The legislative district of Davao was the representation of the historical

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

of Davao in the various national legislatures of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

until its dissolution in 1967. The undivided province's representation encompassed the present-day provinces of

Davao de Oro Davao de Oro, officially the Province of Davao de Oro (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Nabunturan while Monkayo is the most populous. It used to be part ...

Davao del Norte Davao del Norte (; ), officially the Province of Davao del Norte (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital and largest city is Tagum. The province also includes Sam ...

Davao del Sur Davao del Sur (; ), officially the Province of Davao del Sur (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Digos. Davao City is the largest city in terms of area an ...

Davao Occidental Davao Occidental (; ), officially the Province of Davao Occidental (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is the municipality of Malita, the most populous town in the province. To the east lies ...

, and

Davao Oriental Davao Oriental (; ), officially the Province of Davao Oriental (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is the city of Mati, Davao Oriental, Mati which is the most ...

. Except during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the chartered city of Davao also formed part of the province's representation.

History

Initially being excluded from representation in the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Philippine Legislature The Philippine Legislature was the legislature of the Philippines from 1907 to 1935, during the American colonial period, and predecessor of the current Congress of the Philippines. It was bicameral and the legislative branch of the Insular ...

in 1907, the then-non-Christian-majority areas of the Philippines — which included 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 ...

, of which Davao was part — were finally extended legislative representation with the passage of the

Philippine Autonomy Act The Jones Law (, also known as the Jones Act, the Philippine Autonomy Act, and the Act of Congress of August 29, 1916) was an Organic Act passed by the United States Congress. The law replaced the Philippine Organic Act of 1902 and act ...

in 1916 by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

. The Revised Administrative Code (Act No. 2711) enacted on 10 March 1917 further elaborated on the manner by which these areas would be represented. The non-Christian areas were to be collectively represented in the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

's 12th senatorial district by two senators, both 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, ...

. Five assembly members, also appointed by the Governor-General, were to represent the seven component provinces of Department of Mindanao and Sulu —

Agusan Agusan may refer to the following: In geography * Agusan province, a former province in the Philippines, now divided between: ** Agusan del Norte ** Agusan del Sur * Legislative district of Agusan in the Philippines for the former province befo ...

Bukidnon Bukidnon (), officially the Province of Bukidnon (; ; ; Bukid language, Binukid and Higaonon language, Higaonon: ''Probinsya ta Bukidnon''), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Northern Mindan ...

Cotabato Cotabato, formerly and still commonly referred to as North Cotabato and officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Soccsksargen Regions of the Philippines, regi ...

, Davao, Lanao,

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilaya' sin Lupa' Sūg''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago. It was part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamoro Autonomous R ...

and Zamboanga — in the

as a single at-large district. These arrangements remained in place despite the abolition of the Department in 1920. The voters of Davao Province were finally given the right to elect their own representative through popular vote beginning in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

by virtue of Article VI, Section 1 of the 1935 Constitution. During the

, the Province of Davao sent two delegates to 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 Japanese-sponsored

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 ...

: one was the provincial governor (an ''ex officio'' member), while the other was elected through a provincial assembly of

KALIBAPI The Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas (), or KALIBAPI, was a fascist Filipino political party that served as the sole party of state during the Japanese occupation. It was intended to be a Filipino version of Japan's governing Im ...

members during the

Japanese occupation of the Philippines The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas''; ) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when the Empire of Japan, Japanese Empire occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during Wo ...

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao, is a City of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the List of Philippine cities and municipalities ...

, being a chartered city, was represented separately in this short-lived legislative body. Upon 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, the representations of Davao Province and Davao City were once again combined to form a lone congressional district. The enactment of Republic Act No. 4867 on 8 May 1967 split the old Davao Province into

and

, and providing each new province a congressional district. The last representative of the undivided Davao Province, Rep. Lorenzo Sarmiento, began to solely serve as the representative of his chosen successor province (

) in the second half of the 6th Congress, per Section 4 of R.A. 4867. The first representatives of

(including

) and

also began to serve their new provinces in the second half of the 6th Congress.

Lone District (defunct)

: Elected in 1965 as representative for the undivided province of Davao; began to serve as the representative of

beginning in the second half of the 6th Congress, after the separate representatives for

and

took office, pursuant to R.A. 4867.

At-Large (defunct)

* includes what are now the provinces of

(Compostela Valley),

and

* excludes

References

{{reflist Davao

History

Lone District (defunct)

At-Large (defunct)

See also

References