Cotabato's at-large congressional district may refer to several instances when a provincewideat-large district was used for elections toPhilippine national legislatures from the formerly undivided province ofCotabato before 1987.
Thesingle-member district was first created ahead of the1935 Philippine legislative election following the 1934constitutional convention where voters in the province had been selected in electing a delegate for Cotabato.[1] Cotabato had been admitted as a special province under theDepartment of Mindanao and Sulu since 1914 but was only previously represented through a multi-member delegation appointed by theGovernor General covering all ofMindanao territory exceptMisamis andSurigao beginning in 1916.[2] The district encompassed the entire territory formerly known as the Cotabato District that was previously organized underMoro Province in 1903 from the same Spanish politico-military district (Distrito Quinto de Cotabato) that existed since 1860.[3] The Spanish district was earlier represented in theMalolos Congress of the nascentFirst Philippine Republic by two delegates fromLuzon.[4]
Datu Balabaran Sinsúat of theNacionalista Demócrata Pro-Independencia was elected as the single-member district's first representative in 1935 by a select group of electors composed of municipal and municipal district presidents, vice-presidents and councilors, among others.[5][6] The first time a representative from the province was elected through popular vote was during the succeeding1938 Philippine legislative election after the passage of Commonwealth Act No. 44 in 1936 which removed the restrictions on qualified voters in the former Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes-designated jurisdiction.[7]
Cotabato was also represented as a plural member constituency in theSecond Republic National Assembly during the Pacific War. It reverted to single-member representation for the restored Commonwealth andThird RepublicHouse of Representatives and continued to elect representatives even after 13 of its southern municipalities separated to form the province ofSouth Cotabato in 1966.[8] Following a shift to parliamentary system, districts were replaced by multi-member regional constituencies where Cotabato, further reduced and split into three provinces in 1973, was represented as part ofRegion XII's at-large district.[9] When provincial and city district representation was restored in 1984, North Cotabato, which assumed the original Cotabato name, was represented by two delegates.[10][5]
The district was dissolved after the province was apportioned two seats under the 1987 constitution.[11]
| # | Term of office | National Assembly | Seat A | Seat B | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | Image | Member | Party | Electoral history | Image | Member | Party | Electoral history | ||||||
Cotabato's at-large district for theMalolos Congress[edit] | |||||||||||||||
| District created June 18, 1898.[4][12] | |||||||||||||||
| – | September 15, 1898 | March 23, 1901 | 1st |  | José M. Lerma | Independent | Appointed. |  | Pedro Layug Villaluz | Independent | Appointed. | ||||
| # | Term of office | National Assembly | Single seat | Seats eliminated | |||||||||||
| Start | End | Image | Member | Party | Electoral history | ||||||||||
Cotabato's at-large district for theNational Assembly (Commonwealth of the Philippines)[edit] | |||||||||||||||
| District re-created February 8, 1935.[1] | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | September 16, 1935 | December 30, 1938 | 1st |  | Balabaran Sinsuat | Nacionalista Demócrata Pro-Independencia | Elected in 1935. | ||||||||
| 2 | December 30, 1938 | December 30, 1941 | 2nd |  | Ugalingan Piang | Nacionalista | Elected in 1938. | ||||||||
| # | Term of office | National Assembly | Seat A | Seat B | |||||||||||
| Start | End | Image | Member | Party | Electoral history | Image | Member | Party | Electoral history | ||||||
Cotabato's at-large district for theNational Assembly (Second Philippine Republic)[edit] | |||||||||||||||
| District re-created September 7, 1943.[13] | |||||||||||||||
| – | September 25, 1943 | February 2, 1944 | 1st |  | Menandang Piang | KALIBAPI | Elected in 1943. | Alfonso A. Pablo | KALIBAPI | Appointed as anex officio member. | |||||
| # | Term of office | Common wealth Congress | Single seat | Seats eliminated | |||||||||||
| Start | End | Image | Member | Party | Electoral history | ||||||||||
Cotabato's at-large district for the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of the Philippines[edit] | |||||||||||||||
| District re-created May 24, 1945. | |||||||||||||||
| (2) | June 9, 1945 | May 25, 1946 | 1st | | Ugalingan Piang | Nacionalista | Re-elected in 1941. | ||||||||
| # | Term of office | Congress | Single seat | ||||||||||||
| Start | End | Image | Member | Party | Electoral history | ||||||||||
Cotabato's at-large district for theHouse of Representatives of the Philippines[edit] | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | May 25, 1946 | November 19, 1949 | 1st | Gumbay Piang | Liberal | Elected in 1946. Died in office. | |||||||||
| 4 | December 30, 1949 | December 30, 1953 | 2nd | .jpg) | Blah T. Sinsuat | Nacionalista | Elected in 1949. | ||||||||
| 5 | December 30, 1953 | December 30, 1957 | 3rd |  | Luminog Mangelen | Nacionalista | Elected in 1953. | ||||||||
| 6 | December 30, 1957 | September 23, 1972 | 4th |  | Salipada Pendatun | Nacionalista | Elected in 1957. | ||||||||
| 5th | Liberal | Re-elected in 1961. | |||||||||||||
| 6th | Re-elected in 1965. | ||||||||||||||
| 7th | Re-elected in 1969. Removed from office afterimposition of martial law. | ||||||||||||||
| District dissolved into the eight-seatRegion XII's at-large district for theInterim Batasang Pambansa. | |||||||||||||||
| # | Term of office | Batasang Pambansa | Seat A | Seat B | |||||||||||
| Start | End | Image | Member | Party | Electoral history | Image | Member | Party | Electoral history | ||||||
Cotabato's at-large district for theRegular Batasang Pambansa[edit] | |||||||||||||||
| District re-created February 1, 1984.[14] | |||||||||||||||
| – | July 23, 1984 | March 25, 1986 | 2nd | Tomas B. Baga Jr. | KBL | Elected in 1984. | Carlos B. Cajelo | KBL | Elected in 1984. | ||||||
| District dissolved intoCotabato's 1st and2nd districts. | |||||||||||||||
