House of Representatives of the Philippines
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The House of Representatives (Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan in Filipino) is the lower chamber of the Congress of the Philippines. The Senate is the upper chamber. The House is often informally called the Congress. Members of the house are called congressmen (mga kinatawan or mga kongresman) and their title is Representative. Congressmen are elected to a three-year term, and can be reelected to a maximum of three terms. A congressman can either be a district representative, which represents a particular geographical area, or a sectoral representative, which represents a significant minority of society.
The official headquarters of the House of Representatives is at the Batasang Pambansa (literally national lawmaking place) located at the Constitution Hill in Quezon City in Metro Manila. The building is often simply called Batasan.
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District Representation
All provinces and several cities have at least one congressional/legislative district, whose residents vote for their own congressman. Each district covers a population of approximately 250,000 to 500,000 people. Provinces that have only one congressional/legislative district are divided into two provincial districts. For provinces that have more than one congressional/legislative district, the provincial districts are identical to the corresponding congressional/legislative district.
Congressional/Legislative Districts
City and Municipality Districts
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List of the Speakers of the House of Representatives
- Sergio S. Osmena, Sr. (1907-1922)
- Manuel A. Roxas (1922-1933)
- Quintin B. Paredes (1933-1935)
- Gil M. Montilla (1935-1938)
- Jose Y. Yulo (1938-1941)
- Benigno S. Aquino, Sr. (1943-1944)
- Jose C. Zulueta (1945)
- Eugenio P. Perez (1946-1953)
- Jose B. Laurel, Jr. (1954-1957; 1967-1971)
- Daniel Z. Romualdez (1957-1962)
- Cornelio T. Villareal (1962-1967; 1971-1972)
- Querube C. Makalintal (1978-1984)
- Nicanor E. Yniguez (1984-1986)
- Ramon V. Mitra (1987-1992)
- Jose De Venecia, Jr. (1992-1998), (2001-)
- Manuel Villar Jr. (1998-2000)
- Arnulfo Fuentebella (2000-2001)
- Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. (2001)
Sectoral Representation
The party-list system is the name designated for the sectoral representation. Under the 1987 Constitution, the electorate can vote for certain party-list organizations in order to give voice to significant minorities of society that would otherwise not be adequately represented through geographical district.
Each voter votes for a single party-list organization. Organizations that garner at least 2% of the total number of votes are awarded one representative for every 2% up to a maximum of three representatives. Thus, there can be at most 50 sectoral representatives in Congress, though usually no more than 20 are elected because many organizations do not reach the required 2% minimum number of votes.
Related articles
- Politics of the Philippines
- President of the Philippines
- Executive Departments of the Philippines
- Congress of the Philippines
- Senate of the Philippines
- Ombudsman of the Philippines
- Supreme Court of the Philippines
- Republic Acts of the Philippines
