Zamboanga's at-large congressional district

Not to be confused with Zamboanga City's at-large congressional district.

Zamboanga's at-large congressional district may refer to several occasions when a provincewide at-large district was used for elections to the various Philippine national legislatures from the undivided province of Zamboanga.

The Spanish colonial province of Zamboanga was represented in the Malolos Congress following its reorganization in 1898 for the National Assembly of the First Philippine Republic.[1] Three representatives from Luzon were appointed by the assembly to represent the province, namely Felipe Buencamino and Lázaro Tañedo from Tarlac, and Tomás Mascardo from Pampanga.[2] After the fall of the First Republic, the province was abolished with its territory reduced to a district annexed to Moro Province under U.S. civilian rule in 1903.[3] Moro Province was unrepresented in the Philippine Assembly.[4]

Provincial government was re-established in Zamboanga in 1914 but was not entitled to its own representation in the national legislature.[5] Instead, it remained a part of the larger constituency of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu under the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes whose representatives were appointed by the Governor General beginning in 1916. In 1934, following the passage of the Tydings–McDuffie Act, Zamboanga elected its own delegate for the first time to the 1934 Philippine Constitutional Convention which was charged with the drafting of a new constitution for the Commonwealth of the Philippines.[6] The province then began to send a representative to the Commonwealth National Assembly from its single-member at-large district created under the 1935 constitution.[7]

Zamboanga was also represented in the Second Republic National Assembly during the Pacific War. It also elected a representative to the restored House of Representatives and to the first two congresses of the Third Philippine Republic. It was last represented by Roseller T. Lim. After the 1952 partition of Zamboanga, the district was abolished and replaced by Zamboanga del Norte's and Zamboanga del Sur's at-large districts.[4]

Representation history

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

Zamboanga's at-large district for the Malolos Congress

District created June 18, 1898.[1]
– September 15, 1898 March 23, 1901 1st Felipe Buencamino Independent Appointed. Tomás Mascardo Independent Appointed. Lázaro Tañedo Independent Appointed.
# Term of office National
Assembly 		Single seat Seats eliminated
Start End Member Party Electoral history

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

District re-created February 8, 1935.[7]
1 September 16, 1935 December 30, 1941 1st Juan S. Alano Nacionalista
Democrático 		Elected in 1935.
2nd Nacionalista Re-elected in 1938.
# Term of office National
Assembly 		Seat A Seat B Seats restored
Start End Member Party Electoral history Member Party Electoral history

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

District re-created September 7, 1943.[8]
– September 25, 1943 February 2, 1944 1st Juan S. Alano KALIBAPI Elected in 1943. Agustín L. Álvarez KALIBAPI Appointed as an ex officio member.
# Term of office Common
wealth
Congress 		Single seat Seats eliminated
Start End Member Party Electoral history

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

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

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

(1) May 25, 1946 December 30, 1949 1st Juan S. Alano Liberal Elected in 1946.
3 December 30, 1949 December 30, 1953 2nd Roseller T. Lim Nacionalista Elected in 1949.
Redistricted to Zamboanga del Sur's at-large district.
District dissolved into Zamboanga del Norte's and Zamboanga del Sur's at-large districts.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Decree of June 18, 1898, establishing the Dictatorial Government" (PDF). Official Gazette (Philippines). Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  2. ^ "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 February 18, 2021.
  3. ^ Act No. 787 (June 1, 1903), An Act Providing for the Organization and Government of the Moro Province, retrieved February 18, 2021
  4. ^ a b "Roster of Philippine legislators". House of Representatives of the Philippines. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  5. ^ Act No. 2408 (July 23, 1914), n act providing a temporary form of government for the territory known as the Department of Mindanao and Sulu, making applicable thereto, with certain exceptions, the provisions of general laws now in force in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes, Lawyerly, retrieved February 18, 2021
  6. ^ Act No. 4125 (May 26, 1934), An Act to Provide for the Election and Holding of the Constitutional Convention Authorized by the Act of the Congress of the United States of March Twenty-fourth, Nineteen Hundred and Thirty-four, Appropriate Funds Therefor, and for Other Purposes, retrieved February 18, 2021
  7. ^ a b "The 1935 Constitution". Official Gazette (Philippines). Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  8. ^ "The 1943 Constitution". Official Gazette (Philippines). Retrieved February 18, 2021.