The Legislative districts of Davao Oriental are the representations of the province of Davao Oriental in the various national legislatures of the Philippines. The province is currently represented in the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines through its first and second districts.
Contents
History
Prior to gaining separate representation, areas now under the jurisdiction of Davao Oriental were represented under the Department of Mindanao and Sulu (1917–1935) and the historical Davao Province (1935–1967). The enactment of Republic Act No. 4867 on 8 May 1967 split the old province into Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur and Davao Oriental. Per Section 4 of R.A. 4867, the incumbent Davao Province representative was to indicate which of the three new provinces he wished to continue to represent; Rep. Lorenzo Sarmiento chose Davao del Norte, which left the seats for Davao del Sur (together grouped with the chartered city of Davao) and Davao Oriental open for the special elections scheduled for 14 November 1967. Davao Oriental comprised a single congressional district from the second half of the 6th Congress until the end of the 7th Congress.
Davao Oriental was represented in the Interim Batasang Pambansa as part of Region XI from 1978 to 1984, and returned one representative to the Regular Batasang Pambansa in 1984. The province was reapportioned into two congressional districts under the new Constitution which was proclaimed on 11 February 1987, and elected members to the restored House of Representatives starting that same year.