Outcome | Proposal accepted | ||||||||||||
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The 1965 Samar division plebiscite was a plebiscite held in the province of Samar on November 9, 1965. As required by Republic Act No. 4221 approved on June 19, 1965, the plebiscite was conducted to consent the voters of Samar on the proposal to divide the province into three separate provinces: Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar. [1] The plebiscite was held concurrently with the 1965 Philippine general election and the results were announced on February 15, 1966. The law was ratified to formalize the division. [2]
Samar was established as a distinct province in 1768 after it was separated from Leyte. A previous division between Samar and Leyte occurred in 1747 but was reversed in 1762 due to Jesuit complaints, with final approval coming from the King of Spain. In 1777, Samar and Leyte were split for the last time when it was approved in Madrid in 1786 and became effective in 1799; Queen Isabella II of Spain later officially declared Samar as a province in 1841. Samar remained officially undivided since then.
A law was authored in the Congress of the Philippines to split the province into three: Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar. Republic Act No. 4221 was passed on June 19, 1965, for such purpose, during the term of President Diosdado Macapagal. The following are the then-proposed divisions of the three provinces: [1]
Section 9 of the law states that, upon the establishment of the new provinces, the obligations, funds, assets, and other properties of the old province of Samar shall be distributed equally among the three new provinces, to be carried out by the President of the Philippines based on the recommendation of the Auditor General.
From a total of 151,261 votes that were cast in the plebiscite, 135,259 votes or 89.42 percent of the total votes cast were for the division of the province of Samar into the provinces of Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, and Western Samar. [2]
Choice | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|
For | 135,259 | 89.42 | |
Against | 16,002 | 10.58 | |
Total | 151,261 | 100.00 | |
Source: Government Printing Office [2] |
The provisions of Republic Act No. 4221 went into effect following the election of the first local officials of the new provinces on November 14, 1967. [2] However, the last governor of undivided Samar, Esteban Piczon, had continued as the first governor of Western Samar from 1965 to 1967, while incumbent Samar representatives—Eladio Balite (1st district), Fernando Veloso (2nd district) and Felipe Abrigo (3rd district)—had already been re-elected for the newly created lone districts of Northern, Western, and Eastern Samar, respectively, concurrently with the 1965 plebiscite ahead of the 6th Congress. [3] Calbayog, having been part of Samar's 1st district along with the present-day towns of Northern Samar, became part of Western Samar's lone district. [1]
In the Philippines, provinces are one of its primary political and administrative divisions. There are 82 provinces at present, which are further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The local government units in the National Capital Region, as well as independent cities, are independent of any provincial government. Each province is governed by an elected legislature called the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and an elected governor.
A city is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. All Philippine cities are chartered cities, whose existence as corporate and administrative entities is governed by their own specific municipal charters in addition to the Local Government Code of 1991, which specifies their administrative structure and powers. As of July 8, 2023, there are 149 cities.
Northern Samar, officially the Province of Northern Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catarman, the most populous town in the province and is located at the northern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the south are the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar. To the northwest, across the San Bernardino Strait is Sorsogon; to the east is the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean and to the west is Samar Sea.
Eastern Samar, officially the Province of Eastern Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Borongan, which is the most populous. Eastern Samar occupies the eastern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the north is the province of Northern Samar and to the west is Samar province. To the east lies the Philippine Sea, part of the vast Pacific Ocean, while to the south lies Leyte Gulf.
Samar, officially the Province of Samar, or also known named as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Catbalogan while Calbayog is the most populous city in the province. It is bordered by Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte and Leyte Gulf, and includes several islands in the Samar Sea. Samar is connected to the island of Leyte via the San Juanico Bridge.
The Interim Batasang Pambansa was the legislature of the Republic of the Philippines from its inauguration on June 12, 1978, to June 5, 1984. It served as a transitional legislative body mandated by the 1973 Constitution as the Philippines shifted from a presidential to a semi-presidential form of government.
The legislative districts of Eastern Samar are the representations of the province of Eastern Samar 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 legislative districts of Samar are the representations of the province of Samar 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 first and second congressional districts.
The legislative districts of South Cotabato are the representations of the province of South Cotabato and the urbanized city of General Santos 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 first and second congressional districts.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Calbayog is an ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church named after its episcopal see, Calbayog, a city on the western side of the province of Samar in the Philippines.
Catbalogan, officially the City of Catbalogan, is a 5th class component city and capital city of the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 106,440 people.
Samar was a province in the Philippines which is coterminous with the island of Samar and its outlying islands. It existed from the Spanish colonization era until its division into three provinces—Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, and Western Samar —in 1965.
Samar's 1st congressional district is one of the two congressional districts of the Philippines in the province of Samar. It has been represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 1916 and earlier in the Philippine Assembly from 1907 to 1916. The district consists of the city of Calbayog and adjacent municipalities of Almagro, Gandara, Matuguinao, Pagsanghan, San Jorge, Santa Margarita, Santo Niño, Tagapul-an and Tarangnan. Prior to its second dissolution in 1965 due to the split of the old province of Samar, the district consisted of the municipalities of Allen, Bobon, Calbayog, Capul, Catarman, Catubig, Gamay, Laoang, Lapinig, Las Navas, Lavezares, Mondragon, Palapag, Pambujan, San Antonio, San Isidro, San Jose, and San Roque. Following the split, Calbayog became part of Western Samar, while the remaining municipalities formed Northern Samar, with each new province gaining distinct representation. It is currently represented in the 18th Congress by Stephen James T. Tan of the Nacionalista Party (NP).
Samar's 2nd congressional district is one of the two congressional districts of the Philippines in the province of Samar. It has been represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 1916 and earlier in the Philippine Assembly from 1907 to 1916. The district consists of the provincial capital city of Catbalogan and adjacent municipalities of Basey, Calbiga, Daram, Hinabangan, Jiabong, Marabut, Motiong, Paranas, Pinabacdao, San Jose de Buan, San Sebastian, Santa Rita, Talalora, Villareal and Zumarraga. Prior to its second dissolution in 1965 due to the split of the historical province of Samar, it consisted of the old province's western portion that is now known as Samar, except Catbalogan, which was part of the 1st district. It is currently represented in the 19th Congress by Reynolds Michael Tan of the Lakas–CMD.
Samar's 3rd congressional district was one of the three congressional districts of the Philippines in the province of Samar in existence between 1907 and 1965. It was created under the Philippine Organic Act from former territories of the province. The district was originally composed of the municipalities of Balangiga, Borongan, Dolores, Guiuan, Llorente, Oras, San Julian, Sulat and Taft which now constitute the province of Eastern Samar. It was a single-member district throughout the ten legislatures of the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands from 1907 to 1935, the three legislatures of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, and the first five congresses of the Third Philippine Republic from 1946 to 1965.
Eastern Samar's at-large congressional district is the sole congressional district of the Philippines in the province of Eastern Samar. Also known as Eastern Samar's lone district, it has been represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 1965. It first elected a representative provincewide at-large for the 6th Congress of the Third Philippine Republic following its creation and that of Northern Samar as regular provinces separate from Samar under Republic Act No. 4221 on June 19, 1965. It has remained a single-member district for the House of Representatives as well as the Fourth Philippine Republic parliament known as the Regular Batasang Pambansa from 1984 to 1986.
Northern Samar's at-large congressional district was a short-lived congressional district that encompassed the entire province of Northern Samar in the Philippines. It was represented in the House of Representatives from 1965 to 1972 and in the Batasang Pambansa from 1984 to 1986. The province of Northern Samar was created as a result of the partition of Samar in 1965 and elected its first representative provincewide at-large during that year's House elections. Before 1965, the territory of Northern Samar comprised most of Samar's 1st congressional district whose representative during the partition, Eladio T. Balite, also served as the new province's first representative. A special election was held two years later in 1967 concurrent with that year's Senate election following Balite's death, with the province electing Eusebio Moore to serve his remaining term in the 6th Congress.
Samar's at-large congressional district was the provincewide electoral district for Philippine national legislatures in both the undivided province of Samar before its 1965 partition and the western third that adopted its name which was created as a result of that division from 1965 to 1986.
Five special elections to the House of Representatives of the Philippines, the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines, were held on November 14, 1967, along with the 1967 Philippine Senate election and the 1967 Philippine constitutional plebiscite. These were for vacancies in the 6th Congress of the Philippines; the winners were to serve the rest of the term, which had ended on December 30, 1969. Political parties were allowed to field multiple candidates per district; the Nacionalista Party won in all districts.