The legislative districts of Palawan are the representations of the province of Palawan and the highly urbanized city of Puerto Princesa in the various national legislatures of the Philippines. The province and the city are currently represented in the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines through their first, second, and third congressional districts.
History Areas now under the jurisdiction of Palawan were represented under the districts of Calamianes, Paragua, and Balabac in the Malolos Congress from 1898 to 1899. Paragua and Balabac had two delegates each, while Calamianes had three. Paragua was later renamed to Palawan in 1903 and Calamianes and Balabac were dissolved and annexed to Palawan.
Palawan later comprised a single assembly district from 1907 to 1972. 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, at large, to the Regular Batasang Pambansa in 1984. Palawan was reapportioned into two congressional districts under the new Constitution which was proclaimed on February 11, 1987, and elected members to the restored House of Representatives starting that same year.
The passage of Republic Act No. 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.
Current districts The province was last redistricted in 2012, wherein the province gained its third seat in the House. All incumbent representatives are part of the majority bloc.
Political parties
+Legislative districts and representatives of PalawanDistrictCurrent RepresentativePartyConstituent LGUsPopulation (2020)AreaImage Name1st Rosalie A. Salvame(since 2025)TaytayNUP 453,897 7,725.90 km22nd Jose Alvarez(since 2022)RizalNPC 438,769 6,116.50 km2 3rd Gil A. Acosta Jr.(since 2025)Bancao-bancao, Puerto PrincesaNPC 345,8153,188.35 km2
Historical districts Lone District (defunct)
Period Representative 1st Philippine Legislature1907–1909 Santiago M. Patero 2nd Philippine Legislature1909–1912 Manuel Sandoval 3rd Philippine Legislature1912–1916 4th Philippine Legislature1916–1919 5th Philippine Legislature1919–1922 Ramon De Jesus 6th Philippine Legislature1922–1925 Patricio Fernandez 7th Philippine Legislature1925–1928 8th Philippine Legislature1928–1931 9th Philippine Legislature1931–1934 Claudio R. Sandoval 10th Philippine Legislature1934–1935 1st National Assembly1935–1938 2nd National Assembly1938–1941 1st Commonwealth Congress1945 Sofronio Española 1st Congress1946–1949 2nd Congress1949–1953 Gaudencio E. Abordo Sofronio Española 3rd Congress1953–1957 Gaudencio E. Abordo 4th Congress1957–1961 5th Congress1961–1965 6th Congress1965–1969 Ramon V. Mitra, Jr. 7th Congress1969–1972 vacant Notes
At-Large (defunct) 1898–1899 Period Representatives Malolos Congress1898–1899 Felipe Calderón Domingo Colmenar
1943–1944 Period Representative National Assembly1943–1944 Iñigo R. Peña Patricio Fernandez (ex officio)
1984–1986 Period Representative Regular Batasang Pambansa1984–1986 Ramon V. Mitra, Jr.
References