The Federal States
An amendment to the The Political Constitution of 1899, also known as the Malolos Constitution, added the political subdivision of the territories under the Philippine government, this also included a provision to add territories that were still part of the Spanish East Indies when the republic was formed should the people of these territories choose to do so.
Initially the plan was to divide the Philippines into three states, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, as proposed by Aguinaldo, and Mabini.
The proposal was rejected however due to numerous reasons:
One is because this will give Luzon immense political power as Manila, the nation's capital, is proposed to also be the regional capital making the region home to the nation's political center.
Another reason is that almost all of the provinces as they fear that the capitals and their surrounding provinces will have the biggest voices when it comes to polices and decisions which may end up benefiting only a few of the privileged ones.
There is also the issue of the Moro regions declaring their own independence if they are forced under the leadership of the Tagalogs.
By the end of the discussions, the country got divided into twelve plus one states, including the Moro regions as most of their leaders agreed to join the republic as the newly revised constitution gave all regions complete autonomy excluding matters in relation to foreign treaties, and the military.
The plus one in the division is reserved for Palau, The Caroline islands, and the Northern Mariana islands all of which were sold to Germany after Spain's defeat in the Spanish-American War. They are planned to be under one region with it's capital being Koror, Palau.
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States of Luzon
Luzon is split into six states, namely:
The State of Ilocos, it's capital being San Fernando, La Union.
It comprises of the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and La Union.
The Cordillera State, it's capital being La Trinidad, Benguet.
It comprises of the provinces of Amburayan, Benguet, Bontoc, Cabugaoan, Kayapa, and Lepanto.
The State of Cagayan, it's capital being Tuguegarao, Cagayan.
It comprises of the provinces of Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, and Nueva Vizcaya.
The Central Luzon State, it's capital being San Fernando, Pampanga.
It comprises of the provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales
The Southern Tagalog State, it's capital being Imus, Cavite.
It comprises of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Distrito de Morong, Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan.
The State of Bicol, it's capital being Legazpi, Albay.
It comprises of the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon.
The Province of Manila became the State of Manila and is designated as the National Capital earning it the status of a special region separate from the political environment of Luzon, thus it is not counted as one of Luzon's regions.
It comprises of Manila(Intramuros), the districts that now encompass the modern City of Manila, it's surrounding towns (all cities comprising modern day Metro Manila), Montalban, and San Mateo.
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State of Visayas
The area encompassing The State of the Visayas, which originally included the islands of Panay, Negros, Cebu, and Bohol is extended to the rest of the islands in the central Philippines including the islands of Masbate, Samar, and Leyte who created their own governments with the assistance of the original members of the state.
This extension effectively made it the largest region in the country in terms of land area. This also made the entire region the gateway between Luzon and Mindanao potentially giving it a huge influence over the economy of the nation.
The geographical importance of the region gave it enough political influence to be on par with the Southern Tagalog Region.
The capital of The State of the Visayas is Iloilo City, famously known as the Queen's City of the South, the second most important port city in the country next to Manila.
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States of Mindanao
The division of Mindanao was a complicated topic as it involved areas that used to be part of the Sultanate of Sulu, and portions of the western portion of Mindanao inhabited by the Moro people.
The Madrid Protocol of 1885 effectively put the former territories of the Sultanate claimed by Spain under the control of Manila. There was also the districts the Spanish created dividing the island of Mindanao into five.
After a lot of negotiations, the island of Mindanao got divided into four states, namely:
The State of Zamboanga, it's capital being the town of Zamboanga.
It comprises much of the area in the Zamboanga Peninsula from the town of Zamboanga to Dapitan.
The State of Northern Mindanao, it's capital being Cagayan De Oro.
It comprises of much of the area around Ilagan Bay, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Agusan, and Surigao
The Moro State, it's capital being the town of Cotabato.
It comprises the province of Lanao, the entirety of the Sulu Archipelago, Maguindanao, and the northern half of the area now known as Sultan Kudarat.
The State of Southern Mindanao, it's capital being the town of Davao.
It covers almost half of the island Mindanao comprising almost all of Southern Mindanao from the Celebes Sea including the Southern half of Sultan Kudarat to Cateel Bay in the Pacific Ocean.