Cotabato's at-large congressional district may refer to several instances when a provincewide

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

district was used for elections to Philippine national legislatures from the formerly undivided province of

Cotabato Cotabato, formerly and still commonly referred to as North Cotabato and officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Soccsksargen Regions of the Philippines, regi ...

before 1987. The

single-member district A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

was first created ahead of the

1935 Philippine legislative election Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's Colonial empire, co ...

following the 1934 constitutional convention where voters in the province had been selected in electing a delegate for Cotabato. Cotabato had been admitted as a special province under the

Department of Mindanao and Sulu The Department of Mindanao and Sulu was an agency of the United States colonial administration in the Philippine Islands task to administer all Muslim-dominated areas in the territory. It was established on July 23, 1914, pursuant to Act No. 2 ...

since 1914 but was only previously represented through a multi-member delegation appointed by the

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

covering all of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

territory except Misamis and Surigao beginning in 1916. The district encompassed the entire territory formerly known as the Cotabato District that was previously organized under

Moro Province Moro Province was a province of the Philippines consisting of the regions of Zamboanga, Lanao, Cotabato, Davao, and Jolo. It was later split into provinces and regions organized under the Department of Mindanao and Sulu, along with the for ...

in 1903 from the same Spanish politico-military district (''Distrito Quinto de Cotabato'') that existed since 1860. The Spanish district was earlier represented in the

Malolos Congress The Malolos Congress (), also known as the Revolutionary Congress () and formally the National Assembly, was the legislative body of the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines. From 1898 to 1899, prior to the Philippine Declaration of I ...

of the nascent

First Philippine Republic The Philippine Republic (), now officially remembered as the First Philippine Republic and also referred to by historians as the Malolos Republic, was a state established in Malolos, Bulacan, during the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish ...

by two delegates from

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

. Datu Balabaran Sinsúat of the

Nacionalista The Nacionalista Party (Filipino language, Filipino and Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; , NP) is a political party in the Philippines which is the oldest existing party in the country and in Southeast Asi ...

Demócrata Pro-Independencia was elected as the single-member 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. The first time a representative from the province was elected through popular vote was during the succeeding

1938 Philippine legislative election Elections for the 1st National Assembly of the Philippines, Second National Assembly were held on November 8, 1938, under a new law that allowed Plurality-at-large voting, block voting, which favored the governing Nacionalista Party (formerly div ...

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. Cotabato was also represented as a plural member constituency in the Second Republic National Assembly during the Pacific War. It reverted to single-member representation for the restored Commonwealth and Third Republic

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

and continued to elect representatives even after 13 of its southern municipalities separated to form the province of

South Cotabato South Cotabato, officially the Province of South Cotabato, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Soccsksargen Regions of the Philippines, region in Mindanao. Its capital is Koronadal (also the regional cen ...

in 1966. Following a shift to parliamentary system, districts were replaced by multi-member regional constituencies where Cotabato, further reduced and split into three provinces in 1973, was represented as part of Region XII's at-large district. When provincial and city district representation was restored in 1984, North Cotabato, which assumed the original Cotabato name, was represented by two delegates. The district was dissolved after the province was apportioned two seats under the 1987 constitution.

Representation history

References

{{Philippine congressional districts in Region XII Former congressional districts of the Philippines Politics of Cotabato 1898 establishments in the Philippines 1935 establishments in the Philippines 1972 disestablishments in the Philippines 1984 establishments in the Philippines 1986 disestablishments in the Philippines At-large congressional districts of the Philippines Congressional districts of Soccsksargen Constituencies established in 1898 Constituencies disestablished in 1901 Constituencies established in 1935 Constituencies disestablished in 1972 Constituencies established in 1984 Constituencies disestablished in 1986

Representation history

See also

References