Leyte's at-large congressional district was the provincewide

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

for Philippine national legislatures in both the undivided province of

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

before its 1959 division and the northern three-fourths that retained its name from 1984 to 1986. Leyte first elected its representatives

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 ...

in the

1943 Philippine legislative election The 1943 Philippine legislative election was held on September 20, 1943 to elect the 54 of the 108 members of the National Assembly of the Second Philippine Republic, National Assembly of the Second Philippine Republic. Electoral system The ...

for a seat in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

of the

Second Philippine Republic The Second Philippine Republic, officially the Republic of the Philippines and also known as the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Republic, was a Japanese-Axis powers, backed government established on October 14, 1943, during the Japanese occupatio ...

. Before 1943, the undivided island province which also included

Biliran Biliran, officially the Province of Biliran (Waray language, Waray-Waray: ''Probinsya han Biliran''; ; ), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region (Region VIII). Biliran is one of ...

was represented in the national legislatures through its

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

third 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 ...

, fourth and fifth districts. The undivided province was also 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

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 ...

in 1898 by appointed 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 ...

. The five districts were restored in Leyte ahead of the

1941 Philippine House of Representatives elections Elections for the House of Representatives of the Philippines were held on November 11, 1941, with the ruling Nacionalista Party retaining a majority of the seats. Still, the party was prevented a clean sweep when three independents were elected. ...

whose elected representatives only began to serve following the dissolution of the Second Republic and the restoration of the

Philippine Commonwealth The Commonwealth of the Philippines (; ) was an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States that existed from 1935 to 1946. It was established following the Tydings–McDuffie Act to replace the Insular Government of the Phi ...

in 1945. An at-large district would not be used in the province until the

1984 Philippine parliamentary election A parliamentary election was held on May 14, 1984, in the Philippines. Like past elections, charges of bribery, protests and complaints on irregularities marred the elections. Former ''Manila Times'' publisher Chino Roces and former senator and ...

for five seats in the

Batasang Pambansa The Batasang Pambansa Complex, or simply the Batasan (), is the seat of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It is located along the Batasan Road in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. The complex was initially the home of the Batasang Pa ...

, with a separate representation created for

Southern Leyte Southern Leyte (; Kabalian: ''Habagatan nga Leyte''; ; ), officially the Province of Southern Leyte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Maasin. Southern Leyte comprised the ...

which it had been entitled to since the 1959 division. It became obsolete following the 1987 reapportionment under a new constitution that restored the five districts in Leyte.

Representation history

References

{{Philippine congressional districts in Region VIII Former congressional districts of the Philippines Politics of Leyte (province) 1898 establishments in the Philippines 1901 disestablishments in the Philippines 1943 establishments in the Philippines 1944 disestablishments in the Philippines 1984 establishments in the Philippines 1986 disestablishments in the Philippines At-large congressional districts of the Philippines Congressional districts of Eastern Visayas Constituencies established in 1898 Constituencies disestablished in 1901 Constituencies established in 1943 Constituencies disestablished in 1944 Constituencies established in 1984 Constituencies disestablished in 1986

Representation history

See also

References