Regions of the Philippines

Template:Politics of the Philippines In the Philippines, regions (Template:Langx; ISO 3166-2:PH) are administrative divisions that primarily serve to coordinate planning and organize national government services across multiple local government units (LGUs). Most national government offices provide services through their regional branches instead of having direct provincial or city offices. Regional offices are usually but not necessarily located in the city designated as the regional center.

As of 2024, the Philippines is divided into 18 regions. Seventeen of these are mere administrative groupings, each provided by the president of the Philippines with a regional development council (RDC) – in the case of the National Capital Region (Metro Manila), an additional metropolitan development authority serves as the coordinating and policy-making body. Only one, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, has an elected government and parliament to which the Congress of the Philippines has delegated certain powers and responsibilities.

History

Regions first came to existence on September 24, 1972, when the provinces of the Philippines were organized into eleven regions under Presidential Decree No. 1 as part of the Integrated Reorganization Plan of President Ferdinand Marcos.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Since that time, other regions have been created and some provinces have been transferred from one region to another.

Administrative Regions of the Philippines (Historical Layout)

Region No.	Region Name	Provinces
I	Ilocos Region	Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Abra
II	Cagayan Valley	Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Batanes
III	Central Luzon	Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Pangasinan
IV	Southern Tagalog	Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, Rizal, Marinduque, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental, Palawan, Romblon
V	Bicol Region	Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon
VI	Western Visayas	Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Occidental
VII	Central Visayas	Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Siquijor
VIII	Eastern Visayas	Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, Southern Leyte
IX	Western Mindanao	Basilan, Sulu, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur
X	Northern Mindanao	Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte
XI	Southern Mindanao	Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, South Cotabato, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, North Cotabato, Maguindanao

Timeline

• June 22, 1973 – Pangasinan was transferred from Region III (Central Luzon) to Region I (Ilocos Region).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• July 7, 1975 – Region XII was created, and some regions of Mindanao are reorganized.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• July 25, 1975 – Regions IX and XII were declared as Autonomous Regions in Western and Central Mindanao, respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• August 21, 1975 – Region IX was divided into Sub-Region IX-A and Sub-Region IX-B. Some regions in Mindanao are reorganized.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• November 7, 1975 – Metro Manila was created.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• January 23, 1976 – Metro Manila was separated from Southern Tagalog to become Region IV; Southern Tagalog becomes Region IV-A.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• June 2, 1978 – Metro Manila was declared the National Capital Region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• June 11, 1978 – The regional center of Region IX was transferred from Jolo, Sulu to Zamboanga City.<ref name="PD1555">Template:Cite web</ref>
• July 15, 1987 – The Cordillera Administrative Region was created.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• August 1, 1989 – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was created.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Region XII reverted to an administrative region.
• January 30, 1990 – Residents reject in a plebiscite the ratification to create the Cordillera Autonomous Region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• October 12, 1990 – Reorganization and/or renaming of the Mindanao regions: Region IX (Western Mindanao), Region X (Northern Mindanao), Region XI (Southern Mindanao), Region XII (Central Mindanao), and ARMM. Regional center of Region IX is transferred to Pagadian, with Zamboanga City remaining as the region's commercial and industrial center.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• February 23, 1995 – Region XIII (Caraga) was created and minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions; Sultan Kudarat is transferred to Region XII.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• March 7, 1998 – Residents reject in a plebiscite for the second time the ratification to create the Cordillera Autonomous Region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• December 18, 1998 – Sultan Kudarat was reverted to Region XII.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• March 31, 2001 – The ARMM was expanded.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• September 19, 2001 – Most Mindanao regions were reorganized and some are renamed, such as Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), Region XI (Davao Region), and Region XII (Soccsksargen).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• May 17, 2002 – Region IV-A (Calabarzon) and Region IV-B (Mimaropa) were created from the former Region IV (Southern Tagalog) region; Aurora is transferred to Region III.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• October 28, 2003 – Calamba, Laguna was designated as the regional center of Region IV-A.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• March 30, 2004 – Koronadal was designated as the regional center of Region XII.<ref>Template:Cite PH act.</ref>
• May 23, 2005 – Palawan was transferred from Region IV-B to Region VI (Western Visayas).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• August 19, 2005 – The transfer of Palawan to Region VI is held in abeyance.<ref>Template:Cite PH act</ref>
• November 22, 2007 – Calapan is designated as the regional center of Region IV-B.<ref>Template:Cite PH act</ref>
• May 29, 2015 – The Negros Island Region (NIR) was created. Negros Occidental and Bacolod are transferred from Region VI, and Negros Oriental is removed from Region VII (Central Visayas).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• July 17, 2016 – The Southwestern Tagalog Region (Mimaropa Region) was established comprising the former Region IV-B (in effect merely a renaming and discontinuation of the "Region IV-B" designation since no boundary changes were involved).<ref name="RA10869">Template:Cite web</ref>
• August 7, 2017 – The NIR was abolished. Negros Occidental (including Bacolod) and Negros Oriental are reverted to Regions VI and VII, respectively.<ref name="EO38">Template:Cite web</ref>
• January 25, 2019 – The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is created, replacing the ARMM after the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• June 11, 2024 – The NIR was re-established, with Siquijor transferred from Region VII.<ref name="RA12000">Template:Cite PH act</ref><ref name="rappler-nir">Template:Cite web</ref>
• September 9, 2024 – Sulu was declared not part of the BARMM.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• July 30, 2025 – Sulu was reverted to Region IX.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

List of regions

Template:As of, the Philippines is divided into 18 regions.<ref name="psa">Template:Cite web</ref> The traditional island groups of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao are composed of eight (Regions I, II, III, IV-A, and V, and CAR, NCR, and Mimaropa), four (VI, VII, VIII, and NIR), and six (IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, and BARMM) regions, respectively. The names of Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Soccsksargen are acronyms signifying their component provinces and cities; and are usually capitalized in official government documents.

Types of regions

Administrative region

An administrative region is a grouping of geographically adjacent LGUs that may be established, disestablished, and modified by the president of the Philippines based on the need to formulate coherent economic development policies, more efficiently provide national government services, and coordinate activities beneficial to the development of larger area beyond the province level. No plebiscites have been conducted so far to democratically confirm the creation, abolition or alteration of the boundaries of regular administrative regions, as the Constitution does not mandate it.<ref name="artx">Template:Cite web</ref>

An administrative region is not a local government unit (LGU), but rather a group of LGUs to which the president<ref name=eo325>Template:Cite web</ref> has provided an unelected policy-making and coordinating structure, called the Regional Development Council (RDC).<ref name=neda>Template:Cite web</ref> Metro Manila is recognized in law as a "special development and administrative region", and was thus given the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA);<ref name=ra7924>Template:Cite web</ref> the Metro Manila Council within the MMDA serves as the National Capital Region's RDC.<ref name="neda"/>

Autonomous region

The 1987 Constitution allows for the creation of autonomous regions in the Cordillera Central of Luzon and the Muslim-majority areas of Mindanao.<ref name="artx"/> However, only the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and its predecessor, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have been approved by voters in plebiscites held in 1989, 2001, and 2019. Voters in the Cordilleras rejected autonomy in 1990 and 1998; hence the Cordillera Administrative Region remains as a regular administrative region with no delegated powers or responsibilities.

The Supreme Court has ruled that an autonomous region established by statute must be composed of more than one province, thereby invalidating the proposed establishment of the Autonomous Region of Ifugao following the results of the original 1990 Cordillera autonomy plebiscite, which saw only Ifugao's voters casting a majority 'yes' vote towards autonomy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Table of regions

• Component local government units: the data column is limited to primary LGUs, which pertains to component provinces, highly urbanized cities, and independent component cities, as well as the independent municipality of Pateros. All city names, except those under the National Capital Region, are italicized.
• Location: the location map column can be sorted from north-to-south, west-to-east.

Location	Region Template:Small	Template:Abbr<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Island group	Regional center	Component local government units	AreaTemplate:Efn	Template:Abbr Template:Small<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Density
	National Capital Region Template:Small	13	Luzon	Manila	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Cordillera Administrative Region Template:Small	14	Luzon	Baguio	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Ilocos Region Template:Small	01	Luzon	San Fernando	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Cagayan Valley Template:Small	02	Luzon	Tuguegarao	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Central Luzon Template:Small	03	Luzon	San Fernando	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Calabarzon Template:Small	04	Luzon	Calamba	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Southwestern Tagalog Region Template:SmallTemplate:Efn	17	Luzon	Calapan	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Bicol Region Template:Small	05	Luzon	Legazpi	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Western Visayas Template:Small	06	Visayas	Iloilo City	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Negros Island Region Template:Small	18	Visayas	Bacolod and Dumaguete Template:Small	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Central Visayas Template:Small	07	Visayas	Cebu City	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Eastern Visayas Template:Small	08	Visayas	Tacloban	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Zamboanga Peninsula Template:Small	09	Mindanao	Pagadian	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Northern Mindanao Template:Small	10	Mindanao	Cagayan de Oro	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Davao Region Template:Small	11	Mindanao	Davao City	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Soccsksargen Template:Small	12	Mindanao	Koronadal	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Caraga Template:Small	16	Mindanao	Butuan	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
	Bangsamoro Template:SmallTemplate:Efn	19	Mindanao	Cotabato City	Template:Collapsible list	Template:Convert	Template:Number and percent	Template:Pop density
Notes Template:Notelist

Judicial regions

Template:For As far as the judiciary is concerned, specifically the first and second level courts, the country is divided into judicial regions as provided by Batas Pambansa Bilang 129. The coverage of these judicial regions generally coincides with that of the administrative regions in 1980, with some exceptions.

Legislative districts

Representation for the Interim Batasang Pambansa was mostly through parliamentary districts based on how regions were organized in 1978. Metro Manila was "Region IV", while Southern Tagalog was "Region IV-A". This was the only time the national legislature was represented via regions; in a 1984 plebiscite, voters approved a constitutional amendment that reverted to representation per province and city.

Proposed regions

• Cordillera Autonomous Region<ref name=car>Template:Cite news</ref> (proposal to convert the Cordillera Administrative Region into an autonomous region; see Cordillera autonomy movement)
• Samar Administrative Region<ref name="sar">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Bangsa Sug<ref name="sug">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> or Basulta Autonomous Region<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (proposed to separate the Sulu Archipelago from the mainland portion of Bangsamoro)

Defunct regions

The following are regions that no longer exist, listed along with their current status:

• Southern Tagalog (Region IV, now divided into Calabarzon, Central Luzon (Aurora), Metro Manila (several cities that were part of Rizal), and Mimaropa; the name remains as a cultural-geographic region only)
• Western Mindanao (renamed as Zamboanga Peninsula, still designated as Region IX)
• Central Mindanao (now mostly Soccsksargen, still designated as Region XII)
• Southern Mindanao (now mostly Davao Region, still designated as Region XI)
• Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (replaced by Bangsamoro)

See also

• List of regions of the Philippines by GDP
• Super regions of the Philippines
• Federalism in the Philippines
• ISO 3166-2:PH

External links

• National Statistical Coordination Board
• Philippine Statistics Authority