The official headquarters of the House of Representatives is at the Batasang Pambansa (literally "national legislature") located in Batasan Hills, Quezon City.

[3] The Congress’ notable achievement was the ratification of Philippine Independence when it was declared on June 12, 1898, in Kawit, Cavite.

The Malolos Congress was dissolved on April 1, 1901, following Aguinaldo's declaration of allegiance to the United States when he was captured.

[6]At the beginning of American colonial rule, from March 16, 1900, the sole national legislative body was the Philippine Commission with all members appointed by the President of the United States.

It is this body, founded as the Philippine Assembly, that would continue in one form or another, and with a few different names, up until the present day.

The Nacionalistas continued their electoral dominance at this point, although they were split into two factions led by Osmeña and Quezon; the two reconciled in 1924, and controlled the Assembly via a virtual dominant-party system.

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 adopted.

This set up continued until President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and abolished Congress.

One deviation from the previous setup was the introduction of the mid-term election; however, the dynamics of the House of Representatives resumed its pre-1972 state, with the party of the president controlling the chamber, although political pluralism ensued that prevented the restoration of the old Nacionalista-Liberal two-party system.

Corazon Aquino who nominally had no party, supported the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP; Struggle of the Democratic Filipinos).

With the victory of Fidel V. Ramos in the 1992 presidential election, many representatives defected to his Lakas-NUCD party; the same would happen with Joseph Estrada's victory in 1998, but he lost support when he was ousted after the 2001 EDSA Revolution that brought his vice president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to power.

Unlike the Senate President, the Speaker usually serves the entire term of Congress, although there had been instances when the Speaker left office due to conflict with the president: examples include Jose de Venecia Jr.'s resignation as speaker in 2008 when his son Joey de Venecia exposed alleged corrupt practices by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, and Manny Villar's ouster occurred after he allowed the impeachment of President Estrada in 2000.

He presides over the session; decides on all questions of order, subject to appeal by any member; signs all acts, resolutions, memorials, writs, warrants, and subpoenas issued by or upon order of the House; appoints, suspends, dismisses, or disciplines House personnel; and exercise administrative functions.

The incumbent House Majority Floor Leader is Congressman Manuel Jose Dalipe, a member of the Lakas–CMD party and is representing Zamboanga City's second congressional district.

At present, retired Police Major General Napoleon C. Taas is the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives.

Under the 1987 Constitution, the electorate can vote for certain party-list organizations in order to give voice to significant minorities of society that would otherwise not be adequately represented through geographical district.

Thus, there can be at most 50 party-list representatives in Congress, though usually no more than 20 are elected because many organizations do not reach the required 2% minimum number of votes.

After the 2007 election, in a controversial decision, the Supreme Court ordered the COMELEC to change how it allocates the party-list seats.

In 2009, in the BANAT vs. COMELEC decision, it was changed anew in which parties with less than 2% of the vote were given seats to fulfill the 20% quota as set forth in the constitution.

However, on the BANAT decision, the court ruled that since the law didn't specify who belongs to a marginalized sector, the court allowed anyone to be a nominee as long as the nominee as a member of the party (not necessarily the marginalized group the party is supposed to represent).

Prior to the enactment of the Party-list Act, the president, with the advice and consent of the Commission on Appointments, nominated sectoral representatives.

These represented various sectors, from labor, peasants, urban poor, the youth, women and cultural communities.

The House of Representatives through its Speaker customarily appoints a caretaker or legislative liaison officer to fill in the vacancy.

The apportionment of congressional districts is not dependent upon a specially-mandated independent government body, but rather through Republic Acts which are drafted by members of Congress.

Incumbent representatives who are not permitted by law to serve after three consecutive terms sometimes resort to dividing their district, or even creating a new province which will be guaranteed a seat, just so that their allies be able to run, while "switching offices" with them.

Likewise, politicians whose political fortunes are likely to be jeopardized by any change in district boundaries may delay or even ignore the need for reapportionment.

[16] Because of the lack of a nationwide reapportionment after the publication of every census since the Constitution was promulgated in 1987, faster-growing provinces and cities have become severely underrepresented.

The Philippine Legislature was inaugurated at the Manila Grand Opera House at 1907, then it conducted business at the Ayuntamiento in Intramuros.

The Main Building hosts the session hall; the North and South wings, inaugurated in December 1977, are attached to it.

It houses the Legislative Library, the Committee offices, the Reference and Research Bureau, and the Conference Rooms.