The legislative districts of Dinagat Islands are the representations of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Dinagat Islands Dinagat Islands (Cebuano language, Cebuano: ''Mga Pulo sa Dinagat''; Surigaonon language, Surigaonon: ''Mga Puyo nan Dinagat''; Kabalian language, Kabalian: ''Mga Puyo san Dinagat''; Waray language, Waray: ''Mga Purô han Dinagat''; Filipino lang ...

in the

Congress of the Philippines The Congress of the Philippines ( fil, Kongreso ng Pilipinas, italic=unset) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House of R ...

. The province is currently represented in the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the Congress through its lone congressional district.

History

Prior to gaining separate representation, areas now under the jurisdiction of Dinagat Islands were initially represented under the former province of Surigao (1907–1961), Region X (1978–1984) and Surigao del Norte (1961–1972; 1984–2007). The passage of Republic Act No. 9355 on October 2, 2006 and its subsequent ratification by plebiscite three months later separated seven municipalities from Surigao del Norte's first congressional district to form the new province of

. The new province first elected its separate representative in the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

. Despite Dinagat Islands being nullified as a province by the

Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on Ju ...

on February 11, 2010 the decision was not yet rendered final and executory before the May 10, 2010 elections; therefore the

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

still organized the elections for Dinagat Islands' congressional representative along with its provincial officials. Even after the Supreme Court rendered its original decision final and executory on May 18, 2010, the representatives of the reconfigured first district of Surigao del Norte and the lone district of Dinagat Islands continued to represent their own constituencies. After the Supreme Court reversed its previous ruling on April 12, 2011, and subsequently upheld with finality the constitutionality of R.A. 9355 and the creation of Dinagat Islands as a province through an Entry of Judgment on October 24, 2012, the separation of Dinagat Islands from Surigao del Norte's first district became permanent.

Lone District

* Population (2015): 127,152 Notes

References

{{Philippine legislative districts

Politics of Dinagat Islands

History

Lone District

See also

References