Administrative divisions of the Philippines

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Administrative divisions
of the Philippines

Autonomous region[show]

Provinces and ind. cities[show]

Municipalities and comp. cities[show]

Barangays[show]

Sub-barangay

[show]

Other

[show]

Administrative division codes (ISO) (FIPS)

The Philippines has four main classes of elected administrative divisions, often lumped together
as local government units (LGUs). They are, from the highest to the lowest division:
1. Autonomous regions
2. Provinces (lalawigan, probinsiya) and independent cities (lungsod, siyudad/ciudad,
dakbayan, lakanbalen)
3. Municipalities (bayan, balen, bungto, banwa) and component cities (lungsod,
siyudad/ciudad, dakbayan, dakbanwa, lakanbalen)

4. Barangays (also known as barrio)

Beyond the above divisions, there other divisions that are frequently mentioned but differ in
significant ways. Specifically, they do not have separate governments or independent budgets. The
national government groups provinces and independent cities intonational government regions, e.g.
Metro Manila or Region VI. Also. a barangay may be informally or formally sub-divided
into sitiosand puroks. Neither the national government's regions nor a barangay's sitios or puroks
have elected leaders or government branches.
Other divisions exist for specific narrower purposes:
1. Legislative districts for the House of Representatives, Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial
boards), several Sangguniang Panlungsod (city councils) and the Pateros Municipal
Council.
2. Judicial regions for the Regional Trial Courts.
3. Districts for specific government agencies such as "Revenue Districts" for the Bureau of
Internal Revenue, "School Districts" for the Department of Education, and "Engineering
Districts" for the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Contents
[hide]

1Local government units

o

1.1Autonomous region

1.2Provinces

1.3Cities and municipalities

1.4Barangays

2Other divisions
o

2.1Island groups

2.2Administrative regions

2.3Judicial regions

2.4Legislative districts

2.5Zones

2.6Sitios and puroks

2.7Other governmental bodies

3Statistics

4See also

5References

Local government units[edit]

Further information: Local government in the Philippines and List of primary local government units
of the Philippines

Local government hierarchy. The dashed lines emanating from the president means that the President only
exercises general supervision on local government.

The Philippines is divided into provinces and independent cities. Provinces in turn are divided into
component cities and municipalities. All independent cities, component cities and municipalities are
divided into barangays.[1]
All these (provinces, cities and municipalities, and barangays) elect their own legislatures and
executives and are called collectively "local government units" or LGUs.[1] There is also a single
autonomous region, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is composed of
provinces and independent cities and has its own elected government.
Administrative Regions

Ilocos Region (Region I)

Cagayan Valley (Region II)

Central Luzon (Region III)

Calabarzon (Region IV-A)

Mimaropa (Region IV-B)

Bicol Region (Region V)

Western Visayas (Region VI)

Central Visayas (Region VII)

Autonomous Region

Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)

Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)

Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX)

Northern Mindanao (Region X)

Davao Region (Region XI)

Soccsksargen (Region XII)

Caraga (Region XIII)

Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

National Capital Region (NCR)

Negros Island Region (NIR/Region XVIII)

Provinces

Abra

Agusan del Norte

Agusan del Sur

Aklan

Albay

Antique

Apayao

Aurora

Basilan

Bataan

Batanes

Batangas

Benguet

Biliran

Bohol

Bukidnon

Bulacan

Cagayan

Camarines Norte

Camarines Sur

Camiguin

Capiz

Catanduanes

Cavite

Cebu

Compostela Valley

Cotabato

Davao del Norte

Davao del Sur

Davao Occidental

Davao Oriental

Dinagat Islands

Eastern Samar

Guimaras

Ifugao

Ilocos Norte

Ilocos Sur

Iloilo

Isabela

Kalinga

La Union

Laguna

Lanao del Norte

Lanao del Sur

Leyte

Maguindanao

Marinduque

Masbate

Misamis Occidental

Misamis Oriental

Mountain Province

Negros Occidental

Negros Oriental

Northern Samar

Nueva Ecija

Nueva Vizcaya

Occidental Mindoro

Oriental Mindoro

Palawan

Pampanga

Pangasinan

Quezon

Quirino

Rizal

Romblon

Samar

Sarangani

Siquijor

Sorsogon

South Cotabato

Southern Leyte

Sultan Kudarat

Sulu

Surigao del Norte

Surigao del Sur

Tarlac

Tawi-Tawi

Zambales

Zamboanga del Norte

Zamboanga del Sur

Zamboanga Sibugay

Cities and Municipalities

See: List of cities in the Philippines and List of cities and municipalities in the Philippines

Barangays

See: Lists of barangays in Philippine provinces

A map of provinces with national government regions

Autonomous region[edit]
The Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is an autonomous region. Unlike other
administrative regions, autonomous regions have additional political power, and have a regional
governor and assembly. In addition, the constitution allows for the creation of autonomous region in
the Cordillera Central. However, only the ARMM has been approved by voters in a plebiscite. Voters
in the Cordilleras have rejected autonomy in 1990 and 1998; hence the Cordillera Administrative
Region remains as a regular administrative region with no added powers or officials.

Provinces[edit]
Main article: Provinces of the Philippines
Each province is headed by a governor. Its legislative body is the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan composed of the different members from Sanggunian districts, which in most cases
are contiguous to the congressional districts.[1]

Cities and municipalities[edit]

Main articles: Cities of the Philippines and Municipalities of the Philippines
Regions, aside from having provinces may also have independent cities. Independent cities,
classified either as highly urbanized or independent component cities, are cities which are not under
the jurisdiction of a province. These cities are not administered by their mother provinces, do not
share their tax revenues with the province, and in most cases their residents are not eligible to elect
or be elected to provincial offices.[1]
Cities that are politically a part of a province are called component cities. The voters in these cities
are allowed to vote and run for positions in the provincial government. [1]
Municipalities are always components of a province, except Pateros, Metro Manila, which is
independent.[1]
Cities and municipalities are headed by a mayor. The legislative arm of these units are
the Sangguniang Panlungsod for cities and Sangguniang Bayan for municipalities, which are
composed of councilors elected at-large or in some cases, by Sanggunian district. [1]

Barangays[edit]
Main article: Barangay
All cities and municipalities are further divided into barangays. The barangay is the smallest Local
Government Unit in the Philippines.[1] "Barangay" is sometimes translated into English as "village".
Each barangay is headed by a Barangay Captain (Filipino: Punong Barangay).[1]
Gated communities may either form part of a barangay or constitute an entire barangay by itself. An
example of a barangay coterminous with a gated community is Forbes Park, Makati City.

Other divisions[edit]

The non-administrative regions ofLuzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao

A map of judicial regions

Legislative districts for the 16th Congress of the Philippines

Island groups[edit]
Main article: Island groups of the Philippines
The Philippines is broadly divided into three regions according to their specific island
group: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. These regions are reflected in the name of the national
government's formal regions (e.g. Western Visayas) but they have no administrative bodies, either
elected or appointed.

Administrative regions[edit]
Main article: Regions of the Philippines
Administrative regions are administrative groupings of provinces; these don't have political power of
any sort.
All but one region is divided into provinces. Metro Manila (the National Capital Region) is not divided
into provinces, but instead is divided directly into cities and municipalities. The cities and
municipalities of Metro Manila are grouped together into non-functional districts for administrative
purposes.
The Supreme Court has ruled that a region must be composed of more than one province.[2]

Judicial regions[edit]
Main article: Regional Trial Court
The Philippines is divided into thirteen judicial regions, for the purpose of organizing the judiciary.
The judicial regions still reflect the original regional configuration introduced by President Ferdinand
Marcos during his 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 different Regional Trial Courts.

Legislative districts[edit]
Main article: Legislative districts of the Philippines
For the purpose of electing representatives to the Philippine House of Representatives, the country
is divided into legislative districts. Each province or independent city has at least one representative.
If the population is more than 250,000 people, they may have two or more. The borders of the

district are redrawn, known as redistricting, by the passage of an act of Congress, and signed by the
president, a process that only happens rarely and only for a limited area.
If a province or a city is composed of only one legislative district, it said to be the lone district (for
example, the "Lone district of Muntinlupa City").
For purposes of representation in the local assemblies, legislative districts are also used. In cases
where a province or city has two or more House of Representative districts, their regional assembly
(for provinces under the ARMM) and provincial board districts are coextensive with those
congressional districts. In cases of independent cities included in a province's congressional district,
they are not included in these provincial board districts. For provinces, certain cities and
municipalities (Pateros) composed of a single congressional district, they are also divided into
provincial board or city/municipal council districts. Other cities and municipalities and all barangays
are composed of an "at-large" district in electing members of their respective assemblies.

Zones[edit]
In Caloocan, Manila and Pasay, barangays are grouped into zones. These zones are for
administrative purposes only and do not have elected officials. Other barangays in other places may
have "zone" as part of their name but are fully functioning barangays.

Sitios and puroks[edit]

Some barangays are divided into sitios and puroks. Sitios are most common in rural barangays
where human settlement is polycentric, with multiple communities spread across a wide area,
separated by farmland, mountains, or water (e.g. a barangay encompassing different islands).
Puroks are often found in densely populated areas of barangays categorized as urban, but outside
of a major metropolis, and in population-dense areas of barangays of rural municipalities. Puroks
and sitio boundaries are rarely defined precisely, and may use natural landmarks such as roads,
rivers or other natural features to unofficially delineate divisions. They are not a Local Government
Unit and their officials are not elected in regular general elections. The selection process for sitio and
purok leaders may vary from one barangay to another. There are cases where a barangay council
member is officially designated as a purok leader, while sitio leaders may be appointed and drawn
from the hamlet's own residents.

Other governmental bodies[edit]

The various executive departments has also divided the country into their own respective districts.
The Department of Public Works and Highways and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, for example,
divide the country into several "engineering" or "revenue" districts.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

(1987)

Article X: Local Government[edit]

General Provisions[edit]
Section 1. The territorial and political subdivisions of the Republic of the Philippines are the
provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays. There shall be autonomous regions in
Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras as hereinafter provided.
Section 2. The territorial and political subdivisions shall enjoy local autonomy.
Section 3. The Congress shall enact a local government code which shall provide for a more
responsive and accountable local government structure instituted through a system of
decentralization with effective mechanisms of recall, initiative, and referendum, allocate
among the different local government units their powers, responsibilities, and resources, and
provide for the qualifications, election, appointment and removal, term, salaries, powers and
functions and duties of local officials, and all other matters relating to the organization and
operation of the local units.
Section 4. The President of the Philippines shall exercise general supervision over local
governments. Provinces with respect to component cities and municipalities, and cities and
municipalities with respect to component barangays, shall ensure that the acts of their
component units are within the scope of their prescribed powers and functions.
Section 5. Each local government unit shall have the power to create its own sources of
revenues and to levy taxes, fees and charges subject to such guidelines and limitations as
the Congress may provide, consistent with the basic policy of local autonomy. Such taxes,
fees, and charges shall accrue exclusively to the local governments.
Section 6. Local government units shall have a just share, as determined by law, in the
national taxes which shall be automatically released to them.
Section 7. Local governments shall be entitled to an equitable share in the proceeds of the
utilization and development of the national wealth within their respective areas, in the
manner provided by law, including sharing the same with the inhabitants by way of direct
benefits.
Section 8. The term of office of elective local officials, except barangay officials, which shall
be determined by law, shall be three years and no such official shall serve for more than
three consecutive terms. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not
be considered as an interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term for which he
was elected.
Section 9. Legislative bodies of local governments shall have sectoral representation as
may be prescribed by law.
Section 10. No province, city, municipality, or barangay may be created, divided, merged,
abolished, or its boundary substantially altered, except in accordance with the criteria

established in the local government code and subject to approval by a majority of the votes
cast in a plebiscite in the political units directly affected.
Section 11. The Congress may, by law, create special metropolitan political subdivisions,
subject to a plebiscite as set forth in Section 10 hereof. The component cities and
municipalities shall retain their basic autonomy and shall be entitled to their own local
executive and legislative assemblies. The jurisdiction of the metropolitan authority that will
thereby be created shall be limited to basic services requiring coordination.
Section 12. Cities that are highly urbanized, as determined by law, and component cities
whose charters prohibit their voters from voting for provincial elective officials, shall be
independent of the province. The voters of component cities within a province, whose
charters contain no such prohibition, shall not be deprived of their right to vote for elective
provincial officials.
Section 13. Local government units may group themselves, consolidate or coordinate their
efforts, services, and resources for purposes commonly beneficial to them in accordance
with law.
Section 14. The President shall provide for regional development councils or other similar
bodies composed of local government officials, regional heads of departments and other
government offices, and representatives from non-governmental organizations within the
regions for purposes of administrative decentralization to strengthen the autonomy of the
units therein and to accelerate the economic and social growth and development of the units
in the region.

Autonomous Regions[edit]
Section 15. There shall be created autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and in the
Cordilleras consisting of provinces, cities, municipalities, and geographical areas sharing
common and distinctive historical and cultural heritage, economic and social structures, and
other relevant characteristics within the framework of this Constitution and the national
sovereignty as well as territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines.
Section 16. The President shall exercise general supervision over autonomous regions to
ensure that laws are faithfully executed.
Section 17. All powers, functions, and responsibilities not granted by this Constitution or by
law to the autonomous regions shall be vested in the National Government.
Section 18. The Congress shall enact an organic act for each autonomous region with the
assistance and participation of the regional consultative commission composed of
representatives appointed by the President from a list of nominees from multi-sectoral
bodies. The organic act shall define the basic structure of government for the region
consisting of the executive department and legislative assembly, both of which shall be
elective and representative of the constituent political units. The organic acts shall likewise

provide for special courts with personal, family, and property law jurisdiction consistent with
the provisions of this Constitution and national laws.
The creation of the autonomous region shall be effective when approved by majority of the
votes cast by the constituent units in a plebiscite called for the purpose, provided that only
provinces, cities, and geographic areas voting favorably in such plebiscite shall be included
in the autonomous region.
Section 19. The first Congress elected under this Constitution shall, within eighteen months
from the time of organization of both Houses, pass the organic acts for the autonomous
regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras.
Section 20. Within its territorial jurisdiction and subject to the provisions of this Constitution
and national laws, the organic act of autonomous regions shall provide for legislative powers
over:
(1) Administrative organization;
(2) Creation of sources of revenues;
(3) Ancestral domain and natural resources;
(4) Personal, family, and property relations;
(5) Regional urban and rural planning development;
(6) Economic, social, and tourism development;
(7) Educational policies;
(8) Preservation and development of the cultural heritage; and
(9) Such other matters as may be authorized by law for the promotion of the general welfare
of the people of the region.
Section 21. The preservation of peace and order within the regions shall be the
responsibility of the local police agencies which shall be organized, maintained, supervised,
and utilized in accordance with applicable laws. The defense and security of the regions shall
be the responsibility of the National Government.