Comelec OKs additional provincial council seats in 21 provinces

Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday allotted additional seats in the provincial councils of 21 provinces.

The Comelec en banc, through Resolution No. 11085, said they resolved to make adjustments on the Sangguniang Panlalawigan seats of several provinces in line with the Department of Finance’s Order No. 07-2024 which pertains to the income classification of local government units.

Comelec allotted two additional seats in Abra, Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Quirino, Aurora, Marinduque, Romblon, Catanduanes, Guimaras, Siquijor, Biliran, Southern Leyte, Davao Occidental, Agusan del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi. The seats increased from eight to 10:

The poll body also allotted two additional seats in Batanes, Siquijor, and Camiguin, bringing the total from six to eight.

The Comelec noted that apart from Biliran, all of the 20 provinces have enough aspirants in the polls on May 12, 2025 to fill the additional Sangguinang Panlalawigan seats.

“The number of Sangguniang Panlalawigan candidates who filed their certificates of candidacy is more than the allocated seats provided by the law,” the three-page resolution reads.

For the province of Biliran, Comelec cited the provision of the Local Government Code of 1991, which states that either the president or the governor of a certain province could appoint permanent vacancies in the council.

On the other hand, the Comelec reduced the number of council seats in Maguindanao del Norte from 10 to eight.