Cotabato's at-large congressional district may refer to several instances when a provincewide at-large district was used for elections to Philippine national legislatures from the formerly undivided province of Cotabato before 1987.

The single-member district was first created ahead of the 1935 Philippine legislative election following the 1934 constitutional convention where voters in the province had been selected in electing a delegate for Cotabato.[1] Cotabato 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.[2] The district encompassed the entire territory formerly known as the Cotabato District that was previously organized under Moro Province in 1903 from the same Spanish politico-military district (Distrito Quinto de Cotabato) that existed since 1860.[3] The Spanish district was earlier represented in the Malolos Congress of the nascent First Philippine Republic by two delegates from Luzon.[4]

Datu Balabaran Sinsúat of the Nacionalista 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.[5][6] 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.[7]

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 and continued to elect representatives even after 13 of its southern municipalities separated to form the province of South Cotabato in 1966.[8] 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.[9] When provincial and city district representation was restored in 1984, North Cotabato, which assumed the original Cotabato name, was represented by two delegates.[10][5]

The district was dissolved after the province was apportioned two seats under the 1987 constitution.[11]

Representation history

# Term of office National
Assembly		 Seat A Seat B
StartEnd Member Party Electoral history Member Party Electoral history

Cotabato's at-large district for the Malolos Congress

District created June 18, 1898.[4][12]
– September 15, 1898 March 23, 1901 1st José M. Lerma Independent Appointed. Pedro Layug Villaluz Independent Appointed.
# Term of office National
Assembly		 Single seat Seats eliminated
StartEnd Member Party Electoral history

Cotabato's at-large district for the National Assembly (Commonwealth of the Philippines)

District re-created February 8, 1935.[1]
1 September 16, 1935 December 30, 1938 1st Balabaran Sinsuat Nacionalista
Demócrata Pro-Independencia		 Elected in 1935.
2 December 30, 1938 December 30, 1941 2nd Ugalingan Piang Nacionalista Elected in 1938.
# Term of office National
Assembly		 Seat A Seat B
StartEnd Member Party Electoral history Member Party Electoral history

Cotabato's at-large district for the National Assembly (Second Philippine Republic)

District re-created September 7, 1943.[13]
– September 25, 1943 February 2, 1944 1st Menandang Piang KALIBAPI Elected in 1943. Alfonso A. Pablo KALIBAPI Appointed as an ex officio member.
# Term of office Common
wealth
Congress		 Single seat Seats eliminated
StartEnd Member Party Electoral history

Cotabato's at-large district for the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of the Philippines

District re-created May 24, 1945.
(2) June 9, 1945 May 25, 1946 1st Ugalingan Piang Nacionalista Re-elected in 1941.
# Term of office Congress Single seat
StartEnd Member Party Electoral history

Cotabato's at-large district for the House of Representatives of the Philippines

3 May 25, 1946 November 19, 1949 1st Gumbay Piang Liberal Elected in 1946.
Died in office.
4 December 30, 1949 December 30, 1953 2nd Blah T. Sinsuat Nacionalista Elected in 1949.
5 December 30, 1953 December 30, 1957 3rd Luminog Mangelen Nacionalista Elected in 1953.
6 December 30, 1957 September 23, 1972 4th Salipada Pendatun Nacionalista Elected in 1957.
5th Liberal Re-elected in 1961.
6th Re-elected in 1965.
7th Re-elected in 1969.
Removed from office after imposition of martial law.
District dissolved into the eight-seat Region XII's at-large district for the Interim Batasang Pambansa.
# Term of office Batasang
Pambansa		 Seat A Seat B
StartEnd Member Party Electoral history Member Party Electoral history

Cotabato's at-large district for the Regular Batasang Pambansa

District re-created February 1, 1984.[14]
– July 23, 1984 March 25, 1986 2nd Tomas B. Baga Jr. KBL Elected in 1984. Carlos B. Cajelo KBL Elected in 1984.
District dissolved into Cotabato's 1st and 2nd districts.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The 1935 Constitution". Official Gazette (Philippines). Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Act No. 2408, (1914-07-23)". Lawyerly. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Act No. 787, (1903-06-01)". Lawyerly. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "The Malolos Congress: A Centennial publication on the inauguration of the Philippine Republic (January 23, 1899 - January 3, 1999)". National Historical Commission of the Philippines. 1999. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Roster of Philippine legislators". House of Representatives of the Philippines. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Act No. 4125, (1934-05-26)". Lawyerly. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Commonwealth Act No. 44". Official Gazette (Philippines). 13 October 1936. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Republic Act No. 4849, (1966-07-18)". Lawyerly. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Presidential Decree No. 341, s. 1973". Official Gazette (Philippines). 22 November 1973. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Batas Pambansa Blg. 660, (1984-03-07)". Lawyerly. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  11. ↑ "The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines". Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Decree of June 18, 1898, establishing the Dictatorial Government" (PDF). Official Gazette (Philippines). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 10, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  13. ↑ "The 1943 Constitution". Official Gazette (Philippines). Archived from the original on June 2, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Proclamation No. 2332, s. 1984". Official Gazette (Philippines). February 1984. Archived from the original on July 18, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
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