Legislative district of Mindanao and Sulu

The Legislative District of Mindanao and Sulu was the representation of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu in the lower house (Philippine Assembly) of the Philippine Legislature from 1916 until 1935.

File:Coa Mindanao and Sulu.svg

Coat of Arms of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu

The passage of the Philippine Autonomy Act in 1916 by the United States Congress extended legislative representation to what were then non-Christian-majority areas of the Philippines for the first time. The Revised Administrative Code (Act No. 2711) enacted on March 10, 1917 further elaborated on the manner by which these areas would be represented. The non-Christian areas were represented in the upper house's 12th senatorial district (Philippine Senate) by two senators, both appointed by the Governor-General. Similarly, the nine new lower house representatives — five representatives from the Department of Mindanao and Sulu, three from the undivided Mountain Province (including the independent city of Baguio) and one from Nueva Vizcaya — were also appointed, and not elected. The appointment of these members of the Legislature did not require the consent of the upper house; the appointive legislators were also not necessarily required to be residents of the areas they represented. For example, Assemblyman Pedro Aunario, a resident of Manila, and Senator Lope K. Santos, a resident of Rizal, were among the representatives of the Mountain Province.

Although its seven components — Agusan, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Davao, Lanao, Sulu and Zamboanga — had been full-fledged provinces since the passage of Act. No. 2408 on September 1, 1914, the Department of Mindanao and Sulu remained represented as one at-large district. Act No. 4203, enacted on July 23, 1935, finally granted separate representation to each of the seven provinces, in preparation for the inauguration of the new Commonwealth of the Philippines. Each province first elected their separate representative during the 1935 elections.

At-Large

Period	Representative	Representative	Representative	Representative	Representative
4th Philippine Legislature 1916–1919	Rafael Acuña	Datu Piang	Teodoro Palma Gil	Datu Benito	Pablo Lorenzo
5th Philippine Legislature 1919–1922	Julius Schuck			Datu Tampugaw
6th Philippine Legislature 1922–1925	Rafael Acuña	Ugalingan Piang
7th Philippine Legislature 1925–1928	Pedro de la Llana	Abdullah Piang	Arsenio Suazo	Jose P. Melencio	(vacant)
8th Philippine Legislature 1928–1931	Jose G. Sanvictores	Monico R. Mercado	Jose Artadi		Tabahur Taupan
9th Philippine Legislature 1931–1934		Datu Sinsuat	Francisco Bangoy	Datu Ibra Gundarangin	Agustin S. Alvarez
10th Philippine Legislature 1934–1935	Manuel Fortich	Julian A. Rodriguez	Doroteo Karagdag	Alaoya Alonto	Ombra Amilbangsa

See also

• Legislative district of Agusan
• Legislative district of Bukidnon
• Legislative district of Cotabato
• Legislative district of Davao
• Legislative district of Lanao
• Legislative district of Sulu
• Legislative district of Zamboanga

References

• Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library