In the Philippines, regions (; 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 2019, the Philippines is divided into 17 regions. 16 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 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. Since that time, other regions have been created and some provinces have been transferred from one region to another.
Timeline
June 22, 1973 – Pangasinan is transferred from Central Luzon (Region III) to the Ilocos Region (Region I). July 7, 1975 – Region XII is created, and some regions of Mindanao are reorganized. July 25, 1975 – Regions IX and XII are declared as Autonomous Regions in Western and Central Mindanao, respectively. August 21, 1975 – Region IX is divided into Sub-Region IX-A and Sub-Region IX-B. Some regions in Mindanao are reorganized. November 7, 1975 – Metro Manila is created. January 23, 1976 – Metro Manila is separated from Southern Tagalog to become Region IV; Southern Tagalog becomes Region IV-A. June 2, 1978 – Metro Manila is declared the National Capital Region. June 11, 1978 – The regional center of Region IX is transferred from Jolo, Sulu, to Zamboanga City. July 15, 1987 – The Cordillera Administrative Region is created. August 1, 1989 – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is created. Region XII reverted to an administrative region. January 30, 1990 – Residents reject in a plebiscite the ratification to create the Cordillera Autonomous Region. October 12, 1990 – Executive Order No. 429 is issued by President Corazon Aquino to reorganize the Mindanao regions, but the reorganization never happened (possibly due to lack of government funds). February 23, 1995 – Region XIII (Caraga) is created and minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions; Sultan Kudarat is transferred to Region XII. 1997 – Minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions. March 7, 1998 – Residents reject in a plebiscite the ratification to create the Cordillera Autonomous Region. December 18, 1998 – Sultan Kudarat is reverted to Region XII. March 31, 2001 – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is expanded. September 19, 2001 – Most Mindanao regions are reorganized and some are renamed. May 17, 2002 – Region IV-A (Calabarzon) and Region IV-B (Mimaropa) are created from the former Region IV (Southern Tagalog) region; Aurora is transferred to Region III. May 23, 2005 – Palawan is transferred from Region IV-B to Region VI; Mimaropa is renamed to Mimaro. August 19, 2005 – The transfer of Palawan to Region VI is held in abeyance. May 29, 2015 – The Negros Island Region (NIR) is created. July 17, 2016 – Republic Act No. 10879 establishes the Southwestern Tagalog Region (Mimaropa Region) from the former Region IV-B (in effect merely a renaming and discontinuation of the "Region IV-B" designation since no boundary changes were involved). August 9, 2017 – Executive Order No. 38 is signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, abolishing the Negros Island Region. January 25, 2019 – The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is created, replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) after Republic Act No. 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law is "deemed ratified" on January 25, 2019, following the January 21 plebiscite.
List of regions
, the Philippines is divided into 17 regions. 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), three (VI, VII, and VIII), 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.