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General Santos's at-large congressional district

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General Santos's at-large congressional district
Constituency
for the House of Representatives of the Philippines
Boundary of General Santos's at-large congressional district
Location of General Santos within South Cotabato.
CityGeneral Santos
RegionSoccsksargen
Population697,315 (2020)[1]
Major settlementsGeneral Santos
Area492.86 km2 (190.29 sq mi)
Current constituency
Created2022
RepresentativeLoreto Acharon
Political party  NPC
Congressional blocMajority

General Santos's at-large congressional district is the single representation of the highly urbanized city of General Santos. It has been represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 2022.[2] It is currently represented in the 19th Congress by Loreto Acharon of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC).[3]

History

[edit]
Further information: Legislative district of Mindanao and Sulu, Legislative district of Cotabato, and Legislative districts of South Cotabato

Prior to gaining separate representation, areas now under the jurisdiction of General Santos were represented under the Department of Mindanao and Sulu (1917–1935), the historical Cotabato Province (1935–1967), Region XI (1978–1984) and South Cotabato (lone district, 1967–1972; at-large district, 1984–1986; first district, 1987–2019).

Even after becoming a highly urbanized city independent from South Cotabato in 1988, General Santos remained part of the province's congressional representation. The city only gained a separate representative with the passage of Republic Act No. 11243 on March 11, 2019,[4] which segregated General Santos from the first congressional district of South Cotabato to form its own congressional district.

Given that it was already too late for the Commission on Elections to change the old congressional district configuration data in the automated election system in time for the May 2019 polls, COMELEC Resolution No. 10524 was promulgated on April 11, 2019, to delay the elections for both the new lone congressional district of General Santos and the newly reconfigured first congressional district of South Cotabato to a date no less than six months from May 13, 2019.[5] By virtue of COMELEC Resolution No. 10552 promulgated on July 25, 2019, the date of elections for the lone district of General Santos was set for October 26, 2019.[6]

However, on September 10, 2019, the Supreme Court of the Philippines declared COMELEC Resolution No. 10524 null and void for violating the law, when COMELEC set separate special elections for the reconfigured 1st Congressional District of South Cotabato and the newly created Lone Congressional District of General Santos instead of using the new district boundaries in the next regular (i.e., 2022) election, as RA 11243[4] intended.[7] In the same ruling, the Supreme Court ordered COMELEC to convene a Special Provincial Board of Canvassers to proclaim the winning candidate, Shirlyn L. Bañas-Nograles who garnered 68.55% of the votes cast in the May 2019 election, as the duly elected representative of the 1st Congressional District of South Cotabato, including General Santos.[7]

The Supreme Court ruling effectively sets the election of the first separate representative for General Santos to the 2022 elections.

Subsection C in the Section 1 of the Republic Act No. 11243 that designated General Santos as the Third district of South Cotabato caused confusion of the bill's title, Consequently, Representative Ferdinand Hernandez filed the House Bill No. 10021 that officially mandate and legally clarify the City of General Santos as a lone district, separate from South Cotabato.[8] It passed in the third and final reading in the House on September 15, 2021 and in the Senate on January 31, 2022 with an amendment where the first election for the reapportioned seats will be on May 12, 2025. The bill lapsed into a law without then-President Rodrigo Duterte's signature on June 2, 2022, and was indexed under the Republic Act No. 11804.[9]

Representation history

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# Image Member Term of office Congress Party Electoral history
Start End

General Santos's at-large district for the House of Representatives of the Philippines

[edit]
District created March 11, 2019.[10]
District dissolved.
District re-created June 2, 2022.[11]
1 Loreto Acharon June 30, 2022 Incumbent 19th NPC Elected in 2022.
2 Shirlyn L. Bañas-Nograles Elect 20th PDP Elected in 2025.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "TABLE 1. Population of legislative districts by Region, Province, and selected Highly Urbanized/Component City : 2020" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  2. ^ "Roster of Philippine legislators". House of Representatives of the Philippines. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  3. ^ "House Members". House of Representatives of the Philippines. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Congress of the Philippines (March 11, 2019). "Republic Act No. 11243 - An Act Reapportioning the First Legislative District of the Province of South Cotabato, thereby creating the Lone Legislative District of General Santos City" (PDF). Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  5. ^ Commission on Elections (April 11, 2019). "IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11243 ENTITLED, "AN ACT REAPPORTIONING THE FIRST LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT OF THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH COTABATO, THEREBY CREATING THE LONE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY."". Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  6. ^ Commission on Elections (25 July 2019). "COMELEC Resolution No. 10552 - IN THE MATTER OF: (1) SETTING THE DATE OF THE FIRST REGULAR ELECTIONS FOR MEMBER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS OF SOUTHERN LEYTE, AND THE FIRST AND THIRD (LONE) LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS OF SOUTH COTABATO; AND (2) PRESCRIBING THE CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES AND PERIODS OF CERTAIN PROHIBITED ACTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE SAID ELECTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. ^ a b Supreme Court en Banc (September 10, 2019). "G.R. No. 246328 - Vice Mayor Shirlyn L. Bañas-Nograles, et al. Vs. Commission on Elections". Supreme Court of the Philippines. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  8. ^ "House Bill No. 10021 : Reapportioning the Province of South Cotabato into Three Legislative Districts and Creating the Lone Legislative District of General Santos" (PDF). House of Representatives. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Republic Act No. 11804 : AN ACT REAPPORTIONING THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH COTABATO INTO THREE (3) LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS, AND SEPARATING THE CITY OF GENERAL SANTOS FROM THE THIRD LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT OF THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH COTABATO TO CONSTITUTE THE LONE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF GENERAL SANTOS, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11243, ENTITLED "AN ACT REAPPORTIONING THE FIRST LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT OF THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH COTABATO THEREBY CREATING THE LONE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY"" (PDF). Official Gazette. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  10. ^ Congress of the Philippines (March 11, 2019). "Republic Act No. 11243 - An Act Reapportioning the First Legislative District of the Province of South Cotabato, thereby creating the Lone Legislative District of General Santos City" (PDF). Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  11. ^ "Republic Act No. 11804 : AN ACT REAPPORTIONING THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH COTABATO INTO THREE (3) LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS, AND SEPARATING THE CITY OF GENERAL SANTOS FROM THE THIRD LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT OF THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH COTABATO TO CONSTITUTE THE LONE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF GENERAL SANTOS, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11243, ENTITLED "AN ACT REAPPORTIONING THE FIRST LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT OF THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH COTABATO THEREBY CREATING THE LONE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY"" (PDF). Official Gazette. Retrieved 8 July 2022.

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