Sectoral representation in the Philippines refers to the now abolished system of representation in the Batasang Pambansa, then the House of Representatives of the Philippines. This has been replaced with party-list representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines.
Local legislatures were also mandated to have sectoral representatives, but only the election indigenous cultural minorities in some legislatures have seen daylight.
The Malolos Congress, Philippine Assembly, the National Assembly, and the House of Representatives, have been solely elected from electoral districts.
The 1973 constitution introduced the parliamentary system of government, in the form of the Batasang Pambansa. It also introduced sectoral representation, which was derived from fascist Italy. It was a plan by president Ferdinand Marcos to institute a corporatist system in which every sector would have a single organization approved and controlled by him, with elections derived from sectoral organizations that have separate and officially sanctioned voter lists. However, Filipino society was too fluid and democratic traditions too strong for Marcos to impost corporatism; he instead appointed legislators to represent sectors.[1]
After the ouster of Marcos in the People Power Revolution, President Corazon Aquino appointed a constitutional commission to draft a new constitution. In this commission, there was a strong support to add a party-list system in the new constitution. In transition, it was agreed to allow presidential appointment of up to 25 sectoral representatives for three legislative terms (that is, until 1998). The party-list system was first implemented during the 1998 elections.
In the Batasang Pambansa, the distribution of seats were as follows:[2]
| Allocation | Per parliament | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luzon | Visayas | Mindanao | At-large | Total | IBP | RBP | ||
| Agricultural labor | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | |
| Industrial labor | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | |
| Youth | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 | |
| Total | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 14 | 10 | |
| Sector | Allocation | Per Congress | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 8th | 9th | 10th | ||
| Labor | 25 | 3 | 8 | 9 | |
| Peasants | 2 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Youth | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||
| Urban poor | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| indigenous cultural communities | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Women | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Youth | 2 | 2 | 3 | ||
| Veterans | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Elderly | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Disabled | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 25 | 16 | 15 | 25 | |
The peasant sector covers the agricultural group, which includes all persons who personally and physically till the land as their principal occupation, agricultural tenants and lessees, rural workers and farm employees, owner-cultivators, settlers and small fishermen
| Leg | Term of office | Seat A | Seat B | Seat C | Seat D | Seat E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats created on February 7, 1978 as "agricultural labor". | |||||||
| IBP | June 12, 1978 – June 30, 1984 | N/A | |||||
| RBP | June 30, 1984 – March 25, 1986 | — | |||||
| Term expired upon dissolution of parliament on March 25, 1986. Seats renamed on June 18, 1987 as "peasant". | |||||||
| 8th | June 30, 1987 – June 30, 1992 | — | — | — | |||
| 9th | June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1995 | — | — | — | |||
| 10th | June 30, 1995 – June 30, 1998 | ||||||
| Seats dissolved with the adoption of the party-list system on 1998. | |||||||
The sector of the disabled covers the physically and socially disabled.
| Member | Term of office | Leg | Electoral history | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat created on June 18, 1987 as "disabled". | |||||
| 1 | June 30, 1987 – July 7, 1989 | 8th | |||
| 2 | Art Borjal | 1989 – June 30, 1992 | Appointed in 1989. | ||
| Seat dissolved with the adoption of the party-list system on 1998. | |||||
The indigenous cultural communities sector covers all ethnic groups cultural communities.
| Member | Term of office | Leg | Electoral history | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat created on June 18, 1987 as "indigenous cultural communities". | |||||
| 1 | Joseph Sibug | June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1995 | 9th | ||
| 2 | Ronald Adamat | June 30, 1995 – June 30, 1998 | 10th | Appointed in 1995. | |
| Seats dissolved with the adoption of the party-list system on 1998. | |||||
The labor group refers to the industrial labor group, which includes all non-agricultural workers and employees.
| Leg | Term of office | Seat A | Seat B | Seat C | Seat D | Seat E | Seat F | Seat G | Seat H | Seat I | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats created on February 7, 1978. | |||||||||||
| IBP | June 30, 1984 | N/A | |||||||||
| RBP | June 30, 1984 – March 25, 1986 | — | — | ||||||||
| Term expired upon dissolution of parliament on March 25, 1986. Seats renamed on June 18, 1987 as "labor". | |||||||||||
| 8th | June 30, 1987 – June 30, 1992 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 9th | June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1995 | — | |||||||||
| 10th | June 30, 1995 – June 30, 1998 | ||||||||||
| Seats dissolved with the adoption of the party-list system on 1998. | |||||||||||
The urban poor sector includes the underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban areas.
| Leg | Term of office | Seat A | Seat B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats created on June 18, 1987 as "urban poor". | ||||
| 8th | June 30, 1987 – June 30, 1992 | |||
| 9th | June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1995 | — | ||
| 10th | June 30, 1995 – June 30, 1998 | |||
| Seats dissolved with the adoption of the party-list system on 1998. | ||||
The veterans sector embraces persons recognized as such veterans by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The elderly sector covers persons who are sixty-five years of age or over.
This was supposedly two separate sectors, but was represented by one person in the 8th Congress.
| Member | Term of office | Leg | Electoral history | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats created on June 18, 1987 as "veterans," and "elderly". | |||||
| 1 | Dionisio Ojeda | June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1995 | 8th | Appointed in 1992. | |
| Seats dissolved with the adoption of the party-list system on 1998. | |||||
The women sector shall cover all women.
| Leg | Term of office | Seat A | Seat B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats created on June 18, 1987 as "women". | ||||
| 8th | June 30, 1987 – June 30, 1992 | — | ||
| 9th | June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1995 | — | ||
| 10th | June 30, 1995 – June 30, 1998 | |||
| Seats dissolved with the adoption of the party-list system on 1998. | ||||
In the Batasang Pambansa, the youth representatives are between 18 and 25 years of age.
In Congress, the youth sector embraces persons not more than thirty-five years of age.
| Leg | Term of office | Seat A | Seat B | Seat C | Seat D | Seat E | Seat F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats created on February 7, 1978 as "youth". | ||||||||
| IBP | June 30, 1984 | |||||||
| RBP | June 30, 1984 – March 25, 1986 | |||||||
| Term expired upon dissolution of parliament on March 25, 1986. | ||||||||
| 8th | June 30, 1987 – June 30, 1992 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 9th | June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1995 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 10th | June 30, 1995 – June 30, 1998 | — | — | — | ||||
| Seats dissolved with the adoption of the party-list system on 1998. | ||||||||
The Local Government Code of 1991 provided sectoral representation in local legislatures (Sangguniang Panlalawigan or provincial boards, Sangguniang Panlungsod or city councils, Sangguniang Bayan or municipal councils, and the Sangguniang Barangay or village councils). The Local Government Code allocated each sector in each legislature:
| Agricultural labor | 1 | |
| Industrial labor | ||
| Women | 1 | |
| Urban poor | 1 | |
| Indigenous cultural minorities | ||
| Disabled | ||
| Total | 3 |
The Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997 mandates representation for indigenous peoples in local legislatures in places that they reside. The Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) has been elected in several legislatures through out the country.[4]
The Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) is meant to represent the youth in local legislatures. SK elections are on a separate electoral roll, and has been held in mostly in conjunction with barangay elections. A series of indirect elections from the barangay level to the provincial level allows for representation of the SK in local legislatures.
The Bangsamoro Organic Law provides sectoral representation in the Bangsamoro Parliament. Eight seats, or 10% the seats in parliament are allocated for these sectors:[5]
| Sector | Total | |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Moro indigenous peoples (i.e. lumads) | 2 | |
| Settler communities | 2 | |
| Women | 1 | |
| Youth | 1 | |
| Traditional leaders | 1 | |
| The ulama | 1 | |
| Total | 8 |