The 

House of Representatives of the Philippines (Filipino: Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan

ng Pilipinas) is the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines. Informally known as
the Kamara (from the Spanish word Cámara, meaning "chamber"), the lower house is usually
called Congress,[a] although the term collectively refers to both houses.[1]
Members of the House are officially styled as representative (kinatawan) and sometimes
informally called congressmen or congresswomen (mga kongresista) and are elected to a three-
year term. They can be re-elected, but cannot serve more than three consecutive terms. Around
eighty percent of congressmen are district representatives, representing a particular
geographical area. The 18th Congress has 243[2] congressional districts. Party-list
representatives are elected through the party-list system which constitutes not more than twenty
percent of the total number of representatives.
Aside from needing its agreement to every bill in order to be sent for the president's signature to
become law, the House of Representatives has power to impeach certain officials and all money
bills must originate from the lower house.
The House of Representatives is headed by the speaker. The position is currently held by Lord
Allan Velasco (Marinduque; PDP–Laban). The speaker of the House is the third in
the presidential line of succession, after the vice and senate presidents. The official
headquarters of the House of Representatives is at the Batasang Pambansa (literally "national
legislature") located in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. The building is often simply
called Batasan and the word has also become a metonym to refer to the House of
Representatives.
he legislative power is vested in the Congress of the Philippines which consists of the Senate of
the Philippines and the House of Representatives. The upper house is located in Pasay, while
the lower house is located in Quezon City. Both are in Metro Manila. The district and sectoral
representatives are elected for a term of three years. They can be re-elected but they may not
run for a fourth consecutive term.
Senators are elected to a term of six years. They can be re-elected but may not run for a third
consecutive term. The House of Representatives may opt to pass for a vacancy of a legislative
seat, which leads to a special election. The winner of the special election will serve the
unfinished term of the previous district representative, and will be considered as one elective
term. The same rule also applies in the Senate, however it only applies if the seat was vacated
before a regular legislative election.
The current president of the Senate is Tito Sotto, while the current speaker of the House of
Representatives is Lord Allan Velasco.

The Philippines has four main classes of elected administrative divisions, often lumped together
as local government units (LGUs). They are, from the highest to the lowest division:

1. Autonomous and administrative regions
2. Provinces and independent cities
3. Municipalities and component cities
4. Barangays
5. map philippines
During the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, municipal governments, or Cabildos were
established. One such example was the Cabildo in Manila, established in 1571.[3]
When the Philippines was under colonial rule as part of the Spanish East Indies, the colony was
not given representation to the Spanish Cortes. It was only in 1809 where the colony was made
an integral part of Spain and was given representation in the Cortes. While colonies such as the
Philippines were selecting its delegates, substitutes were named so that the Cortes can
convene. The substitutes, and first delegates for the Philippines were Pedro Pérez de Tagle and
José Manuel Couto. Both had no connections to the colony.[4]
By July 1810, Governor General Manuel González de Aguilar received the instruction to hold an
election. As only the Manila Municipal Council qualified to elect a representative, it was tasked
to select a delegate. Three of its representatives, the governor-general and the Archbishop of
Manila selected Ventura de los Reyes as Manila's delegate to the Cortes. De los Reyes arrived
in Cadiz in December 1811.[4]
However, with Napoleon I's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, his brother Joseph Bonaparte was
removed from the Spanish throne, and the Cádiz Constitution was replaced by the Cortes on
May 24, 1816, with a more conservative constitution that removed Philippine representation on
the Cortes, among other things. Restoration of Philippine representation to the Cortes was one
of the grievances by the Ilustrados, the educated class during the late 19th century.[2]

Revolutionary era[edit]
Main article: Malolos Congress
The Illustrados' campaign transformed into the Philippine Revolution that aimed to overthrow
Spanish rule. Proclaiming independence on June 12, 1898, President Emilio Aguinaldo then
ordered the convening of a revolutionary congress at Malolos. The Malolos Congress, among
other things, approved the Malolos Constitution. With the approval of the Treaty of Paris, the
Spanish ceded the Philippines to the United States. The revolutionaries, attempting to prevent
American conquest, launched the Philippine–American War, but were defeated when Aguinaldo
was captured in 1901.[2]

American era[edit]
Main article: Philippine Legislature
When the Philippines was under American colonial rule, the legislative body was the Philippine
Commission which existed from 1900 to 1907. The President of the United States appointed the
members of the Philippine Commission. Furthermore, two Filipinos served as Resident
Commissioners to the House of Representatives of the United States from 1907 to 1935, then
only one from 1935 to 1946. The Resident Commissioners had a voice in the House, but did not
have voting rights.[2]
The Philippine Bill of 1902 mandated the creation of a bicameral or a two-chamber Philippine
Legislature with the Philippine Commission as the Upper House and the Philippine Assembly as
the Lower House. This bicameral legislature was inaugurated in 1907. Through the leadership
of then Speaker Sergio Osmeña and then-Floor Leader Manuel L. Quezon, the Rules of
the 59th United States Congress were substantially adopted as the Rules of the Philippine
Legislature.[2]
In 1916, the Jones Law changed the legislative system. The Philippine Commission was
abolished, and a new bicameral Philippine Legislature consisting of a House of
Representatives and a Senate was established.[2]

Commonwealth and Second Republic era[edit]

Main article: National Assembly of the Philippines
The legislative system was changed again in 1935. The 1935 Constitution, aside from instituting
the Commonwealth which gave the Filipinos more role in government, established a
unicameral National Assembly. But in 1940, through an amendment to the 1935 Constitution, a
bicameral Congress of the Philippines consisting of a House of Representatives and
a Senate was created. Those elected in 1941 would not serve until 1945, as World War II
erupted. The invading Japanese set up the Second Philippine Republic and convened its
own National Assembly. With the Japanese defeat in 1945, the Commonwealth and its
Congress was restored. The same setup continued until the Americans granted independence
on July 4, 1946.[2]

Independent era[edit]
See also: Batasang Pambansa
Upon the inauguration of the Republic of the Philippines on July 4, 1946, Republic Act No. 6
was enacted providing that on the date of the proclamation of the Republic of the Philippines,
the existing Congress would be known as the First Congress of the Republic. Successive
Congresses were elected until President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September
23, 1972. Marcos then ruled by decree.[2]
As early as 1970, Marcos had convened a constitutional convention to revise the 1935
constitution; in 1973, the Constitution was approved. It abolished the bicameral Congress and
created a unicameral National Assembly, which would ultimately be known as the Batasang
Pambansa in a semi-presidential system of government. The batasan elected a prime minister.
The Batasang Pambansa first convened in 1978. [2]
Marcos was overthrown after the 1986 People Power Revolution; President Corazon
Aquino then ruled by decree. Later that year she appointed a constitutional commission that
drafted a new constitution. The Constitution was approved in a plebiscite the next year; it
restored the presidential system of government together with a bicameral Congress of the
Philippines. It first convened in 1987.[2]

List[edit]
Main article: List of legislatures of the Philippines

This seal of Congress was last seen in 2003 when the U.S. President George W. Bush addressed
Congress in a joint session.