Editing Provinces of the Philippines (section)

=== Proposed provinces with enacted law ===
{{hatnote|This section only lists the proposals that reached the stage where a legislation was enacted for the purpose of establishing a province or a sub-province but never achieved, or yet to achieve, corporate existence.}}
[[File:Proposed Provinces of the Philippines.svg|thumb|250px|Map of the Philippines showing the proposed provinces]]
* '''Occidental Leyte and Oriental Leyte''' (1923){{snd}}[[Leyte]] was divided into two new provinces by ''Act No. 3117'' on March 27, 1923.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Philippines-Archipelago, Region VIII (Eastern Visayas) |url=http://philippines-archipelago.com/politics/map/region_viii/eastern_visayas.html |publisher=Specific information on the division of Leyte provided by David A. Short, webmaster of Philippines-Archipelago, which was updated accordingly after indirectly obtaining a copy of the text of Act No. 3117 from the Legislative Library, House of Representatives |access-date=May 17, 2008 |archive-date=June 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624222203/http://philippines-archipelago.com/politics/map/region_viii/eastern_visayas.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The division never took place, however, as no proclamation was issued by the [[Governor-General of the Philippines|Governor-General]].
** The province of '''Oriental Leyte''' would have covered the present-day territories of the entire province of Biliran, the municipalities of Abuyog, Alangalang, Babatngon, Barugo, Burauen, Calubian, Capoocan, Carigara, Dagami, Dulag, Jaro, Javier, Julita, La Paz, Leyte, MacArthur, Mahaplag, Mayorga, Palo, Pastrana, San Isidro, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Tabango, Tabontabon, Tanauan, Tolosa, Tunga and Tacloban (which was designated as the provincial capital).
** The province of '''Occidental Leyte''' would have covered the present-day territories of the entire province of Southern Leyte, the municipalities of Albuera, Bato, Hilongos, Hindang, Inopacan, Isabel, Kananga, Matag-ob, Matalom, Mérida, Palompon, Villaba and the cities of Baybay and Ormoc. The province capital of Occidental Leyte "'''SEC. 2.''''' ... shall be designated by the Governor-General, until determined by a plurality vote of the electors of the new province at the next general election.''"
* '''Samal''' (1969){{snd}}The sub-province of Samal was created by ''Republic Act No. 5999''<ref name="samal">[http://laws.chanrobles.com/ph/ra/republicactno5999.html Republic Act No. 5999] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708135335/http://laws.chanrobles.com/ph/ra/republicactno5999.html |date=July 8, 2011 }}, Chan-Robles Law Library.</ref> and covered the area of the present-day [[Samal, Davao del Norte|Island Garden City of Samal]]. However, the sub-province was never inaugurated.
* '''Maranaw''' (1971){{snd}}''Republic Act No. 6406'',<ref name="maranaw">[http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno6406.html Republic Act No. 6406] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305232836/http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno6406.html |date=March 5, 2009 }}. Chan-Robles Law Library.</ref> which sought to create a new province out of eastern [[Lanao del Sur]] (now corresponding to the province's [[Legislative districts of Lanao del Sur#1st District|first congressional district]]), was approved on October 4, 1971. The province was to consist of the municipalities of [[Bubong, Lanao del Sur|Bubong]], [[Ditsaan-Ramain, Lanao del Sur|Ditsaan-Ramain]] (including what is now [[Buadiposo-Buntong, Lanao del Sur|Buadiposo-Buntong]]), [[Kapai, Lanao del Sur|Kapai]], [[Lumba-Bayabao, Lanao del Sur|Lumba-Bayabao]] (including what is now [[Maguing, Lanao del Sur|Maguing]]), [[Marantao, Lanao del Sur|Marantao]], [[Masiu, Lanao del Sur|Masiu]], [[Mulondo, Lanao del Sur|Mulondo]], [[Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur|Saguiaran]], [[Piagapo, Lanao del Sur|Piagapo]], [[Poona Bayabao, Lanao del Sur|Poona Bayabao]], [[Tamparan, Lanao del Sur|Tamparan]], [[Taraka, Lanao del Sur|Taraka]] and [[Wao, Lanao del Sur|Wao]] (including what is now [[Bumbaran, Lanao del Sur|Bumbaran]]), with the chartered city of [[Marawi]] serving as the new province's capital. Lanao del Sur was to retain the remaining municipalities, with [[Malabang, Lanao del Sur|Malabang]] serving as its new capital. Section 4 of RA 6406 provided that "''The new provinces as provided in this Act shall come into existence upon the election and qualification of their first elective provincial officials, who shall be elected in a special election simultaneously with the general elections of November, nineteen hundred and seventy-three''." The division never took place due to the [[Proclamation No. 1081|declaration]] of [[martial law in the Philippines]] on September 21, 1972, which disrupted the scheduled general elections for 1973 and paved the way for the adoption of a new [[Constitution of the Philippines|Constitution]] and the establishment of the [[Fourth Philippine Republic]]. A legacy of this unimplemented division is the existence of two [[ZIP codes in the Philippines|ZIP code]] series for Lanao del Sur: the 93- series was retained by what were to be the remaining towns of the province (with Malabang, the new capital, being reassigned the code 9300), while a new series (97-) was assigned to what was supposed to be the province of Maranaw (with Marawi getting the new code 9700).

==== Rejected in a plebiscite ====
* '''Isabela del Norte and Isabela del Sur''' (1995){{snd}}On February 20, 1995, ''Republic Act No. 7891'',<ref name="ids">{{Cite web |title=PHILIPPINE LAWS, STATUTES AND CODES - CHAN ROBLES VIRTUAL LAW LIBRARY |url=https://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno7891.html |website=www.chanrobles.com |access-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-date=June 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613140945/https://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno7891.html |url-status=live }}</ref> which sought to divide the province of [[Isabela (province)|Isabela]], was approved. Isabela del Norte was to comprise municipalities belonging to the province's [[Legislative districts of Isabela#1st District|first]] and [[Legislative districts of Isabela#2nd District|second congressional districts]] with [[Ilagan, Isabela|Ilagan]] serving as capital. Isabela del Sur was to consist of the [[Legislative districts of Isabela#3rd District|third]] and [[Legislative districts of Isabela#4th District|fourth congressional districts]] (excluding the independent component city of [[Santiago, Isabela|Santiago]]), with [[Cauayan, Isabela|Cauayan]] as the capital. The proposed division was rejected in a plebiscite held on June 20, 1995.
* '''Quezon del Norte and Quezon del Sur''' (2007){{snd}}The act dividing the province of [[Quezon]] into two, ''Republic Act No. 9495'',<ref name="qds">{{Cite web |title=Republic Act No. 9495 |url=http://www.ops.gov.ph/records/issuances-ra/RA9495.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228060727/http://www.ops.gov.ph/records/issuances-ra/RA9495.pdf |archive-date=February 28, 2008}}</ref> lapsed into law without [[Gloria Macapagal Arroyo|the President]]'s signature on September 7, 2007. Quezon del Norte (which would be renamed from Quezon) was to be composed of the [[Legislative districts of Quezon#1st District|first]] and [[Legislative districts of Quezon#2nd District|second congressional districts]] of the province, with [[Lucena, Philippines|Lucena]] as its capital. Quezon del Sur, with its capital at [[Gumaca, Quezon|Gumaca]], would have been composed of the [[Legislative districts of Quezon#3rd District|third]] and [[Legislative districts of Quezon#4th District|fourth congressional districts]]. The COMELEC held the [[2008 Quezon del Sur creation plebiscite|plebiscite]] on December 13, 2008, and the majority of the votes rejected the division. Notwithstanding the voters' rejection, all the representatives of Quezon's four legislative districts—Wilfrido Mark Enverga, Irvin Alcala, [[Danilo Suarez]], and [[Erin Tañada|Lorenzo Tañada III]]—reintroduced the measure as House Bill No. 3839 on December 8, 2010. They explained that “the wisdom, logic and bare facts behind what is driving this bill to be filed again in this Congress remain,” citing the persistence of poverty in far-flung coastal municipalities and small islands. Yet, the bill did not make it out of the committee level this time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=House Bill No. 3839 (15th Congress)|url=https://hrep-website.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/legisdocs/basic_15/HB03839.pdf|access-date=December 24, 2023|publisher=[[Congress of the Philippines]]|archive-date=June 13, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613140945/https://hrep-website.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/legisdocs/basic_15/HB03839.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=House Bill No. 3839 (15th Congress)|url=https://issuances-library.senate.gov.ph/bills/house-bill-no-3839-15th-congress-republic|access-date=December 24, 2023|publisher=[[Senate of the Philippines|Senate of the Philippines Legislative Digital Resources]]|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224103709/https://issuances-library.senate.gov.ph/bills/house-bill-no-3839-15th-congress-republic|url-status=live}}</ref>
* '''Palawan del Norte''', '''Palawan Oriental''', and '''Palawan del Sur''' (2021){{spaced ndash}} On April 5, 2019, President [[Rodrigo Duterte]] signed Republic Act No. 11259 that proposed the division the province of Palawan, with the exception of the independent city of [[Puerto Princesa]], into three separate provinces. A [[2021 Palawan division plebiscite|plebiscite]] was originally scheduled for the second Monday of May 2020<ref>{{Cite news |last=Leila B. Salaverria |date=April 14, 2019 |title=Plebiscite on splitting Palawan into 3 provinces set for 2020 |publisher=[[Philippine Daily Inquirer]] |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1106550/plebiscite-on-splitting-palawan-into-3-provinces-set-for-2020 |access-date=May 25, 2020 |archive-date=April 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414125206/https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1106550/plebiscite-on-splitting-palawan-into-3-provinces-set-for-2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> but was postponed to March 2021 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines|COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sofia Tomacruz |date=April 7, 2020 |title=Comelec suspends Palawan plebiscite due to coronavirus outbreak |publisher=[[Rappler]] |url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/257261-comelec-suspends-palawan-plebiscite-coronavirus-outbreak |access-date=May 25, 2020 |archive-date=April 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410085832/https://www.rappler.com/nation/257261-comelec-suspends-palawan-plebiscite-coronavirus-outbreak |url-status=live }}</ref> Palawan del Norte would have been composed of [[Taytay, Palawan|Taytay]] and municipalities north of it. Palawan del Sur would have been composed of the municipalities west and south of Puerto Princesa, including [[Kalayaan, Palawan|Kalayaan]] (which administers the country's claims in the [[Spratly Islands]]), while the rest were proposed to form Palawan Oriental. The proposed provincial capitals would have been [[Taytay, Palawan|Taytay]] (Palawan del Norte), [[Brooke's Point]] (Palawan del Sur), and [[Roxas, Palawan|Roxas]] (Palawan Oriental).<ref name="palawan">{{Cite news |date=April 2, 2018 |title=Palawan congressmen want province split into 3 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/979501/palawan-congressmen-want-province-split-into-3 |access-date=July 9, 2018 |archive-date=July 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712122324/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/979501/palawan-congressmen-want-province-split-into-3 |url-status=live }}</ref> The COMELEC held the plebiscite on March 13, 2021, and the majority of the votes rejected the division.