Background
In 2007, Republic Act No. 9495 was proposed to further divide Quezon into Quezon del Norte and Quezon del Sur. Quezon del Norte was to be composed of the first and second congressional districts of the province (Burdeos, General Nakar, Infanta, Jomalig, Lucban, Mauban, Pagbilao, Panukulan, Patnanungan, Polillo, Real, Sampaloc, Tayabas, Candelaria, Dolores, San Antonio, Sariaya, Tiaong and Lucena City), with Lucena City as its capital. Quezon del Sur, with its capital at Gumaca, would have been composed of the third and fourth congressional districts (Agdangan, Buenavista, Catanauan, General Luna, Macalelon, Mulanay, Padre Burgos, Pitogo, San Andres, San Francisco, San Narciso, Unisan, Alabat, Atimonan, Calauag, Guinayangan, Gumaca, Lopez, Perez, Plaridel, Quezon and Tagkawayan). The act lapsed into law without the signature of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on September 7, 2007.
As required by law, the COMELEC held a plebiscite on December 13, 2008, 60 days after Republic Act No. 9495 took effect. Gov. Rafael Nantes, one of the original authors of the law, and Vice Gov. Carlos Portes, opposed the division of the province. Board member Sonny Pulgar and businessman Hobart Dator Jr. launched the "Save Quezon Province Movement." The Comelec allotted P 50 million for the plebiscite. [2] Academician Prof. Joseph Jadway "JJ" Marasigan provided what he called the "strong theoretical framework" that deemed the said split as a step backward. He instead called for the professionalization of service institutions and the differentiation of functions as the answer to the province's increasingly becoming complex environment. He organized students and fellow academicians to oppose such move. His participation resulted in a grave misunderstanding with Lucena Catholic Bishop Emilio Marquez who strongly supported the idea of splitting the province. Marasigan maintained that bishops have no business in dealing with entirely political matters and should refrain from using their influence over their flock. Gov. Rafael Nantes later softened his stand against the proposed creation of Quezon del Sur. [3] Accordingly, upon request of Comelec Chair Jose Melo, a P38 million "Special Allotment Release Order" was issued by the Department of Budget and Management to the Commission on Elections (Philippines) to fund the holding of the plebiscite. [4]
On November 17, 2008, Save Quezon Province Movement (SQPM) asked the Supreme Court of the Philippines to declare Republic Act 9495 as unconstitutional, and to restrain the implementation of a November 12 COMELEC Resolutions Nos. 8533, 8534, 8535, 8537, 8538 and 8539, [5] setting the plebiscite. [6] [7] Yet the plebiscite proceeded with the majority of votes rejecting the division, therefore the split did not push through.
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.
Gumaca, officially the Municipality of Gumaca, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 71,942 people.
Unisan, officially the Municipality of Unisan, is a 4th class municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 25,448 people.
The Bondoc Peninsula is located in the southeastern part of Quezon Province in Calabarzon Region, southern part of Luzon Island, Philippines. The peninsula consists of 13 municipalities: Agdangan, Buenavista, Catanauan, General Luna, Gumaca, Macalelon, Mulanay, Padre Burgos, Pitogo, San Andres, San Francisco, San Narciso and Unisan, all in the 3rd Congressional District of Quezon.
Lamon Bay is a large bay in the southern part of Luzon island in the Philippines. It is a body of water connecting the southern part of Quezon province to the Philippine Sea, a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It borders on the coastal towns of Atimonan, Gumaca, Plaridel, Lopez, Calauag, and the islands of Alabat.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lucena is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines with the seat in Lucena City. The Roman Rite Latin Church diocese was erected in 1950 from the Archdiocese of Lipa to become a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese. In 1977, the Diocese of Boac, which covers the parishes in the island-province of Marinduque, was created and separated from Lucena. In 1984, the Diocese of Lucena was further divided with the creation of the Diocese of Gumaca, which covers the municipalities of Quezon province east of Gumaca, Quezon.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gumaca is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Philippines centered in the Municipality of Gumaca in Quezon province. The Roman Rite Latin Church diocese covers the communities of Gumaca; Pitogo, due south of Gumaca; and all the parishes of eastern Quezon province situated east of Gumaca and Pitogo. The Gumaca diocese was erected in 1984, carved out from the Diocese of Lucena. Both dioceses are suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lipa.
Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon, is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of the province. It was later renamed Tayabas. In honor of the former governor of the province who later became the second president of the Philippines and the first to be freely elected, Manuel L. Quezon, the province’s name was then changed to Quezon. Lucena, the provincial capital, seat of the provincial government, and the most populous city of the province, is governed independently from the province as a highly urbanized city. To distinguish the province from Quezon City, it is sometimes called Quezon Province.
Rolando Andaya Highway, officially known as Quirino Highway and also known as Camarines Sur–Quezon Road, is a national primary highway located in the provinces of Camarines Norte, Quezon, and Camarines Sur in the Philippines. It serves as an alternative route to the Pan-Philippine Highway and has been efficiently used as a major highway since the 1990s. It traverses the municipality of Santa Elena in Camarines Norte, municipalities of Sipocot, Lupi, Ragay, and Del Gallego in Camarines Sur, and the municipalities of Tagkawayan, Guinayangan, and Calauag in Quezon. It is primarily known as Andaya Highway in segments within Camarines Sur and likewise called as Quirino Highway within Camarines Norte and Quezon.
Local elections were held in the province of Quezon on May 13, 2013 as part of the 2013 general election. Voters will select candidates for all local positions: a town mayor, vice mayor and town councilors, as well as members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the vice-governor, governor and representatives for the four districts of Quezon.
Emilio Z. Marquez is the former bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lucena. He previously served as the first Bishop of Gumaca in Quezon province from January 29, 1985 until his appointment as Coadjutor Bishop of Lucena and Apostolic Administrator of Gumaca on May 4, 2002. After the resignation of Bishop Bishop Ruben T. Profugo in 2003, Bishop Marquez was installed as the fourth Bishop of Lucena on November 4, 2003. He is also the Chairman & CEO of Mount Carmel Diocesan General Hospital in Lucena City, Quezon. He later retired as Bishop of Lucena and was succeeded by Fr. Mel Rey Uy, the economer of Romblon Diocese, on July 29, 2017.
National Route 1 (N1) is a primary national route that forms part of the Philippine highway network, running from Luzon to Mindanao. Except for a 19-kilometer (12 mi) gap in Metro Manila and ferry connections, the highway is generally continuous. Most sections of N1 forms the Pan-Philippine Highway except for sections bypassed by expressways.
Local elections was held in the Province of Quezon on May 13, 2019 as part of the 2019 general election. Voters selected candidates for all local positions: a town mayor, vice mayor and town councilors, as well as members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the vice-governor, governor and representatives for the four districts of Quezon.
The Palawan division plebiscite was a plebiscite held in the province of Palawan, Philippines on March 13, 2021. As required by Republic Act No. 11259, the plebiscite was conducted to consent the residents of Palawan on the proposal to divide the province into three separate provinces: Palawan del Norte, Palawan del Sur, and Palawan Oriental.
Quezon's 1st congressional district is one of the four congressional districts of the Philippines in the province of Quezon, formerly Tayabas. 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 Quezon's former capital city of Tayabas and adjacent municipalities of Burdeos, General Nakar, Infanta, Jomalig, Lucban, Mauban, Pagbilao, Panukulan, Patnanungan, Polillo, Real and Sampaloc. It is currently represented in the 19th Congress by Wilfrido Mark M. Enverga of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC).
Quezon's 4th congressional district is one of the four congressional districts of the Philippines in the province of Quezon, formerly Tayabas. It has been represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 1987. The district consists of municipalities in the Tayabas Isthmus and Alabat Island, namely Alabat, Atimonan, Calauag, Guinayangan, Gumaca, Lopez, Perez, Plaridel, Quezon and Tagkawayan. It is currently represented in the 19th Congress by Keith Micah Tan of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC).
The 3rd Congressional District of Quezon, also known as the Bondoc Peninsula, is one of the four congressional districts of the Philippines in the province of Quezon, formerly Tayabas. It has been represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 1987. The district consists of municipalities in the Bondoc Peninsula, the southern part of Tayabas Isthmus and southwest coast of Ragay Gulf, namely Agdangan, Buenavista, Catanauan, General Luna, Macalelon, Mulanay, Padre Burgos, Pitogo, San Andres, San Francisco, San Narciso and Unisan. It is currently represented in the 19th Congress by Reynante Arrogancia of the Reporma in July 2022, and later joined the Nationalist People's Coalition.
The Roma Point Bridge, is a 1.7 km (1.1 mi) cable-stayed bridge under construction between the towns of Quezon and Calauag in Quezon, Philippines. The bridge will connect Alabat Island and its three municipalities of Perez, Alabat, and Quezon with the rest of Luzon Island, which are separated by the Silangan Pass. Once completed, it will be the longest bridge in Quezon Province and the Calabarzon Region.
Local elections were held in the Province of Quezon on May 9, 2022, as part of the 2022 general election. Voters will select candidates for all local positions: a town mayor, vice mayor and town councilors, as well as members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the vice-governor, governor and representatives for the four districts of Quezon.
