Leyte's 1st congressional district
Constituency for theHouse of Representatives of the Philippines
Boundary of Leyte's 1st congressional district inLeyte
Location of Leyte within thePhilippines
Province	Leyte
Region	Eastern Visayas
Population	534,120 (2020)[1]
Electorate	335,609 (2025)
Major settlements	8LGUs Cities Tacloban Municipalities Alangalang Babatngon Palo San Miguel Santa Fe Tanauan Tolosa
Area	988.74 km2 (381.75 sq mi)
Current constituency
Created	1907
Representative	Martin Romualdez
Political party	Lakas
Congressional bloc	Majority

Leyte's 1st congressional district is one of the fivecongressional districts of the Philippines in the province ofLeyte. It has been represented in theHouse of Representatives of the Philippines since 1916 and earlier in thePhilippine Assembly from 1907 to 1916.^[2] The district consists of the provincial capital,Tacloban, and adjacent municipalities ofAlangalang,Babatngon,Palo,San Miguel,Santa Fe,Tanauan andTolosa since 1987. It is currently represented in the20th Congress byMartin Romualdez of theLakas–CMD (Lakas), who served as theHouse Speaker from July 2022 to September 2025.^[3]

Until 1931, it consisted of the sub-province ofBiliran and the northwestern municipalities ofAlbuera,Baybay,Calubian,Leyte,Merida,Ormoc,Palompon,San Isidro, andVillaba. Following the creation of thefifth district, Albuera, Baybay, and Ormoc were redistricted to thesecond district, while other municipalities were retained;^[4]Isabel,Matag-ob, andTabango were later established as new municipalities after the district was re-created in 1945. Following the creation ofSouthern Leyte in 1959, these areas under this district were reapportioned to thethird district, and the district was redefined to consist of the city of Tacloban and the eastern municipalities ofAbuyog, Babatngon,Dulag,Javier,MacArthur,Mahaplag,Mayorga, Palo, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Tanauan, and Tolosa, all previously from thefourth district, from 1961 until its second dissolution in 1972.^[5]

Together withNegros Occidental's 3rd district, Leyte's 1st district has seen two House Speakers, tied for the most by any district:Daniel Z. Romualdez and his nephew, Martin Romualdez.

#	Image		Member	Term of office		Legislature	Party	Electoral history	Constituent LGUs
				Start	End
Leyte's 1st district for thePhilippine Assembly [edit]
District created January 9, 1907.[6][7]
1			Quiremón Alkuino	October 16, 1907	October 16, 1909	1st	Nacionalista	Elected in 1907.	1907–1909 Baybay,Caibiran,Kawayan,Leyte,Merida,Naval,Ormoc,Palompon,San Isidro
2			Estanislao Granados	October 16, 1909	October 16, 1916	2nd	Nacionalista	Elected in 1909.	1909–1916 Baybay,Biliran,Caibiran,Kawayan,Leyte,Merida,Naval,Ormoc,Palompon,San Isidro,Villaba
						3rd		Re-elected in 1912.
Leyte's 1st district for the House of Representatives of the Philippine Islands [edit]
3			Manuel B. Veloso	October 16, 1916	June 3, 1919	4th	Nacionalista	Elected in 1916.	1916–1919 Baybay,Biliran,Caibiran,Kawayan,Leyte,Maripipi,Merida,Naval,Ormoc,Palompon,San Isidro,Villaba
4			Francisco Delgado Enage	June 3, 1919	June 6, 1922	5th	Nacionalista	Elected in 1919.	1919–1931 Albuera,Baybay,Biliran,Caibiran,Calubian,Kawayan,Leyte,Maripipi,Merida,Naval,Ormoc,Palompon,San Isidro,Villaba
5			Carlos S. Tan	June 6, 1922	June 2, 1925	6th	Nacionalista Colectivista	Elected in 1922.
6			Juan Veloso	June 2, 1925	June 5, 1928	7th	Nacionalista Consolidado	Elected in 1925.
7			Bernardo Torres	June 5, 1928	June 2, 1931	8th	Nacionalista Consolidado	Elected in 1928.
(5)			Carlos S. Tan	June 2, 1931	September 16, 1935	9th	Nacionalista Consolidado	Elected in 1931.	1931–1935 Biliran,Caibiran,Calubian,Kawayan,Leyte,Maripipi,Merida,Naval,Palompon,San Isidro,Villaba
						10th	Nacionalista Democrático	Re-elected in 1934.
#	Image		Member	Term of office		National Assembly	Party	Electoral history	Constituent LGUs
				Start	End
Leyte's 1st district for theNational Assembly (Commonwealth of the Philippines) [edit]
8			Jose Maria Veloso	September 16, 1935	December 30, 1938	1st	Nacionalista Democrático	Elected in 1935.	1935–1941 Biliran,Caibiran,Calubian,Kawayan,Leyte,Maripipi,Merida,Naval,Palompon,San Isidro,Villaba
(5)			Carlos S. Tan	December 30, 1938	December 30, 1941	2nd	Nacionalista	Elected in 1938.
District dissolved into the two-seatLeyte's at-large district for theNational Assembly (Second Philippine Republic).
#	Image		Member	Term of office		Common wealth Congress	Party	Electoral history	Constituent LGUs
				Start	End
Leyte's 1st district for the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of the Philippines [edit]
District re-created May 24, 1945.
9			Mateo Canonoy	June 11, 1945	May 25, 1946	1st	Nacionalista	Elected in 1941.	1945–1946 Biliran,Caibiran,Calubian,Kawayan,Leyte,Maripipi,Merida,Naval,Palompon,San Isidro,Villaba
#	Image		Member	Term of office		Congress	Party	Electoral history	Constituent LGUs
				Start	End
Leyte's 1st district for theHouse of Representatives of the Philippines [edit]
(5)			Carlos S. Tan	May 25, 1946	November 11, 1947	1st	Liberal	Elected in 1946. Resigned onelection as senator.	1946–1949 Biliran,Caibiran,Calubian,Kawayan,Leyte,Maripipi,Merida,Naval,Palompon,San Isidro,Villaba
10			José R. Martínez	March 23, 1948	December 30, 1949		Liberal	Elected in 1948 to finish Tan's term.
(9)			Mateo Canonoy	December 30, 1949	December 30, 1953	2nd	Nacionalista	Elected in 1949.	1949–1953 Almeria,Biliran,Cabucgayan,Caibiran,Calubian,Isabel,Kawayan,Leyte,Maripipi,Merida,Naval,Palompon,San Isidro,Tabango,Villaba
(5)			Carlos S. Tan	December 30, 1953	December 30, 1957	3rd	Liberal	Elected in 1953.	1953–1957 Almeria,Biliran,Cabucgayan,Caibiran,Calubian,Culaba,Isabel,Kawayan,Leyte,Maripipi,Merida,Naval,Palompon,San Isidro,Tabango,Villaba
11			Marcelino R. Veloso	December 30, 1957	December 30, 1961	4th	Nacionalista	Elected in 1957. Redistricted to the3rd district.	1957–1961 Almeria,Biliran,Cabucgayan,Caibiran,Calubian,Culaba,Isabel,Kawayan,Leyte,Maripipi,Matag-ob,Merida,Naval,Palompon,San Isidro,Tabango,Villaba
12			Daniel Z. Romualdez	December 30, 1961	March 22, 1965	5th	Nacionalista	Redistricted from the4th district andre-elected in 1961. Died in office.	1961–1965 Abuyog,Babatngon,Bugho,Dulag,MacArthur,Mahaplag,Mayorga,Palo,San Miguel,Santa Fe,Tacloban,Tanauan,Tolosa
13			Artemio E. Mate	December 30, 1965	September 23, 1972	6th	Nacionalista	Elected in 1965.	1965–1972 Abuyog,Babatngon,Dulag,Javier,MacArthur,Mahaplag,Mayorga,Palo,San Miguel,Santa Fe,Tacloban,Tanauan,Tolosa
						7th		Re-elected in 1969. Removed from office afterimposition of martial law.
District dissolved into the ten-seat Region VIII's at-large district for the Interim Batasang Pambansa, followed by the five-seatLeyte's at-large district for the Regular Batasang Pambansa.
District re-created February 2, 1987.
14			Cirilo Roy G. Montejo	June 30, 1987	June 30, 1995	8th	UNIDO	Elected in 1987.	1987–present Alangalang,Babatngon,Palo,San Miguel,Santa Fe,Tacloban,Tanauan,Tolosa
						9th	Lakas	Re-elected in 1992.
15			Imelda Marcos	June 30, 1995	June 30, 1998	10th	KBL	Elected in 1995.
16			Alfred S. Romualdez	June 30, 1998	June 30, 2001	11th	LAMMP	Elected in 1998.
17			Ted Failon	June 30, 2001	June 30, 2004	12th	Independent	Elected in 2001.
18			Remedios L. Petilla	June 30, 2004	June 30, 2007	13th	Lakas	Elected in 2004.
19			Martin Romualdez	June 30, 2007	June 30, 2016	14th	Lakas	Elected in 2007.
						15th	Lakas	Re-elected in 2010.
						16th		Re-elected in 2013.
20			Yedda Marie Romualdez	June 30, 2016	June 30, 2019	17th	Lakas	Elected in 2016.
(19)			Martin Romualdez	June 30, 2019	Incumbent	18th	Lakas	Elected in 2019.
						19th		Re-elected in 2022.
						20th		Re-elected in 2025.

• Legislative districts of Leyte

• Congressional districts of the Philippines
• Politics of Leyte (province)
• 1907 establishments in the Philippines
• Congressional districts of Eastern Visayas
• Constituencies established in 1907

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