region of the Philippines

In the Philippines, regions (; ISO 3166-2:PH) are administrative divisions that primarily serve to coordinate planning and organize national government services across multiple local government units (LGUs). Most national government offices provide services through their regional branches instead of having direct provincial or city offices. Regional offices are usually but not necessarily located in the city designated as the regional center. As of 2019, the Philippines is divided into 17 regions. 16 of these are mere administrative groupings, each provided by the president of the Philippines with a regional development council (RDC) – in the case of the National Capital Region (Metro Manila), an additional metropolitan authority serves as the coordinating and policy-making body. Only one, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, has an elected government and parliament to which the Congress of the Philippines has delegated certain powers and responsibilities. History Regions first came to existence on September 24, 1972, when the provinces of the Philippines were organized into eleven regions under Presidential Decree No. 1 as part of the Integrated Reorganization Plan of President Ferdinand Marcos. Since that time, other regions have been created and some provinces have been transferred from one region to another. Timeline June 22, 1973 – Pangasinan is transferred from Central Luzon (Region III) to the Ilocos Region (Region I). July 7, 1975 – Region XII is created, and some regions of Mindanao are reorganized. July 25, 1975 – Regions IX and XII are declared as Autonomous Regions in Western and Central Mindanao, respectively. August 21, 1975 – Region IX is divided into Sub-Region IX-A and Sub-Region IX-B. Some regions in Mindanao are reorganized. November 7, 1975 – Metro Manila is created. January 23, 1976 – Metro Manila is separated from Southern Tagalog to become Region IV; Southern Tagalog becomes Region IV-A. June 2, 1978 – Metro Manila is declared the National Capital Region. June 11, 1978 – The regional center of Region IX is transferred from Jolo, Sulu, to Zamboanga City. July 15, 1987 – The Cordillera Administrative Region is created. August 1, 1989 – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is created. Region XII reverted to an administrative region. January 30, 1990 – Residents reject in a plebiscite the ratification to create the Cordillera Autonomous Region. October 12, 1990 – Executive Order No.