Provinces of the Philippines

Map of the Philippines showing all the regions and their provinces. See the full-size version

A province (lalawigan or probinsya in Filipino) is the primary local government unit in the Philippines. As of 2002, there are a total of 79 provinces. The provinces are grouped into 17 regions (rehiyon) and are subdivided into cities (lungsod) and municipalities (bayan).

For purposes of legislative representation, the province is divided into one or more districts (distrito). Each city or municipality belongs to one of these districts. One congressman (kinatawan) represents each district in the House of Representatives. Every district also has board members in the Provincial Board (see the succeeding section on the Provincial Government).

Provincial Government

The provincial government has an executive and a legislative branch. The judicial powers in the province is under the supervision of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. The provincial government is an autonomous unit, given direct supervision of the affairs of the province. The president of the Philippines coordinates with the provinces through the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Executive Branch

The provincial government is headed by a governor (gobernador) who is the chief executive and head of the province. Under the governor are the various provincial departments such as the Administration, Legal Office, Information Office, Engineering Office, and Treasury Office.

The governor is elected a term of three years and may be elected for a maximum of three terms. The provincial department heads are appointed by the governor.

Legislative Branch

Heading the legislature of the province is the vice-governor (bise-gobernador) who presides over the Provincial Board (Sangguniang Panlalawigan), which is composed of board members from each district in the province. Depending on the income class of the province, it may either have eight or ten board members. First and second class provinces have ten board members while third and fourth class provinces have eight. Negros Occidental and Cebu are exceptions, having 12 board members each.

The board also has, as ex-officio members, the provincial president of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) (Liga ng mga Barangay), the provincial president of the Philippine Councilors League (PCL), and the provincial president of Sanggunian Kabataan (SK) Federation (the youth council).

All of the board members are elected by the citizens of the province along with the governor. The ex-officio members are elected within their organizations.

List of Provinces

Province	Capital	Region	Population	Area (km²)	Pop. Density (per km²)
Abra	Bangued	CAR	209,491	3,975.6	52.7
Agusan del Norte	Butuan City	XIII	552,849	2,590.0	213.5
Agusan del Sur	Prosperidad	XIII	559,294	8,966.0	62.4
Aklan	Kalibo	VI	451,314	1,817.9	248.3
Albay	Legazpi City	V	1,090,907	2,552.6	427.4
Antique	San Jose	VI	471,088	2,522.0	186.8
Apayao	Kabugao	CAR	97,129	3,927.9	24.7
Aurora	Baler	III	173,797	3,239.5	53.6
Basilan	Isabela City	ARMM	259,796	1,234.2	210.5
Bataan	Balanga City	III	557,659	1,373.0	406.2
Batanes	Basco	II	16,467	209.3	78.7
Batangas	Batangas City	IV-A	1,905,348	3,165.8	601.9
Benguet	La Trinidad	CAR	582,515	2,655.4	219.4
Biliran	Naval	VIII	140,274	555.5	252.5
Bohol	Tagbilaran City	VII	1,137,268	4,117.3	276.2
Bukidnon	Malaybalay City	X	1,060,265	8,293.8	127.8
Bulacan	Malolos	III	2,234,088	2,625.0	851.1
Cagayan	Tuguegarao City	II	993,580	9,002.7	110.4
Camarines Norte	Daet	V	458,840	2,112.5	217.2
Camarines Sur	Pili	V	1,551,549	5,266.8	294.6
Camiguin	Mambajao	X	74,232	229.8	323.0
Capiz	Roxas City	VI	654,156	2,633.2	248.4
Catanduanes	Virac	V	215,356	1,511.5	142.5
Cavite	Imus	IV-A	2,063,161	1,287.6	1,602.3
Cebu	Cebu City	VII	3,356,137	5,088.4	659.6
Compostela Valley	Nabunturan	XI	580,244	4,667.0	124.3
Cotabato	Kidapawan City	XII	958,643	6,569.9	145.9
Davao	Tagum City	XI	743,811	3,463.0	214.8
Davao del Sur	Digos City	XI	1,905,917	6,377.6	298.8
Davao Oriental	Mati	XI	446,191	5,164.5	86.4
Eastern Samar	Borongan	VIII	375,822	4,339.6	86.6
Guimaras	Jordan	VI	141,450	604.7	233.9
Ifugao	Ifugao	CAR	161,623	2,517.8	64.2
Ilocos Norte	Laoag City	I	514,241	3,399.3	151.3
Ilocos Sur	Vigan City	I	594,206	2,579.6	230.3
Iloilo	Iloilo City	VI	1,925,002	4,719.4	407.9
Isabela	Ilagan	II	1,287,575	10,664.6	120.7
Kalinga	Tabuk	CAR	174,023	3,119.7	55.8
La Union	San Fernando City	I	657,945	1,493.1	440.7
Laguna	Santa Cruz	IV-A	1,965,872	1,759.7	1,117.2
Lanao del Norte	Tubod	X	758,123	3,092.0	245.2
Lanao del Sur	Marawi City	ARMM	800,162	3,872.9	206.6
Leyte	Tacloban City	VIII	1,592,336	5,712.8	278.7
Maguindanao	Shariff Aguak	ARMM	801,102	4,900.1	163.5
Marinduque	Boac	IV-B	217,392	959.3	226.6
Masbate	Masbate City	V	707,668	4,047.7	174.8
Misamis Occidental	Oroquieta City	X	486,723	1,939.3	251.0
Misamis Oriental	Cagayan de Oro City	X	1,126,215	3,570.0	315.5
Mountain Province	Bontoc	CAR	140,439	2,097.3	67.0
Negros Occidental	Bacolod City	VI	2,565,723	7,926.1	323.7
Negros Oriental	Dumaguete City	VII	1,126,061	5,402.3	208.4
Northern Samar	Catarman	VIII	500,639	3,498.0	143.1
Nueva Ecija	Palayan City	III	1,659,883	5,284.3	314.1
Nueva Vizcaya	Bayombong	II	366,962	3,903.9	94.0
Occidental Mindoro	Mamburao	IV-B	380,250	5,879.9	64.7
Oriental Mindoro	Calapan City	IV-B	681,818	4,364.7	156.2
Palawan	Puerto Princesa City	IV-B	755,412	14,896.3	50.7
Pampanga	San Fernando City	III	1,882,730	2,180.7	863.4
Pangasinan	Lingayen	I	2,434,086	5,368.2	453.4
Quezon	Lucena City	IV-A	1,679,030	8,706.6	192.8
Quirino	Cabarroguis	II	148,575	3,057.2	48.6
Rizal	Antipolo City	IV-A	1,707,218	1,308.9	1,304.3
Romblon	Romblon	IV-B	264,357	1,355.9	195.0
Samar	Catbalogan	VIII	641,124	5,591.0	114.7
Sarangani	Alabel	XII	410,622	2,980.0	137.8
Siquijor	Siquijor	VII	81,598	343.5	237.5
Sorsogon	Sorsogon City	V	650,535	2,141.4	303.8
South Cotabato	Koronadal City	XII	1,102,550	4,489.0	245.6
Southern Leyte	Maasin City	VIII	360,160	1,734.8	207.6
Sultan Kudarat	Isulan	XII	586,505	4,714.8	124.4
Sulu	Jolo	ARMM	619,668	1,600.4	387.2
Surigao del Norte	Surigao City	XIII	481,416	2,739.0	175.8
Surigao del Sur	Tandag	XIII	501,808	4,552.2	110.2
Tarlac	Tarlac City	III	1,068,783	3,053.4	350.0
Tawi-Tawi	Panglima Sugala	ARMM	322,317	1,087.4	296.4
Zambales	Iba	III	627,802	3,714.4	169.0
Zamboanga del Norte	Dipolog City	IX	823,130	6,618.0	124.4
Zamboanga del Sur	Pagadian City	IX	1,437,941	4,964.1	289.7
Zamboanga Sibugay	Ipil	IX	497,239	3,087.9	161.0

External Links

• League of Provinces of the Philippines

Referenced By