Sulu's at-large congressional district

Sulu's at-large congressional district may refer to several instances when a provincewide at-large district was used for elections to Philippine national legislatures from the province of Sulu before 1987.

The single-member district was first created ahead of the 1935 Philippine legislative election following the 1934 constitutional convention where voters had been selected in electing a delegate for the province.[1] Sulu had been admitted as a special province under the Department of Mindanao and Sulu since 1914 but was only previously represented through a multi-member delegation appointed by the Governor General covering all of Mindanao territory except Misamis and Surigao beginning in 1916.[2] The district encompassed the entire territory of the Jolo and Tawi-Tawi island groups that was formerly known as the Sulu District and which was previously organized under Moro Province in 1903 from the same Spanish politico-military district (Distrito de Jolo) that existed since the Madrid Protocol of 1885.[3] The Spanish district of Jolo was earlier represented in the Malolos Congress of the nascent First Philippine Republic by two delegates from Luzon.[4]

Datu Ombra Amilbangsa of the Nacionalista Democrático was elected as the district's first representative in 1935 by a select group of electors composed of municipal and municipal district presidents, vice-presidents and councilors, among others.[5][6] The first time a representative from the province was elected through popular vote was during the succeeding 1938 Philippine legislative election after the passage of Commonwealth Act No. 44 in 1936 which removed the restrictions on qualified voters in the former Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes-designated jurisdiction.[7]

Sulu was also represented in the Second Republic National Assembly by two members during the Pacific War. It reverted to single-member representation for the restored Commonwealth and subsequent Third Republic House of Representatives. It continued to elect representatives until the dissolution of Congress in 1972. Following a shift to parliamentary system, districts were replaced by multi-member regional constituencies where Sulu, reduced to the Jolo island group following the separation of Tawi-Tawi in 1973, was represented as part of Region IX's at-large district.[8] When provincial and city district representation was restored in 1984, Sulu was represented by one assemblyman, with a separate representation created for Tawi-Tawi.[9][5] It was made obsolete by the 1987 reapportionment that established two districts in the province under a new constitution.[10]

Representation history

# Term of office National
Assembly 		Seat A Seat B
Start End Member Party Electoral history Member Party Electoral history

Jolo's at-large district for the Malolos Congress

District created June 18, 1898.[4][11]
– September 15, 1898 March 23, 1901 1st Benito Legarda Independent Appointed. Victor Papa Independent Appointed.
# Term of office National
Assembly 		Single seat Seats eliminated
Start End Member Party Electoral history

Sulu's at-large district for the National Assembly (Commonwealth of the Philippines)

District re-created February 8, 1935.[1]
1 September 16, 1935 December 30, 1938 1st Ombra Amilbangsa Nacionalista
Democrático 		Elected in 1935.
2 December 30, 1938 December 30, 1941 2nd Gulamu Rasul Nacionalista Elected in 1938.
# Term of office National
Assembly 		Seat A Seat B
Start End Member Party Electoral history Member Party Electoral history

Sulu's at-large district for the National Assembly (Second Philippine Republic)

District re-created September 7, 1943.[12]
– September 25, 1943 February 2, 1944 1st Gulamu Rasul KALIBAPI Elected in 1943. Ombra Amilbangsa KALIBAPI Appointed as an ex officio member.
# Term of office Common
wealth
Congress 		Single seat Seats eliminated
Start End Member Party Electoral history

Sulu's at-large district for the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of the Philippines

District re-created May 24, 1945.
(1) June 9, 1945 May 25, 1946 1st Ombra Amilbangsa Nacionalista Elected in 1941.
# Term of office Congress Single seat
Start End Member Party Electoral history

Sulu's at-large district for the House of Representatives of the Philippines

(1) May 25, 1946 December 30, 1949 1st Ombra Amilbangsa Liberal Re-elected in 1946.
(2) December 30, 1949 May 5, 1951 2nd Gulamu Rasul Nacionalista Elected in 1949.
Election annulled by House electoral tribunal after an electoral protest.
(1) May 5, 1951 December 30, 1961 Ombra Amilbangsa Liberal Declared winner of 1949 elections.
3rd Re-elected in 1953.
4th Re-elected in 1957.
3 December 30, 1961 April 23, 1969 5th Salih Ututalum Nacionalista Elected in 1961.
6th Liberal Re-elected in 1965.
Election annulled by House electoral tribunal after an electoral protest.
4 April 23, 1969 September 23, 1972 Indanan M. Anni Nacionalista Declared winner of 1965 elections.
7th Re-elected in 1969.
Removed from office after imposition of martial law.
District dissolved into the eight-seat Region IX's at-large district for the Interim Batasang Pambansa.
# Term of office Batasang
Pambansa 		Single seat
Start End Member Party Electoral history

Sulu's at-large district for the Regular Batasang Pambansa

District re-created February 1, 1984.[13]
5 July 23, 1984 March 25, 1986 2nd Hussin T. Loong KBL Elected in 1984.
District dissolved into Sulu's 1st and 2nd districts.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The 1935 Constitution". Official Gazette (Philippines). Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  2. ^ "Act No. 2408, (1914-07-23)". Lawyerly. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  3. ^ "Act No. 787, (1903-06-01)". Lawyerly. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "The Malolos Congress: A Centennial publication on the inauguration of the Philippine Republic (January 23, 1899 - January 3, 1999)". National Historical Commission of the Philippines. 1999. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Roster of Philippine legislators". House of Representatives of the Philippines. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  6. ^ "Act No. 4125, (1934-05-26)". Lawyerly. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  7. ^ "Commonwealth Act No. 44". Official Gazette (Philippines). 13 October 1936. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  8. ^ "Presidential Decree No. 302". Arellano Law Foundation. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  9. ^ "Batas Pambansa Blg. 660, (1984-03-07)". Lawyerly. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  10. ^ "The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines". Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  11. ^ "Decree of June 18, 1898, establishing the Dictatorial Government" (PDF). Official Gazette (Philippines). Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  12. ^ "The 1943 Constitution". Official Gazette (Philippines). Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  13. ^ "Proclamation No. 2332, s. 1984". Official Gazette (Philippines). February 1984. Retrieved March 8, 2021.