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Southern Leyte's at-large congressional district refers to the lone congressional district of the Philippines in the province of Southern Leyte. It was represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines 1961 until 2022.^[1] Southern Leyte first elected a single representative provincewide at-large representative for the 5th Congress of the Third Philippine Republic following its creation as a regular province separate from Leyte under Republic Act No. 2227 on May 22, 1959.^[2] Before 1959, its territory was represented as part of Leyte's at-large, 2nd and 3rd districts. Between 1978 and 1984, multi-seat regional delegations were formed in lieu of provinces for the Fourth Philippine Republic parliament known as the Interim Batasang Pambansa, with Southern Leyte forming part of the ten-seat Region VIII's at-large district. It was restored as a single-member district in 1984.^[1]

On February 1, 2019, Republic Act No. 11198 was signed, reapportioning Southern Leyte into two legislative districts.^[3] Due to time constraints, election to fill the seats were not fulfilled in the May 2019 election, and lone district had have a holdover position. It was instead administered in 2022.

Representation history

#	Member		Term of office		Congress	Party	Electoral history
#	Member		Start	End	Congress	Party	Electoral history
Southern Leyte's at-large district for the House of Representatives of the Philippines
District created May 22, 1959.^[2]
1		Nicanor Yñiguez	December 30, 1961	September 23, 1972	5th	Nacionalista	Redistricted from Leyte's 3rd district and re-elected in 1961.
					6th		Re-elected in 1965.
					7th		Re-elected in 1969. Removed from office after imposition of martial law.
District dissolved into the ten-seat Region VIII's at-large district for the Interim Batasang Pambansa.
#	Member		Term of office		Batasang Pambansa	Party	Electoral history
#	Member		Start	End	Batasang Pambansa	Party	Electoral history
Southern Leyte's at-large district for the Regular Batasang Pambansa
District re-created February 1, 1984.^[4]
(1)		Nicanor Yñiguez	July 23, 1984	March 25, 1986	2nd	KBL	Elected in 1984.
#	Member		Term of office		Congress	Party	Electoral history
#	Member		Start	End	Congress	Party	Electoral history
Southern Leyte's at-large district for the House of Representatives of the Philippines
District re-created February 2, 1987.
2		Roger G. Mercado	June 30, 1987	October 15, 1991	8th	Liberal	Elected in 1987. Election annulled by House electoral tribunal following an electoral protest.
3		Rosette Yñiguez Lerias	December 4, 1991	June 30, 1992	8th	KBL	Declared winner of 1987 elections.
(2)		Roger G. Mercado	June 30, 1992	June 30, 1998	9th	Lakas–CMD	Elected in 1992.
(2)		Roger G. Mercado	June 30, 1992	June 30, 1998	10th	Lakas–CMD	Re-elected in 1995.
4		Aniceto G. Saludo Jr.	June 30, 1998	June 30, 2004	11th	PMP	Elected in 1998.
4		Aniceto G. Saludo Jr.	June 30, 1998	June 30, 2004	12th	PMP	Re-elected in 2001.
(2)		Roger G. Mercado	June 30, 2004	June 30, 2013	13th	Lakas–CMD	Elected in 2004.
					14th	Lakas–CMD	Re-elected in 2007.
					15th	NUP	Re-elected in 2010.
5		Damian G. Mercado	June 30, 2013	June 30, 2016	16th	NUP	Elected in 2013.
(2)		Roger G. Mercado	June 30, 2016	October 13, 2021	17th	Liberal	Elected in 2016.
					17th	PDP–Laban	Elected in 2016.
					18th	Lakas–CMD	Re-elected in 2019. Resigned on appointment as acting Secretary of Public Works and Highways.^[5]
—		Vacant	October 13, 2021	June 30, 2022	18th		No special election held to fill vacancy.
District dissolved into Southern Leyte's 1st and 2nd districts.

Election results

2016

2016 Philippine House of Representatives elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Roger Mercado	123,806	65.23%
	UNA	Rico Rentuza	65,998	34.77%
Valid ballots			189,804	84.38%
Margin of victory			57,808	30.46%
Invalid or blank votes			35,132	15.62%
Total votes			224,936	100.00%
	Liberal hold

2013

2013 Philippine House of Representatives elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	NUP	Damian Mercado	85,919	48.46
	Akbayan	Rico Rentuza	34,239	19.31
	Liberal	Marisa Lerias	31,640	17.85
	Independent	Vicente Geraldo	885	0.50
Margin of victory			51,680	29.15%
Invalid or blank votes			24,612	13.88
Total votes			177,295	100.00
	NUP hold

2010

2010 Philippine House of Representatives elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Lakas–Kampi	Roger Mercado	125,912	66.60
	PMP	Aniceto Saludo	61,595	32.58
	Independent	Vicente Geraldo	961	0.51
	Independent	Jeffren Roden	590	0.31
Valid ballots			189,058	91.53
Invalid or blank votes			17,500	8.47
Total votes			206,558	100.00
	Lakas–Kampi hold

References

^ ^a ^b "Roster of Philippine legislators". House of Representatives of the Philippines. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Republic Act No. 2227 (May 22, 1959), An Act Creating the Province of Southern Leyte, retrieved May 22, 2020
^ Republic Act No. 11198 (February 1, 2019), An Act for the reapportionment of the Province of Southern Leyte into two (2) legislative Districts (PDF), Official Gazette, retrieved April 11, 2021
^ Presidential Proclamation No. 2332, s. 1984 (February 1, 1984), Proclaiming the ratification in the plebiscite of January 27, 1984, of the amendments to the constitution embodied in Batasang Pambansa Resolutions Nos. 104, 105, 110, 111, 112 and 113., retrieved May 22, 2020
^ "New DPWH chief, MMDA general manager named". CNN Philippines. October 13, 2021. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.

House of Representatives of the Philippines
Preceded by Region IV as Home district of the speaker of the Interim Batasang Pambansa	Home district of the speaker of the Regular Batasang Pambansa July 23, 1984 – March 25, 1986	Succeeded by Palawan's 2nd congressional district as Home district of the speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines