Sulu'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 than ...

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

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sulu), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamor ...

before 1987. The

single-member district A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...

was first created ahead of the

1935 Philippine legislative election Elections for the members of the First National Assembly were held on September 16, 1935 pursuant to the Tydings–McDuffie Act, which established the Commonwealth of the Philippines. The leaders of the ruling Nacionalista Party, Manuel Quezon a ...

following the 1934

constitutional convention Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...

where voters had been selected in electing a delegate for the province. 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. 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. The Spanish district of Jolo was earlier represented in the Malolos Congress of the nascent First Philippine Republic by two delegates from Luzon. Datu

Ombra Amilbangsa Sultan Ombra Amilbangsa was a Sultan of Sulu and a Filipino politician. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines and the National Assembly of the Philippines for the Department of Mindanao and Sulu (1934–193 ...

of the

Nacionalista The Nacionalista Party (Filipino and Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; ) is the oldest political party in both the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in general. It is responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th ce ...

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. 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. 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. When provincial and city district representation was restored in 1984, Sulu was represented by one assemblyman, with a separate representation created for Tawi-Tawi. It was made obsolete by the 1987 reapportionment that established two districts in the province under a new constitution.

Representation history

References

{{Philippine congressional districts in the BARMM Former congressional districts of the Philippines Politics of Sulu History of Tawi-Tawi 1935 establishments in the Philippines 1986 disestablishments in the Philippines At-large congressional districts of the Philippines Congressional districts of Bangsamoro 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