Members of the House of Representatives always seem to multiply with each passing Congress, be it due to the results of the elections or a piece of legislation.
One such bill filed in the 19th Congress, House Bill (HB) No.6651, could ultimately lead to the increase in the number of House members or congressmen.
Filed by Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, HB No.6651 is titled, "An Act providing for the general reapportionment of the legislative districts of the Philippines pursuant to the 2017 census".
Rodriguez--citing Section 5 of Article VI of the Constitution--said Congress shall make a reapportionment of legislative districts within three years following the return of every census.
“However, Congress does not make reapportionment of legislative districts within three years of the return of every census as mandated by the Constitution. Instead, new legislative districts are created through law, which are usually influenced by political motivation,” the author said in his bill.
Based on HB 6651, legislative districts will be reapportioned with a minimum population of at least 400,000 per district based on the 2017 census, provided that no existing district shall be deprived of its representation.
"Each city with a population of at least 250,000 or each province shall have at least one representative in the House of Representatives," the measure stated.
There are 109 million Filipinos according to the 2020 census.
There are currently 251 sitting district representatives or congressmen in the current 19th Congress. Add to this the 61 winning party-list representatives in the May 2022 elections, and you have a total of 312 solons in the lower chamber.
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https://mb.com.ph/2022/11/07/meet-the-houses-newest-member-milagros-aquino-magsaysay/
The winning sectoral lawmakers do not have a fixed number.
For context, during the 10th Congress, there were only a total of 224 House members.
During the 15th Congress or the start of the administration of the late former president Benigno S. Aquino III, there were 279 members in the lower chamber.
This figure jumped to 297 when former president Rodrigo Duterte took over Malacañang during the 17th Congress.
The Rodriguez bill, filed last Dec. 13, is currently pending before the Committee on Local Government.