Davao's at-large congressional district may refer to several occasions 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 the various Philippine national legislatures from the undivided province of Davao. The Spanish colonial district of Davao, formerly the province of Nueva Guipúzcoa, was 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 ...

following its reorganization in 1898 for the National Assembly of the

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 ...

. Two representatives 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 ...

were appointed by the assembly to represent the province, namely León María Guerrero from

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

and Ceferino Pantoja from

Nueva Vizcaya Nueva Vizcaya, officially the Province of Nueva Vizcaya (; ; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya''; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon. Its capital and largest town is Bayo ...

. After the fall of the First Republic, the province was abolished with its territory reverted to a district annexed to

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 ...

under U.S. civilian rule in 1903. Moro Province was unrepresented in the

Philippine Assembly The Philippine Assembly (sometimes called the Philippine National Assembly) was the lower house of the Philippine Legislature from 1907 to 1916, when it was renamed the House of Representatives of the Philippines. The Philippine Assembly ...

. Provincial government was re-established in Davao in 1914 but was not entitled to its own representation in the national legislature. Instead, it remained a part of the larger constituency of 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 ...

under the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes whose representatives were 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, ...

beginning in 1916. In 1934 following the passage of the

Tydings–McDuffie Act The Philippine Independence Act, or Tydings–McDuffie Act (), is an Act of Congress that established the process for the Philippines, then a US territory, to become an independent country after a ten-year transition period. Under the act, th ...

, Davao 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 The Commonwealth of the Philippines (; ) was an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territory and Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States that existed from 1935 to 1946. It was established following the ...

. 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. Davao was also represented in the Second Republic National Assembly during the Pacific War. It also elected a representative to the restored

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 to the first six congresses under the

Third Philippine Republic Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

. After the 1967 division of Davao, the district was abolished and replaced by Davao del Norte's, Davao del Sur's and Davao Oriental's at-large districts.

Representation history

References

{{Philippine congressional districts in Region XI Former congressional districts of the Philippines Politics of Davao del Norte Politics of Davao del Sur Politics of Davao Oriental 1898 establishments in the Philippines 1935 establishments in the Philippines 1968 disestablishments in the Philippines At-large congressional districts of the Philippines Congressional districts of the Davao Region Constituencies established in 1898 Constituencies disestablished in 1901 Constituencies established in 1935 Constituencies disestablished in 1967

Representation history

See also

References