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The House of Representatives of the Philippines (Filipino: Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas) 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 konggresista) 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.

List of the Speakers of the House of Representatives

Revolutionary Government

Revolutionary Congress (1898-1899)

First Republic

Assembly of Representatives (1899)

Philippine Legislature

Philippine Assembly (1907-1916)

House of Representatives (1916-1935)

Commonwealth of the Philippines

National Assembly (1935-1941)

Second Republic

National Assembly (1943-1945)

Commonwealth (Restored)

House of Representatives (1941-1946)

Third Republic

House of Representatives

First Congress (1946-1949)

Second Congress (1949-1953)

Third Congress (1953-1957)

Fourth Congress (1957-1961)

Fifth Congress (1961-1965)

Sixth Congress (1965-1969)

Seventh Congress (1969-1972)

Fourth Republic

Interim Batasang Pambansa (1978-1984)

Batasang Pambansa (1984-1986)

Fifth Republic

House of Representatives

Eighth Congress (1987-1992)

Ninth Congress (1992-1995)

Tenth Congress (1995-1998)

Eleventh Congress (1998-2001)

Twelfth Congress (2001-2004)

Thirteenth Congress (2004-Present)

Latest election

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

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. From 1987-1998, sectoral representatives were appointed by the President.

Since 1998, 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.

See also

External links

National legislatures | National lower houses | Government of the Philippines | Legislatures of the Philippines | Kamara dagiti Pannakabagi ti Filipinas | Filipijns Huis van Afgevaardigden | Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "House of Representatives of the Philippines".

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