And it’s pushing for 18 more before next year’s elections

(Second of three parts)

Should 18 more congressional districts—including 1 that will benefit President Arroyo’s son—be created in the remaining months of the government, it will be in keeping with its record of having added the most number to the 200 districts initially set by the 1987 Constitution.

Based on Newsbreak research, 22 legislative districts have been created since 1987 as a result of the creation of new provinces, conversion of sub-provinces to provinces, and conversion of municipalities to cities and highly-urbanized cities.

Twelve, or more than half of these new districts, were created under the Arroyo administration, the most that any of the post-Marcos presidents had.

This high “re-districting rate,” however, is not exactly unique to the current administration. President Arroyo has been in power for 9 years, which means her government created an average of 1.33 congressional districts every year.

This is the same average during the presidency of Fidel Ramos, which created 8 congressional districts in 6 years.

Before Ramos, President Corazon Aquino approved the creation of 2 additional districts. On the other hand, no new legislative districts were created under the short-lived presidency of Joseph Estrada.

(Click here to see table of additional legislative districts created after 1987.)

1 for every 250,000

Section 5-3, Article 6 of the 1987 Constitution mandates that that a city with a population of 250,000 shall have at least 1 representative.

The 1987 Constitution’s Ordinance, which initially set the number of congressional districts to 200, also says that provinces or cities that have more than 250,000 residents shall be entitled to at least one representative or more, depending on its population in the immediately following election.

“Any province that may hereafter be created, or any city whose population may hereafter increase to more than two hundred fifty thousand, shall be entitled in the immediately following election to at least one Member or such number of Members as it may be entitled to on the basis of the number of its inhabitants and according to the standards set forth in paragraph (3), Section 5 of Article VI [the provision on the legislative department] of the Constitution,” Section 3 of the Ordinance reads.

The Constitution also mandates that Congress shall make a reapportionment of legislative districts within three years following the return of every census. The last national census was conducted in 2007.

Pre-GMA districts

Of the 22 additional legislative districts created, 8 are in Metro Manila, 5 from the rest of Luzon, 2 in the Visayas, and 7 in Mindanao. These are:

• Lone district – Apayao in the Cordilleras; San Jose del Monte City and Malolos City in Bulacan; Mandaluyong City, Navotas City, and Muntinlupa City in the National Capital Region; Guimaras in Western Visayas; Biliran in Eastern Visayas; and Dinagat Islands in Caraga.
• 1 additional district - cities of Makati, Taguig, Marikina, Paranaque, Valenzuela, Zamboanga, and Cagayan de Oro; and the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Compostela Valley, and Sultan Kudarat.
• 2 new districts - Antipolo City.

Apart from the 12 new districts created under President Arroyo’s her term, there are bills seeking the creation of 18 more congressional districts. Newsbreak’s research showed that only 8 of these proposed new districts meet the requirements set by the Constitution. (Click here to read “8 proposed districts more qualified than Dato’s.”)

The 2 new legislative districts created during the remainder of Aquino’s term were the lone district of Guimaras and the lone district of Biliran. The creation of these districts was a result of the passage of the Local Government Code of 1991.

Section 462 of the Code mandates the conversion of existing sub-provinces to provinces upon the approval by a majority of votes through a plebiscite. Biliran and Guimaras were then sub-provinces of Leyte and Iloilo, respectively, and their upgraded status entitled them to have their own congressional districts.

In Ramos’s watch, separate congressional districts were created for Antipolo, Mandaluyong, and Muntinlupa, following their conversion into cities. Additional districts were created for Makati City, Valenzuela City, and Taguig City following their conversion into highly urbanized cities.

A separate district was created after Kalinga-Apayao was split into two provinces in 1995 through Republic Act 7878, while a new district was created after the province of Compostela Valley was carved out of Davao del Norte in 1998.

Arroyo’s Twelve

Meanwhile, the 12 congressional districts created during Arroyo’s time include additional districts for the cities of Antipolo in 2003, Paranaque in 2003, Zamboanga in 2004, Marikina in 2006, Cagayan de Oro in 2007, and the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay in 2006, Sultan Kudarat in 2006, and Agusan del Sur in 2008.

A new district was also created when Dinagat Island became a province in 2006. Dinagat Island was carved out of the province of Surigao del Norte.

Meanwhile, a separate district was created after the conversion into city of San Jose del Monte in 2003. Navotas had its own district in 2007 when Republic Act lapsed into law without the signature of President Arroyo in March 2007. The same thing happened when RA 9591, which created a district for Malolos City, lapsed into law last May 1. (Newsbreak)

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