Legislative districts of Zamboanga del Sur

The legislative districts of Zamboanga del Sur are the representations of the province of Zamboanga del Sur 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.

History

Further information: Legislative district of Mindanao and Sulu and Legislative district of Zamboanga

Prior to gaining separate representation, areas now under the jurisdiction of Zamboanga del Sur were represented under the Department of Mindanao and Sulu (1917–1935) and the historical Zamboanga Province (1935–1953).

The enactment of Republic Act No. 711 on June 6, 1952 divided the old Zamboanga Province into Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur and provided them each with a congressional representative.[1] Per Section 7 of Republic Act No. 711, the chartered cities of Zamboanga and Basilan formed part of Zamboanga del Sur's representation.[1] The province, along with the two cities, first elected its representative starting in the 1953 elections. Even after receiving its own city charter on June 21, 1969, Pagadian remained part of the representation of the Province of Zamboanga del Sur by virtue of Section 108 of Republic Act No. 5478.[2]

Zamboanga del Sur was represented in the Interim Batasang Pambansa as part of Region IX from 1978 to 1984. The province returned three representatives, elected at-large, to the Regular Batasang Pambansa in 1984. Basilan (established as a province in 1973) and Zamboanga City (classified as a highly urbanized city in 1983) separately elected their representatives starting that year.

Zamboanga del Sur was reapportioned into three congressional districts under the new Constitution[3] which was proclaimed on February 11, 1987, and elected members to the restored House of Representatives starting that same year.

The passage of Republic Act No. 8973 and its subsequent ratification by plebiscite on February 22, 2001 separated Zamboanga del Sur's entire third district to create the new province of Zamboanga Sibugay.[4] Per Section 7 of Republic Act No. 8973, Zamboanga del Sur's representation was reduced to two districts.[4] The former third district first elected a representative under the designation Lone congressional district of Zamboanga Sibugay beginning in the 2001 election.

The now-defunct 3rd district automatically became the representation of Zamboanga Sibugay upon its establishment in February 2001, but it was in May 2001 that this new province first elected a representative under its own name.

1st District

• City: Pagadian
• Municipalities: Aurora, Dumingag, Josefina, Labangan, Mahayag, Midsalip, Molave, Ramon Magsaysay, Sominot, Tambulig, Tukuran
• Population (2020): 630,154[5]

Period	Representative[6]
8th Congress 1987–1992	Isidoro E. Real, Jr.
9th Congress 1992–1995	Alejandro S. Urro
10th Congress 1995–1998
11th Congress 1998–2001
12th Congress 2001–2004	Isidoro E. Real, Jr.
13th Congress 2004–2007
14th Congress 2007–2010	Victor J. Yu
15th Congress 2010–2013
16th Congress 2013–2016
17th Congress 2016–2019	Divina Grace C. Yu
18th Congress 2019–2022
19th Congress 2022–2025

2nd District

• Municipalities: Bayog, Dimataling, Dinas, Dumalinao, Guipos (established 1991) , Kumalarang, Lakewood, Lapuyan, Margosatubig, Pitogo, San Miguel, San Pablo, Tabina, Tigbao (established 1991), Vincenzo Sagun
• Population (2020): 420,514[5]

Period	Representative[6]
8th Congress 1987–1992	Antonio H. Cerilles
9th Congress 1992–1995
10th Congress 1995–1998
11th Congress 1998–2001	Aurora E. Cerilles
12th Congress 2001–2004	Filomena S. San Juan
13th Congress 2004–2007	Antonio H. Cerilles
14th Congress 2007–2010
15th Congress 2010–2013	Aurora E. Cerilles
16th Congress 2013–2016
17th Congress 2016–2019
18th Congress 2019–2022	Leonardo L. Babasa, Jr.
19th Congress 2022–2025	Jeyzel Victoria C. Yu

3rd District (defunct)

See also: Legislative district of Zamboanga Sibugay

• Municipalities: Alicia, Buug, Diplahan, Imelda, Ipil, Kabasalan, Mabuhay, Malangas, Naga, Olutanga, Payao, Roseller T. Lim, Siay, Talusan, Titay, Tungawan

Period	Representative[6]
8th Congress 1987–1992	Wilfredo G. Cainglet
9th Congress 1992–1995	Belma A. Cabilao
10th Congress 1995–1998
11th Congress 1998–2001	George T. Hofer

Lone District (defunct)

• includes Zamboanga City, and the present-day provinces of Basilan and Zamboanga Sibugay

Period	Representative[6]
3rd Congress 1953–1957	Roseller T. Lim[a]
	vacant
4th Congress 1957–1961	Canuto M.S. Enerio
5th Congress 1961–1965	Vincenzo A. Sagun
6th Congress 1965–1969
7th Congress 1969–1972	Vicente M. Cerilles

Notes

1. Elected in 1955 to the Senate;[6] seat remained vacant until the end of 3rd Congress.

At-Large (defunct)

• includes the present-day province of Zamboanga Sibugay

Period	Representatives[6]
Regular Batasang Pambansa 1984–1986	Vicente M. Cerilles
	Bienvenido A. Ebarle
	Alfredo Genaro C. Quintos

See also

• Legislative district of Mindanao and Sulu
• Legislative district of Zamboanga
  • Legislative district of Basilan
  • Legislative districts of Zamboanga City
  • Legislative districts of Zamboanga Sibugay

References

1. Congress of the Philippines (June 6, 1952). "Republic Act No. 711 - An Act to Create the Provinces of Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur". Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
2. Congress of the Philippines (June 21, 1969). "Republic Act No. 5478 – An Act Creating the City of Pagadian". Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
3. 1986 Constitutional Commission (February 2, 1987). "1987 Constitution of the Philippines - Apportionment Ordinance". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
4. Congress of the Philippines (November 7, 2000). "Republic Act No. 8973 - An Act Creating the Province of Zamboanga Sibugay from the Province of Zamboanga del Sur and for Other Purposes". The Corpus Juris. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
5. "TABLE 1. Population of legislative districts by Region, Province, and selected Highly Urbanized/Component City : 2020" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
6. Congressional Library Bureau. "Roster of Philippine Legislators". Republic of the Philippines, House of Representatives. Retrieved February 7, 2017.