Legislative districts of Palawan

The Legislative Districts of Palawan are the representations of the province of Palawan and the independent city of Puerto Princesa in the various national legislatures of the Philippines. The province and Puerto Princesa are currently represented in the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines through the first, second and third congressional districts of Palawan.

Before 1972 Palawan comprised a lone legislative district, electing one representative to the lower house of various national legislatures. When seats for the upper house of the Philippine Legislature were elected from territory-based districts between 1916 and 1935, the province formed part of the eighth senatorial district which elected two out of the 24-member senate. In the disruption caused by the Second World War, two delegates represented the province in the National Assembly of the Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic: one was the provincial governor (an ex officio member), while the other was elected through a provincial assembly of KALIBAPI members during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Upon the restoration of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1945, the province continued to comprise a lone district.

The province was represented in the Interim Batasang Pambansa as part of Region IV-A from 1978 to 1984, and elected one representative to the Regular Batasang Pambansa in 1984. Palawan was redistricted into two congressional districts under the new Constitution which was proclaimed on February 11, 1987; both districts elected separate members to the restored House of Representatives starting that same year.

The passage of Republic Act 10171 in 2012 separated Puerto Princesa and Aborlan from the second district to form the third district, which first elected its own representative in the 2013 elections.

1st District

1st District of Palawan

• Municipalities: Agutaya, Araceli, Busuanga, Cagayancillo, Coron, Culion, Cuyo, Dumaran, El Nido, Kalayaan, Linapacan, Magsaysay, Roxas, San Vicente, Taytay
• Population (2010): 385,593

Period	Representative
8th Congress 1987–1992	David A. Ponce de Leon
9th Congress 1992–1995
10th Congress 1995–1998	Vicente A. Sandoval
11th Congress 1998–2001
12th Congress 2001–2004
13th Congress 2004–2007	Antonio C. Alvarez
14th Congress 2007–2010
15th Congress 2010–2013
16th Congress 2013–2016	Franz Josef George E. Alvarez

2nd District

• Municipalities: Balabac, Bataraza, Brooke's Point, Narra, Quezon, Rizal (Marcos), Sofronio Española
• Population (2010): 353,865

Period	Representative
16th Congress 2013–2016	Frederick F. Abueg

1987—2013

2nd District of Palawan, from 1987 to 2013

• City: Puerto Princesa City
• Municipalities: Aborlan, Balabac, Bataraza, Brooke's Point, Narra, Quezon, Rizal (Marcos), Sofronio Española (established 1994)

Period	Representative
8th Congress 1987–1992	Ramon V. Mitra
9th Congress 1992–1995	Alfredo Amor E. Abueg, Jr.
10th Congress 1995–1998
11th Congress 1998–2001
12th Congress 2001–2004	Abraham Kahlil B. Mitra
13th Congress 2004–2007
14th Congress 2007–2010
15th Congress 2010–2013	Victorino Dennis M. Socrates

^1 Declared highly-urbanized city through Presidential Proclamation No. 1264; only votes with Palawan for congressional representation since July 9, 2007. Independent from the province and does not vote for provincial officials in accordance with Section 452-c of the Local Government Code of 1991.

3rd District

• City: Puerto Princesa City
• Municipalities: Aborlan
• Population (2010): 254,882

Period	Representative
16th Congress 2013–2016	Douglas S. Hagedorn

^1 Highly-urbanized city since July 9, 2007 by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 1264; only votes with Palawan for congressional representation. Independent from the province and does not vote for provincial officials in accordance with Section 452-c of the Local Government Code of 1991.

Lone District (defunct)

Period	Representative
1st Philippine Legislature 1907–1909	Santiago M. Patero
2nd Philippine Legislature 1909–1912	Manuel Sandoval
3rd Philippine Legislature 1912–1916
4th Philippine Legislature 1916–1919
5th Philippine Legislature 1919–1922	Ramon De Jesus
6th Philippine Legislature 1922–1925	Patricio Fernandez
7th Philippine Legislature 1925–1928
8th Philippine Legislature 1928–1931
9th Philippine Legislature 1931–1934	Claudio R. Sandoval
10th Philippine Legislature 1934–1935
1st National Assembly 1935–1938
2nd National Assembly 1938–1941
3rd National Assembly 1941–1946	Sofronio Española
1st Congress 1946–1949
2nd Congress 1949–1953	Gaudencio E. Abordo
	Sofronio Española
3rd Congress 1953–1957	Gaudencio E. Abordo
4th Congress 1957–1961
5th Congress 1961–1965
6th Congress 1965–1969	Ramon V. Mitra
7th Congress 1969–1972
	vacant

^1 Replaced by Sofronio Española as per House Electoral Tribunal decision on March 6, 1953.

^2 Elected to the Senate in 1971.

At-Large (defunct)

1943—1944

Period	Representative
National Assembly 1943–1944	Patricio Fernandez (ex officio)
	Iñigo R. Peña

1984—1986

Period	Representative
Regular Batasang Pambansa 1984–1986	Ramon V. Mitra

References

• Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library