Legislative district of General Santos

The legislative district of General Santos will be the representation of the highly urbanized city of General Santos in the Congress of the Philippines. The city will be represented in the lower house of the Congress through its lone congressional district after the 2022 Philippine general elections.

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History
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,[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

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[1] intended.[4] 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 City.[4]

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

Lone District
  • Population (2015): 594,446
Period Representative
19th Congress
2022–2025		 election pending
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See also

References
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
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