special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

for

Zambales's 2nd congressional district Zambales's 2nd congressional district is one of the two congressional districts of the Philippines in the province of Zambales. It has been represented in the House of Representatives since 1987. The district consists of the provincial capital Iba ...

seat in the

House of Representatives of the Philippines The House of Representatives of the Philippines ( fil, Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas, italic=unset, ''Kamara'' or ''Kamara de Representantes'' from the Spanish language, Spanish word ''cámara'', meaning "chamber") is the lower house ...

was held on February 4, 2012. The special election was called after incumbent representative Antonio Diaz died on August 3, 2011. Jun Omar Ebdane, son of governor

Hermogenes Ebdane Hermogenes "Jun" Edejer Ebdane, Jr. (born December 30, 1948) is a Filipino politician and retired police officer with the rank of Director General. He is the Governor of Zambales since 2019, previously held this position from 2010 until 2016. He ...

, won in the special election, beating Cheryl Deloso-Montalla, Diaz's opponent in the 2010 general election, Rica Victoria Diaz-Arambulo, Diaz's daughter, and two other independent candidates. This was the closest special election in the 21st century in the Philippines.

Background

A member of the Magsaysay political family has served as member of the House of Representatives from Zambales since 1946 when

Ramon Magsaysay Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. (August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957) was a Filipino statesman who served as the seventh president of the Philippines, from December 30, 1953, until his death in an aircraft disaster on March 17, 1957. An automo ...

was elected. Antonio Diaz, a nephew of Ramon Magsaysay, was first elected as representative in Zambales' lone district in 1969, serving until 1972 when Congress was dissolved, elected in 1984 in the

Regular Batasang Pambansa The Regular Batasang Pambansa (English: Regular National Assembly), or the First Batasang Pambansa, was the meeting of the Batasang Pambansa from the beginning of its session on July 23, 1984 until it was abolished by President Corazon Aquino on ...

, won three consecutive terms starting in 1992 for the 2nd District's seat, and another three consecutive terms starting in 2004. Diaz died on August 3, 2011, after being afflicted with pneumonia. With the seat's vacancy, the Zambales Provincial Board passed a resolution asking the House of Representatives and the

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

to call for a special election. The absence of a representative meant that the monetary incentives normally used by Diaz for scholarships was no longer given. By September, the resolution filed by the provincial board was at its second reading in the House of Representatives, and that the board passed another resolution asking

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. Fernando Feliciano "Sonny" Racimo Belmonte Jr., KGCR (born October 2, 1936) is a Filipino politician who served as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives for the Fourth District of Quezon City from 1992 to 2001 and from 2010 to 2019 ...

to appoint a liaison officer to the district coming from the province. Vice Governor Ramon Lacbain said that the board is expecting the special election to be held at October. By October, typhoons Pedring and Quiel ravaged the province; with no representative in Congress, the residents had no one to approach for help. The Commission on Elections released a statement on November 8 that expecting the special election to be held soon. On December, the commission announced that the special election would be held on February 4. The election period would start on December 21, 2011, and end on February 14, 2012, the filing of certificates of candidacy was from January 16 to January 18, 2012, and the campaign period was from January 19 to February 2, 2012.

Campaign

Names floated prior to the filing of certificates of candidacies include Rica Diaz, daughter of Diaz, Cheryl Deloso, daughter of former governor Amor Deloso, Jun Omar Ebdane, son of current governor

and incumbent provincial administrator, and board members Wilfredo Pangan and Alfred Mendoza. President

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...

authorized the military and the police to implement election laws, such as a province-wide

gun ban Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with onl ...

, during the election period. Jun Omar Ebdane resigned as provincial administrator on January 17 in order to run for the vacant seat. Ebdane was leading in election surveys, with 37% of the vote, followed closely by Deloso-Montalla and Diaz-Arambulo. Meanwhile, Diaz-Arambulo has succeeded in allowing her father's scholarships to continue while the seat was vacant, working with Belmonte, who was officer-in-charge of the vacant seat. The commission issued a warning on the Ebdane and Deloso-Montalla campaigns, saying that the posters used were too large than the legally-specified size. Ebdane's supporters took down huge billboards of him in Iba, while a few of Deloso-Montalla's posters were also removed. This comes as President Aquino declared February 4 as a special non-working holiday in the province to allow the electorate to vote. The commission expected a

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

of around 70%, while Diaz-Arambulo has complained of vote buying. On the eve of the election, a shootout between Zambales police and armed men took place at Botolan. It started when an informant called the police saying a group of armed men were harassing voters in barangay Mambog; a special reaction team of Botolan police went to the scene, but one of the gunmen named Cesar Mado opened fire to the police. The police returned fire, causing the death of Madu, a former policeman, and 10 more were injured. Governor Ebdane said that he will not interfere in the investigation, although a ''

Philippine Star ''The Philippine Star'' (self-styled ''The Philippine STAR'') is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines and the flagship brand of the Philstar Media Group. First published on July 28, 1986, by veteran journalists Betty Go-Belmonte, M ...

'' source stated that Madu was a former security officer of the Delosos.

Results

The Zambales board of canvassers started counting the votes on election night, but suspended its proceedings at around 10:00 pm to allow the election returns to arrive. The session resumed on morning the next day. The board finished its tally by 10:00 am but the documentation took more than hour to be finished; the board proclaimed Ebdane as the winner by 11:15 am. Ebdane won in seven municipalities, while Deloso-Montalla won Santa Cruz and San Narciso, and Diaz-Arambulo won narrowly in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

. The

Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) is a non-partisan, non-sectarian non-profit organization affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines that works to ensure free, fair and fraud-free elections in the Phili ...

, while noting the low turnout was due to voters residing in other areas of the country not returning to the district to vote, was dismayed by the rampant vote-buying. Deloso-Montalla defeated Ebdane in the 2013 general election.

2010 election result

References

External links