province's representation until 1969. Since 1969, the representation of Mountain Province has been confined only to the limits of the former sub-province of Bontoc.

History

As the undivided Mountain Province (1908–1966)

Initially being excluded from representation in the lower house of the Philippine Legislature in 1907, the then-non-Christian-majority areas of the Philippines — which included the undivided Mountain Province — were finally extended legislative representation with the passage of the Philippine Autonomy Act in 1916 by the United States Congress. The Revised Administrative Code (Act No. 2711) enacted on 10 March 1917 further elaborated on the manner by which these areas would be represented.[1] The non-Christian areas were to be collectively represented in the upper house's 12th senatorial district by two senators, both appointed by the Governor-General.[1] Three assembly members, also appointed by the Governor-General, were to represent the Mountain Province and the chartered city of Baguio in the lower house as a single at-large district. The appointment of these members of the Legislature did not require the consent of the upper house; the appointive legislators were also not necessarily required to be residents of the areas they represented.[2] For example, Assemblyman Pedro Aunario, a resident of Manila,[3] and Senator Lope K. Santos, a resident of Rizal, were among the representatives of the Mountain Province.

Despite several of the Mountain Province's municipalities and municipal districts being annexed to the neighboring provinces of Ilocos Sur (in 1920), La Union (in 1920) and Cagayan (in 1922 and 1928), voters in these areas were still represented by the three assembly members of the Mountain Province, and two senators of the twelfth senatorial district. Only starting in 1935 were these voters extended the right to participate in electing representatives of their respective new provinces, when Act No. 4203 assigned them to specific districts for the purposes of electing members of the unicameral National Assembly of the Philippines.[4]

Act No. 4203 also abolished the senatorial district system and made the Mountain Province's representation to the National Assembly elective through popular vote; the law divided the province into three districts with definite territorial composition.[4] The only sub-province which belonged to more than one district was Bontoc: the eastern portion consisting of the present-day municipalities of Barlig, Bontoc, Paracelis, Natonin, Sabangan, Sadanga and Sagada were represented as part of the undivided province's first district, while the western portion which formerly belonged to the now-defunct Lepanto sub-province (Bauko, Besao and Tadian) were represented as part of the third district.

During the Second World War, the Mountain Province sent two delegates to the National Assembly of the Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic: one was the provincial governor (an ex officio member), while the other was elected through a provincial assembly of KALIBAPI members during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Baguio, being a chartered city, was represented separately in this short-lived legislative body. Upon the restoration of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1945, district representation was restored to the pre-war setup: the sub-province of Bontoc remained split between the first and third districts, and the independent city of Baguio remained part of the second district.

As the reduced Mountain Province (1966–present)

The enactment of Republic Act No. 4695 on 18 June 1966 made the sub-province of Bontoc into a full-fledged province that retained the name "Mountain Province."[5] Per Section 10 of R.A. 4695 the three incumbent representatives of pre-division Mountain Province continued to serve their respective districts until the end of the 6th Congress.[5]

The new (post-division) Mountain Province began electing its lone representative in 1969. The province was represented as part of Region I from 1978 to 1984, and returned one representative, elected at-large, to the Regular Batasang Pambansa in 1984.

Under the new Constitution which was proclaimed on 11 February 1987, Mountain Province constituted a lone congressional district,[6] and elected its member to the restored House of Representatives starting that same year.

Lone District

  • Population (2015): 154,590[7]
Period Representative[8]
7th Congress
19691972
Alfredo G. Lamen
8th Congress
19871992
Victor S. Dominguez
9th Congress
19921995
10th Congress
19951998
11th Congress
19982001
Josephine D. Dominguez
12th Congress
20012004
Roy S. Pilando
13th Congress
20042007
Victor S. Dominguez1
14th Congress
20072010
vacant
15th Congress
20102013
Maximo B. Dalog2
16th Congress
20132016
17th Congress
20162019
vacant

^1 Died on 8 February 2008; seat remained vacant until the end of the 14th Congress.[8]
^2 Died on 3 June 2017;[9] seat remained vacant.

1st District (defunct)

Period Representative[8]
1st National Assembly
19351938
Saturnino Moldero
2nd National Assembly
19381941
1st Commonwealth Congress
19411946
George K. Tait
1st Congress
19461949
2nd Congress
19491953
Antonio Canao
3rd Congress
19531957
Juan Bondad
4th Congress
19571961
Juan M. Duyan
5th Congress
19611965
Alfredo G. Lamen1
Juan M. Duyan2
6th Congress
19651969
vacant

^1 Unseated in January 1964 after losing electoral protest to Juan M. Duyan.[8]
^2 Replaced Alfredo G. Lamen after winning electoral protest; took oath of office on 27 January 1964 and served for the remainder of the 5th Congress. Was elected in 1965 to the 6th Congress, but halfway through his term vacated his seat after being elected governor of Kalinga-Apayao on 14 November 1967; seat remained vacant until the end of the 6th Congress.[8]

2nd District (defunct)

Period Representative[8]
1st National Assembly
19351938
Felipe E. Jose
2nd National Assembly
19381941
Ramon P. Mitra
1st Commonwealth Congress
19411946
1st Congress
19461949
Jose Mencio
2nd Congress
19491953
Dennis Molintas2
Ramon P. Mitra3
3rd Congress
19531957
4th Congress
19571961
5th Congress
19611965
6th Congress
19651969
Andres A. Cosalan

^1 Independent from the province and does not vote for provincial officials since 1909 by virtue of Act No. 1964. Only voted as part of Mountain Province for congressional representation.
^2 Unseated after losing electoral protest to Ramon P. Mitra.[8]
^3 Replaced Dennis Molintas after winning electoral protest on 12 October 1951; took oath of office on 28 January 1952 and served for the remainder of the 2nd Congress.[8]

3rd District (defunct)

Period Representative[8]
1st National Assembly
19351938
George K. Tait
2nd National Assembly
19381941
Miguel Gumangan
1st Commonwealth Congress
19411946
Gregorio Marrero
1st Congress
19461949
Gabriel Dunuan
2nd Congress
19491953
3rd Congress
19531957
Luis Hora
4th Congress
19571961
5th Congress
19611965
6th Congress
19651969

At-Large (defunct)

1917–1935

Period Representatives[8]
4th Philippine Legislature
19161919a
Rafael Bulayungan Juan Cariño Valentin Manglapus
5th Philippine Legislature
19191922
Pedro Aunario
6th Philippine Legislature
19221925
Joaquin Codamon Miguel Cornejo2 Henry A. Kamora
Juan Cailles3
7th Philippine Legislature
19251928
Saturnino Moldero
8th Philippine Legislature
19281931
Clemente Irving
9th Philippine Legislature
19311934
Hilary P. Clapp Juan Gaerlan Henry A. Kamora
10th Philippine Legislature
19341935
Emiliano P. Aguirre Felix P. Diaz Rodolfo Hidalgo

^a Representatives only assumed office in 1917 after appointment by the Governor-General, pursuant to the provisions of Act No. 2711.
^2 Removed from office by Governor-General on 6 October 1925 after being convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for assaulting an American.[11]
^3 Appointed by the Governor-General in October 1925 to fill the vacated seat of Miguel Cornejo.[8]

1943–1944

Period Representatives[8]
National Assembly
19431944
Florencio Bagwan[12]
Hilary P. Clapp (ex officio)[12]

1984–1986

Period Representative[8]
Regular Batasang Pambansa
19841986
Victor S. Dominguez

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Philippine Legislature (1917). Revised Administrative Code of the Philippine Islands of 1917 (Act No. 2711) (Digitized Revised Administrative Code of the Philippine Islands of 1917 from the Presidential Museum and Library Collection, uploaded on 15 February 2016). Bureau of Printing. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  2. Cain, Andrew W. (1917). Philippine Government. Philippine Education Company, Inc. p. 57.
  3. Cain, Andrew W. (1917). Philippine Government. Philippine Education Company, Inc. p. 157.
  4. 1 2 Philippine Legislature (1937). Public Laws Enacted by the Philippine Legislature, Acts No. 4203 to 4275. Bureau of Printing Office. p. 5.
  5. 1 2 Congress of the Philippines (18 June 1966). "Republic Act No. 4695 - An Act Creating the Provinces of Benguet, Mountain Province, Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao". Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  6. 1986 Constitutional Commission (2 February 1987). "1987 Constitution of the Philippines - Apportionment Ordinance". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  7. "Population of Population of Legislative Districts by Region, Province, and Selected Highly Urbanized/Component City: 2015". Philippine Statistics Authority. 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Congressional Library Bureau. "Roster of Philippine Legislators". Republic of the Philippines, House of Representatives. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  9. Cabreza, Vincent (3 June 2017). "Mt. Province lawmaker dies of kidney failure". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  10. Congress of the Philippines (11 May 1955). "Republic Act No. 1222 - An Act Creating the Municipal District of Potia in the Mountain Province". The Corpus Juris. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  11. "News of the World". Philippine Education Magazine. Vol. 22. Manila: Philippine Education Co. 1925. p. 321.
  12. 1 2 Official program of the inauguration of the Republic of the Philippines and the induction into office of His Excellency Jose P. Laurel. Bureau of Printing. 1943.

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