The legislative districts of Mountain Province are the representations of Mountain Province 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 lone congressional district.
The present-day provincesofApayao, Benguet, Ifugao and Kalinga, as well as the highly urbanized cityofBaguio, formed part of the old (pre-division) Mountain Province's representation until 1969. Since 1969, the representation of Mountain Province has been confined only to the limits of the former sub-province of Bontoc.
Initially being excluded from representation in the lower house of the Philippine Legislature in 1907, the then non-Christian-majority areas of the Philippines — which included the undivided Mountain Province — were finally extended legislative representation with the passage of the Philippine Autonomy Act in 1916 by the United States Congress. The Revised Administrative Code (Act No. 2711) enacted on March 10, 1917, further elaborated on the manner by which these areas would be represented.[1] The non-Christian areas were to be collectively represented in the upper house's 12th senatorial district by two senators, both appointed by the Governor-General.[1] Three assembly members, also appointed by the Governor-General, were to represent the Mountain Province and the chartered cityofBaguio in the lower house as a single at-large district. The appointment of these members of the Legislature did not require the consent of the upper house; the appointive legislators were also not necessarily required to be residents of the areas they represented.[2] For example, Assemblyman Pedro Aunario, a resident of Manila,[3] and Senator Lope K. Santos, a resident of Rizal, were among the representatives of the Mountain Province.
Despite several of the Mountain Province's municipalities and municipal districts being annexed to the neighboring provinces of Ilocos Sur (in 1920), La Union (in 1920) and Cagayan (in 1922 and 1928), voters in these areas were still represented by the three assembly members of the Mountain Province, and two senators of the twelfth senatorial district. Only starting in 1935 were these voters extended the right to participate in electing representatives of their respective new provinces, when Act No. 4203 assigned them to specific districts for the purposes of electing members of the unicameral National Assembly of the Philippines.[4]
Act No. 4203 also abolished the senatorial district system and made the Mountain Province's representation to the National Assembly elective through popular vote; the law divided the province into three districts with definite territorial composition.[4] The only sub-province which belonged to more than one district was Bontoc: the eastern portion consisting of the present-day municipalities of Barlig, Bontoc, Paracelis, Natonin, Sabangan, Sadanga and Sagada were represented as part of the undivided province's first district, while the western portion which formerly belonged to the now-defunct Lepanto sub-province (Bauko, Besao and Tadian) were represented as part of the third district.
During the Second World War, the Mountain Province sent two delegates to the National Assembly of the Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic: one was the provincial governor (anex officio member), while the other was elected through a provincial assembly of KALIBAPI members during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Baguio, being a chartered city, was represented separately in this short-lived legislative body. Upon the restoration of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1945, district representation was restored to the pre-war setup: the sub-province of Bontoc remained split between the first and third districts, and the independent city of Baguio remained part of the second district.
The enactment of Republic Act No. 4695 on June 18, 1966, made the sub-province of Bontoc into a full-fledged province that retained the name "Mountain Province."[5] Per Section 10 of R.A. 4695 the three incumbent representatives of pre-division Mountain Province continued to serve their respective districts until the end of the 6th Congress.[5]
The new (post-division) Mountain Province began electing its lone representativein1969. The province was represented as part of Region I from 1978 to 1984, and returned one representative, elected at-large, to the Regular Batasang Pambansain1984.
Under the new Constitution which was proclaimed on February 11, 1987, Mountain Province constituted a lone congressional district,[6] and elected its member to the restored House of Representatives starting that same year.
| Period | Representative[8] |
|---|---|
| 7th Congress 1969–1972 |
Alfredo G. Lamen |
| 8th Congress 1987–1992 |
Victor S. Dominguez |
| 9th Congress 1992–1995 | |
| 10th Congress 1995–1998 | |
| 11th Congress 1998–2001 |
Josephine D. Dominguez |
| 12th Congress 2001–2004 |
Roy S. Pilando |
| 13th Congress 2004–2007 |
Victor S. Dominguez[a] |
| 14th Congress 2007–2010 | |
| vacant[b] | |
| 15th Congress 2010–2013 |
Maximo B. Dalog[c] |
| 16th Congress 2013–2016 | |
| 17th Congress 2016–2019 | |
| vacant[d] | |
| 18th Congress 2019–2022 |
Maximo Y. Dalog Jr. |
| 19th Congress 2022–2025 |
Notes
| Period | Representative[8] |
|---|---|
| 1st National Assembly 1935–1938 |
Saturnino Moldero |
| 2nd National Assembly 1938–1941 | |
| 1st Commonwealth Congress 1945 |
George K. Tait |
| 1st Congress 1946–1949 | |
| 2nd Congress 1949–1953 |
Antonio Canao |
| 3rd Congress 1953–1957 |
Juan Bondad |
| 4th Congress 1957–1961 |
Juan M. Duyan |
| 5th Congress 1961–1965 |
Alfredo G. Lamen[a] |
| Juan M. Duyan[b] | |
| 6th Congress 1965–1969 | |
| vacant |
Notes
| Period | Representative[8] |
|---|---|
| 1st National Assembly 1935–1938 |
Felipe E. Jose |
| 2nd National Assembly 1938–1941 |
Ramon P. Mitra |
| 1st Commonwealth Congress 1945 | |
| 1st Congress 1946–1949 |
Jose Mencio |
| 2nd Congress 1949–1953 |
Dennis Molintas[b] |
| Ramon P. Mitra[c] | |
| 3rd Congress 1953–1957 | |
| 4th Congress 1957–1961 | |
| 5th Congress 1961–1965 | |
| 6th Congress 1965–1969 |
Andres A. Cosalan |
Notes
| Period | Representative[8] |
|---|---|
| 1st National Assembly 1935–1938 |
George K. Tait |
| 2nd National Assembly 1938–1941 |
Miguel Gumangan |
| 1st Commonwealth Congress 1945 |
Gregorio Marrero[a] |
| 1st Congress 1946–1949 |
Gabriel Dunuan |
| 2nd Congress 1949–1953 | |
| 3rd Congress 1953–1957 |
Luis Hora |
| 4th Congress 1957–1961 | |
| 5th Congress 1961–1965 | |
| 6th Congress 1965–1969 |
Notes
| Period | Representatives[8] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 4th Philippine Legislature 1916–1919[b] |
Rafael Bulayungan | Juan Cariño | Valentin Manglapus |
| 5th Philippine Legislature 1919–1922 |
Pedro Aunario | ||
| 6th Philippine Legislature 1922–1925 |
Joaquin Codamon | Miguel Cornejo[c] | Henry A. Kamora |
| Juan Cailles[d] | |||
| 7th Philippine Legislature 1925–1928 |
Saturnino Moldero | ||
| 8th Philippine Legislature 1928–1931 |
Clement F. Irving | ||
| 9th Philippine Legislature 1931–1934 |
Hilary P. Clapp | Juan Gaerlan | Henry A. Kamora |
| 10th Philippine Legislature 1934–1935 |
Emiliano P. Aguirre | Felix P. Diaz | Rodolfo Hidalgo |
Notes
| Period | Representatives[8] |
|---|---|
| National Assembly 1943–1944 |
Florencio Bagwan[14] |
| Hilary P. Clapp (ex officio)[14] |
| Period | Representative[8] |
|---|---|
| Regular Batasang Pambansa 1984–1986 |
Victor S. Dominguez |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
