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ThePhilippines is divided into four levels of administrative divisions, with the lower three being defined in the Local Government Code of 1991 aslocal government units (LGUs).[1] They are, from the highest to the lowest:
Other divisions also exist for specific purposes, such as:
Administrative regions are groupings of geographically adjacent LGUs that are established, disestablished, and modified by thepresident of the Philippines based on the need to more coherently make economic development policies and coordinate the provision of national government services within a larger area beyond the province level. No plebiscites have been conducted so far to democratically confirm the creation, abolition, or alteration of the boundaries of regular administrative regions, as the Constitution does not mandate it.[2]
An administrative region is not a local government unit (LGU), but rather a group of LGUs to which thepresident[3] has provided an unelected policy-making and coordinating structure, called the Regional Development Council (RDC).[4]Metro Manila, formally the National Capital Region, is recognized by law as a "special development and administrative region", and was thus given ametropolitan authority;[5] the Metro Manila Council within the MMDA serves as the region's RDC.[4]
Administrative regions are composed of provinces and/or independent cities, or, in the case ofPateros, an independent municipality. ThePhilippine Statistics Authority further divides the LGUs of Metro Manila into four numbered geographic districts for statistical purposes.
The 1987 Constitution allows for the creation ofautonomous regions in theCordillera Central ofLuzon and in theMuslim-majority areas ofMindanao.[2] However, only theBangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and its predecessor, theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have been approved by voters in plebiscites held in1989,2001, and2019. Voters in the Cordilleras rejected autonomy in1990 and1998; hence, theCordillera Administrative Region remains a regular administrative region with no delegated powers or responsibilities.
The sole autonomous region at present, theBangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, compriseslocal government units that haveconsented by plebiscite to be placed under the authority of the Bangsamoro regional government.[6] An autonomous region, while possessing a government, is not a local government unit (LGU)per se, as the autonomous regional government's organization and structure are not defined by the Local Government Code of 1991, unlike provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays.[1] Rather, an autonomous region is a group of LGUs to whichCongress has provided via statute a very specific form of regional governance structure, along with certain powers and responsibilities.
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In the Local Government Code of 1991, alocal government unit (LGU) can take the form of a province, a city, a municipality, or a barangay.[1] All LGUs have local legislatures (Sanggunian) and local chief executives (governor, mayor, or barangay captain) that are elected by popular vote.
Per the Local Government Code of 1991, section 25, thePresident of the Philippines exercises direct supervisory authority over provinces and independent cities (i.e., highly urbanized and independent component cities); thus, LGUs that belong to these categories form theprimary level of LGUs in the Philippines.Pateros, by virtue of not belonging to any province, effectively also constitutes a primary level LGU.
Aprovince is composed of component cities and municipalities, over which it exercises supervisory authority. Each province is headed by a governor. Its legislative body is theSangguniang Panlalawigan.[1]
Three different legal classes of cities exist in the Philippines.Independent cities, of which there are currently 38 – classified either ashighly urbanized (33) orindependent component (5) cities – are cities which are not under the jurisdiction of any province. Thus, these cities are autonomously governed, do not share their tax revenues with any province, and in most cases, their residents are not eligible to elect or be elected to provincial offices. Cities that are under the political jurisdiction of a province form the third legal class of cities, calledcomponent cities. The voters in these cities are allowed to vote and run for positions in the provincial government.[1]
Municipalities are always under the jurisdiction of a province, except forPateros, which is self-governing.[1]
A city or municipality is divided intobarangays, over which it exercises supervisory authority. A city or municipality is headed by a mayor. TheSangguniang Panlungsod is the legislative body for cities andSangguniang Bayan for municipalities.[1]
Thebarangay is the smallest local government unit in the Philippines.[1] Although "barangay" is sometimestranslated into English as "village", a barangay can be:
Each barangay is headed by aBarangay Captain. Its local legislative body is theSangguniang Barangay.[1]
The Philippines is broadly divided into three traditionalisland groups:Luzon, theVisayas, andMindanao. ThePhilippine flag's three stars are often taken to represent each of these geographical groupings. These island groups, however, have no specific administrative bodies, either elected or appointed, although many agencies and institutions, both government and private, use island groupings for certain purposes. For example, thePalarong Pambansa rotates yearly hosting duties among the island groups, while theLeague of Municipalities of the Philippines organizes its members and meetings by Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao "clusters."[7]
Some LGUs use geographic divisions that are solely used for administrative purposes.
Certain cities officially organize their constituentbarangays into geographic districts:
Three cities also officially organize their barangays into numbered zones:Caloocan(Zones 1–16),Manila (Zones 1–100), andPasay(Zones 1–20). The 100 zones in Manila serve as an administrative layer immediately below the geographic district level.
Many barangay names contain the words "district" (170 barangays)[9] or "zone" (264 barangays),[10] but they are fully functioning barangays and are not just mere administrative categories.
Many barangays are divided intositios andpuroks. Sitios are usuallyhamlets within rural barangays where human settlement ispolycentric, i.e., multiple communities spread across a wide area, separated by farmland, mountains, or water. Puroks are often neighborhoods or zones in densely populated areas of barangays of more urban character. Purok and sitio boundaries are rarely defined precisely and may use natural landmarks such as roads, rivers or other natural features to unofficially delineate divisions. A single sitio or purok, or groups of these, form the basis of creating a new barangay.
Sitios and puroks are not local government units and therefore do not officially have an organized government subordinate to the barangay. However, there are sometimes unofficial arrangements that result in direct representation of purok or sitio interests in the barangay government. For example, abarangay council member may be officially designated as a purok leader, while sitio leaders may be appointed and drawn from the hamlet's residents.
The Philippines is divided into thirteenjudicial regions, to organize the judiciary. The judicial regions still reflect the original regional configuration introduced by PresidentFerdinand Marcos duringhis rule, except for the transfer of Aurora to the third judicial region from the fourth. These judicial regions are used for the appointment of judges of the differentRegional Trial Courts.
To elect legislators at national, regional, and local levels, the Philippines is divided intolegislative districts.
The electoral constituencies for the election of territory-based members of theHouse of Representatives of the Philippines are more preciselyrepresentative orcongressional districts. Each province is guaranteed at least one seat, and more populous provinces are also provided more. Many cities that have a population of at least 250,000 inhabitants are also granted one or more seats.
If a province or a city is composed of only one legislative district, it is said to be thelone district (e.g., the "Lone District of Guimaras"). Multiple districts within more populous cities and provinces are given numerical designations (e.g., the"2nd District of Cagayan").
The electoral constituencies for the election of members of theBangsamoro Parliament will be calledparliamentary districts, theBangsamoro Transition Authority will decide the parliamentary districts for the first parliamentary elections, with the succeeding elections' districts being decided by the parliament.[11][12]
TheBangsamoro Autonomous Region's predecessor, theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (1990–2019), had aRegional Legislative Assembly (RLA) which elected three members from each of its eightassembly districts. These assembly districts were coterminous with the existing congressional districts of the time, except that the assembly districts excluded territories that are not under the jurisdiction of the ARMM (i.e.,Isabela City excluded from the assembly district ofBasilan;Cotabato City excluded from the first assembly district ofMaguindanao). Before voting for inclusion into the ARMM in 2001,Marawi City was also excluded from the first assembly district ofLanao del Sur.
The electoral constituencies for the election of territory-based members of theSangguniang Panlalawigan of all 81 provinces, theSangguniang Panlungsod of26 cities and theSangguniang Bayan ofPateros, are more preciselysanggunian districts.
The various executive departments has also divided the country into their respective districts. TheDepartment of Public Works and Highways,Department of Education, and theBureau of Internal Revenue, for example, divide the country into "engineering," "school," and "revenue" districts, respectively.
The following table summarizes the number and structure of regions, provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays in the Philippines as of April 25, 2025.[13]
| # | Type | Chief executive | Legislative body | Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | Autonomous regions | Chief minister[a] | Bangsamoro Parliament | 1 |
| Administrative regions | 17 | |||
| 1 | Provinces | Governor | Sangguniang Panlalawigan Provincial Board | 81 |
| 2 | Cities andmunicipalities | Mayor | Sangguniang Panlungsod City Council | 146 |
| Sangguniang Bayan Municipal Council | 1,488 | |||
| 3 | Barangays | Barangay captain | Sangguniang Barangay Barangay Council | 42,046 |
| Notes | ||||
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