<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> In the Philippines, regions (Filipino: rehiyon), (ISO 3166 - 2: PH) are administrative divisions that serve primarily to organize the provinces (Filipino: lalawigan) of the country for administrative convenience . Currently, the archipelagic republic of the Philippines is divided into 17 regions (16 administrative and 1 autonomous). Most national government offices provide services through their regional branches instead of having direct provincial offices . These regional offices are usually (but not always) in the city designated as the regional center . </P> <P> The regions themselves do not possess a separate local government, with the exception of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which has an elected regional assembly and governor . The Cordillera Administrative Region was originally intended to be autonomous (Cordillera Autonomous Region), but due to two failed plebiscites, its tentative administrative region status has been extended indefinitely . </P> <P> Regions first came to existence in 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 . </P>

List of places per region in the philippines