Congressional districts of the Philippines (Filipino: distritong pangkapulungan) refers to the electoral districts or constituencies in which the country is divided for the purpose of electing 254 of the 317 members of the House of Representatives (with the other 63 being elected through a system of party-list proportional representation). The country is currently divided into 254 congressional districts, also known as legislative districts or representative districts, with each one representing at least 250,000 people or one entire province. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines initially provided for a maximum 200 congressional districts or 80 percent of the maximum 250 seats for the lower house, with the remaining 20 percent or 50 seats allotted for sectoral or party-list representatives.[1] This number has since been revised with the enactment of several laws creating more districts pursuant to the 1991 Local Government Code.[2]
Philippine congressional districts are contiguous and compact territories composed of adjacent local government units where practicable. They are single-member districts which return one member each to the lower chamber, elected to serve a maximum of three consecutive three-year terms through a first-past-the-post voting system.[1] The Philippine Statistics Authority conducts a constitutionally mandated quinquennial census whose figures are used to determine the number of congressional districts to which each province or city is entitled, in a process called apportionment.
There are currently 243 congressional districts in the Philippines. Voting representatives are elected from these districts to the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines every three years. In 1946, there were originally 98 congressional districts, this number increased to 200 after the 1987 constitution was created and new redistricting articles were mandated.[3]
Apportionment
The Philippines constitution mandates a nationwide reapportionment of setting boundaries for legislative districts; however, the legislature has not approved a reapportionment bill since 1987.[4] Following the ‘one person, one vote’ doctrine, political territories are expected to be symmetric and have limited variance in the size of its constituencies. However, many new districts have been created that defy the basic requisites for redistricting as the constitution fails to clearly expound the due process for apportionment and redistricting.[5] This has resulted in unequal representation in districts such as Calacoon City, and Batanes being represented by one legislator each, despite containing populations of 1.2 million and 17 000 people respectively.
Philippine's 243 congressional districts are composed of territories within provinces, cities and municipalities. From an American perspective, provinces are equivalent to states, and below that is the city/municipality which is equivalent to a city/town in the United States. Provinces are represented by governors and can be split into multiple congressional districts, each of which elects a congressman. Provincial governors allocate resources and control patronage in municipalities across all congressional districts in the province, thus have greater exposure and power than a representative from a single district.[6]
Delimitation
There has been no official delimitation process in the Philippines since the 1987 constitution's ratification.[7] As per Article 6 of the constitution, the requisites for creation of a legislative district are as follows:
Should comprise territories that are practicably contiguous, compact and adjacent.
Contiguous territory of at least 2,000 square kilometres, as certified by the Lands Management Bureau.
A population of at least 250,000 inhabitants as certified by the National Statistics office.
Since 1987, 43 districts have been newly added due to the creation of new cities and provinces, sundering from existing provinces, and piecemeal redistricting. As incumbents control the institutions that determine the rules for redistricting, many of the congressional districts are allegedly gerrymandered to ensure the elite persistence of select families that form the Philippines' political dynasties.[8][9] This is illustrated by the Marcos family which remained in power from 1987 to 2008 in almost 50 congressional districts, despite term limits.[10]
↑ Thompson, M. (2016). Southeast Asia's Subversive Voters A Philippine Perspective. Philippine Studies: Historical & Ethnographic Viewpoints, 64(2), 265–287. Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26621963
↑ Bickerstaff, S. Election systems and gerrymandering worldwide (p. 112). Springer.
↑ Abramowitz, Alan (1991) "Incumbency, Campaign Spending and the Decline of Competition in U.S. Elections", Journal of Politics, 53(1): 34–56.
↑ Querubin, Pablo. (2011). Political Reform and Elite Persistence: Term Limits and Political Dynasties in the Philippines. Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.
↑ Acemoglu, Daron and James A. Robinson (2008) "Persistence of Power, Elites, and Institutions", American Economic Review, 98(1), March.
↑ "List of Provinces". PSGC Interactive. National Statistical Coordination Board. Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
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