Rethinking the Regions of the Philippines
The Philippines today is composed of 17 regions. Although, except for the Bangsamoro Region, these regions don’t hold much administrative and political significance. The fact that the concept of a region as an administrative unit is not recognized in the current constitution is one of the worst omissions made, considering, at the very least, that these regions can help in making the administration of 81 provinces and 38 independent cities much easier and more organized.
But ever since the concept of the region was introduced in 1972, save for the organization of what would become the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and the Cordillera Administrative Region, the matter of organizing which province or independent city belongs to which region has been mostly an arbitrary affair. One case in point is Palawan which was part of the MIMAROPA Region (which I feel is a name that is not well-thought-of, but I’ll get to it later) but in May 2005, it fell under the jurisdiction of Western Visayas through the issuance of Executive Order 429. Palawan residents criticized the move as they were not consulted and preferred to stay in MIMAROPA. Thus, Administrative Order 129 effectively put the move on hold.
More recently, there is the case of the Negros Island Region, a region created in 2015 by Executive Order 183 under the administration of Benigno Aquino III. However, when Rodrigo Duterte became president in 2016, his team found it was not economically viable for the region to exist. Thus, Executive Order 38 in 2017 formally dissolved the region.
In both instances, it is noticeable that the initiatives related to the regions were mostly done by the Philippine President as part of the chief executive role. This, aside from the non-recognition of regions in the constitution, makes regions more prone to political whims and without due consideration to the geographical, demographic, economic, and cultural aspects that should be taken into account in the composition of the region.
Inevitably, the question now becomes this: how should the region be organized?
Setting the Qualifications
Being that the region is not recognized as an actual administrative unit, there is actually no official criteria in place as to what constitutes a region. From what I can tell, the main criteria in the creation of the regions in 1972 were economic (so the national government can create a more rational economic plan for the different areas of the country) and administrative. (so the national government can better serve the people in those areas by setting up regional offices of national agencies)
As we can see, the regions primarily served as a construct created by the national government. Don’t get me wrong, it is not a bad thing in itself. However, the fault lies in the fact that the constituent areas of these regions are not part of the discussions in the creation of the regions they will belong to, thus having little say with regards to their present or future.
At the very least, the creation of the region should be a collaborative effort between the national government and the local governments that will compose the region to prepare these regions for the responsibilities they will bear the moment they are recognized as bonafide administrative units.
That being said, there must be minimum qualifications in place for an area to be considered a region at least to prevent the mess we saw with the provinces and independent cities that ended up with the 100+ administrative units the national government has to oversee today.
Personally, I propose the following minimum qualifications that must be met for a region to be established:
- It must be composed of at least two provinces or one province and one independent city.
- It must meet at least one of the two criteria:
- A population of at least 1 million inhabitants; and/or
- A land area of at least 8000 square kilometers. - A region shall only be created or abolished or have its boundaries changed by law. (not by a mere executive or administrative order)
- A region’s creation or abolition, or changes to the boundaries shall be subject to the approval of the region’s inhabitants by referendum.
I originally thought of having a cultural criterion for the regions, but given the multicultural character of the country, even within the present regions themselves, I think it’s more important to push for multiculturalism and diversity instead and encourage the regions to respect their respective ethnolinguistic communities at all times.
My piece could stop right here, but I admittedly went one step further.
Redrawing the Regional Map
The present regional makeup of the Philippines has some problems that bugged me for a while. For instance, why is Misamis Occidental part of Northern Mindanao when it is more logistically connected to Zamboanga? And isn’t Central Luzon right now too vast and varied economically and geographically that it works against its favor?
There is also the curious case of Palawan which is too big and quite disconnected from the rest of MIMAROPA that there is merit in reexamining Palawan’s regional affinity? Or should it even be part of a region at all? Something I’ll address in a bit.
But what triggered me most in doing the exercise was the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it, unintentionally at least, created a new regional setup that, quite frankly makes sense given the development of this area over the last 30+ years. I am talking about the “NCR+” area of Metro Manila/National Capital Region and the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna. Whether we like it or not, these 4 provinces are more connected to Metro Manila now than they are with the regions they belong to. The province of Rizal alone is more connected logistically to Metro Manila than its fellow CALABARZON provinces and has been for a long while. It is time that this connection is reflected in a new regional setup.
Taking all these into consideration, I have picked up a blank Philippine map and attempted to draw a new regional map for the country. This is what I came up with:
Northwest Luzon - Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan
Basically the same as the present Ilocos Region but renamed it to reflect the multicultural character of the area and not just a region dominated by Ilocanos.
Cordillera - Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Baguio City
Unchanged; One of the only two regions named in the constitution to be an autonomous region that has yet to occur.
Cagayan Valley/Northeast Luzon - Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela
Felt the present Cagayan Valley is too large for it to be handled administratively and this proposed set-up looks and feels just right for a region of its size.
West Luzon - Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Angeles City, Clark-New Clark City Area, Olongapo-Subic Bay Area
As I mentioned, the present Central Luzon region is too big and diverse, thus it made sense to divide the region, with this proposed region made much sense considering how very much interconnected are the areas within this region.
East Luzon - Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino
Nueva Ecija and Aurora IMO feels too economically, geographically, and culturally distinct to be part of Pampanga and Tarlac. And while Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino are distinct as well, they at least are connected to the aforementioned two provinces. Thus grouping them in one region felt made sense.
Greater Manila - Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Metro Manila
Inspired by NCR+, I have transformed it into a region in its own right. I also propose that Metro Manila should have its own governor with a great deal of power than what the MMDA has, making Metro Manila finally on the same administrative level as the provinces. P.S. If anyone has a better name for this region, I’m open but IMO, naming it NCR+ sucks.
South Luzon - Batangas, Marinduque, Quezon
The remnants of CALABARZON would be its own region, plus Marinduque which is more logistically connected to Batangas and Quezon than Mindoro anyway.
Southeast Luzon - Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon
Basically the same as the present Bicol Region but renamed it to reflect the multicultural character of the area and not just a region dominated by Bicolanos.
Tablas Strait - Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Romblon
The remnants of MIMAROPA but decided on the new name to create a more neutral identity for the region. Tablas Strait being the body of water between Mindoro and Romblon made sense, even if Tablas Island after the strait is named after is under the jurisdiction of Romblon.
Palawan - Palawan Province, Puerto Princesa City
Considering the unique geographic, cultural, and historic aspects of Palawan (not to mention the present challenges in the Kalayaan Islands which are part of its territory after all), I think it deserves to be its own region. Plus Palawan as a province is already divided with Puerto Princesa City being its own administrative unit so consider this a correction of sorts in making things right again.
Greater Panay/West Visayas - Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, Iloilo City
Almost the same as the present Western Visayas, minus Negros Occidental which will be part of…
Greater Negros - Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Bacolod City
That’s right, I’m proposing the revival of the Negros region, especially having talked to some people I know in the area and their sentiments about it. Plus adding Siquijor as it originally wanted to be part of the old Negros region but was left out for some reason.
Central Visayas - Bohol, Cebu, Metro Cebu
Basically the same as the current Central Visayas, albeit without Negros Oriental and Siquijor. In addition, I propose a Cebu metropolitan government in the same vein as Metro Manila’s, which includes Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Talisay City, Cordova, and others that may want to join, and shall have its own governor.
Greater Leyte - Biliran, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Tacloban City, Ormoc City
Originally thought of retaining the current Eastern Visayas region, but considering the unique cultural makeup of Leyte, and reading some concerns with regards to the current Eastern Visayas, I decided to create a separate region for this area.
Samar - Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Western Samar
I’ve heard that people in Samar felt they were overshadowed by Leyte. But there was actually a petition a few years ago for a separate region for Samar. After looking at the figures (I’ll show that in a bit), I decided to give that opportunity to Samar to be on its own.
Caraga - Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Butuan City
Unchanged
Davao - Davao del Norte, Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, Davao Oriental, Davao City
Unchanged
North Mindanao - Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City
Mostly unchanged, except for Misamis Occidental now part of…
Zamboanga - Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Isabela City, Zamboanga City
Aside from the addition of Misamis Occidental, it’s mostly unchanged.
South Mindanao - North Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, General Santos City
Mostly unchanged, except for the region name as I’m not a fan of having acronyms as region names. It also mirrors nicely with North Mindanao just above it.
Bangsamoro - Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato City, Bangsamoro special areas (the North Cotabato barangays that elected to join the region)
Unchanged. Also, the only region that has its own regional government, which is something hopefully all regions shall have.
All in all, we are looking at 21 regions that will be organized under this proposal. But how would these proposed regions look like in terms of population and land area? I have actually plotted a table for this, as you can see below:
One interesting I found as I prepared this table is that for the most part, the makeup of the regions in this proposal is quite balanced. There is not one region that dominated the others in terms of population or land area, which provided so much sense in ways I never expected it to. Except of course for Greater Manila, but that is an anomaly of a region in the first place.
In the end, this is a nerdy endeavor on my part which may or may not become a reality. Still, I am glad to have finally put this out there which I hope could be given some due consideration as a way to realize better administrative governance for the country.
Karl Aguilar is a self-confessed urban roamer, freelancing as a writer and photographer, who has once participated in a national game show and dabbles into heady stuff from time to time. He has a blog that deals with the sights, sounds, and stories of the urban landscape, Metro Manila in particular, called, of course, The Urban Roamer, which you can check out at www.theurbanroamer.com.
