The 2019 Philippine general election was conducted on May 13, 2019. A
midterm election
Apart from general elections and by-elections, midterm election
refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the term ...
, those elected therein will take office on June 30, 2019, midway through the term of President
Rodrigo Duterte.
The following positions were contested:
*12 seats in the
Senate of the Philippines
The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives ...
*All seats 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 word ''cámara'', meaning "chamber") is the lower house of Congress, the ...
*All
governors
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, vice governors and regular members of the
Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Councils) in the
provinces of the Philippines
In the Philippines, provinces ( fil, lalawigan) are one of its primary political and administrative divisions. There are 82 provinces at present, which are further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The local government unit ...
*All mayors, vice mayors and regular members of the
Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Councils) or
Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Councils) in the
cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
or
municipalities of the Philippines
Under the Local Government Code and the 1987 constitution, all terms start on June 30, 2019, and end on June 30, 2022, except for elected senators, whose terms shall end on June 30, 2025. 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 ...
administered the election.
Preparation
Date of the election
The 1987
Constitution of the Philippines states that unless otherwise provided by law, the election of members of Congress is on every second Monday of May. According to Republic Act No. 7166, election for national, provincial, city and municipal elections are on the second Monday of May, since 1992,
and every three years thereafter, with the president and vice president being elected in six-year intervals. It has been three years since the last
general election of 2016, and with no law canceling the election, this meant that the election was held on Monday, May 13, 2019.
The commission confirmed the day of the election day of May 13 when it released the calendar for the election. The important days are:
*Filing of candidacies and nominations for party-list representatives: October 11 to 12, and October 15 to 17, 2018
*Campaign period
**For Senate and party-list elections: February 12 to May 11, 2019
**For district congressional and local elections: March 29 to May 11, 2019
*Substitution of candidates: November 30 to 12:00 p.m. of May 13, 2019
*
Election silence
Election silence, blackout period, pre-election silence, electoral silence, or campaign silence is a ban on political campaigning or media coverage of a general election, before or during that election.
Operation
In some jurisdictions, such as S ...
: April 18 to 19 and May 12 to 13, 2019
*
Election day
Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections a ...
: May 13, 2019
*Deadline of filing of expenses: June 12, 2019
Automated election system
The Philippines adopted an automated election system (AES) for the 2019 elections. The COMELEC announced in December 2018 that the Philippine AES passed the review conducted by international systems and software testing firm, Pro V&V, in Alabama, USA.
The Commission had a 'trusted build' program wherein the program to be used in the midterms in 2019 is built using the reviewed components. Commissioner Marlon Casquejo on December 17, 2018 turned over the executable file of the Election Management System (EMS) Trusted Build for the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections (NLE) to the Commission en banc. The file will be escrowed to the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Ac ...
.
The EMS compiled the number and profile of registered voters, their geographic locations and polling precinct information, and these were used in designing the official ballots.
Equipment
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 ...
made a decision on February 1, 2018 to purchase
vote-counting machines (VCM), which were used in the
2016 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*7 January: Kiri ...
for a price of 2.122 billion pesos for the 2019 mid-term elections.
Commission on Elections membership
On October 17, 2017, the House of Representatives impeached
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 ...
Chairman
Andres D. Bautista
Juan Andres "Andy" Donato Bautista is the former chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) of the Philippines and former dean of the Institute of Law of the Far Eastern University, a private, non-sectarian university in Manila, Philippin ...
due to allegations of manipulation of the
2016 vice presidential election in favor of
Leni Robredo
Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona Robredo (; born Maria Leonor Santo Tomas Gerona; April 23, 1965) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 14th vice president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022.
She was the wife of the late Jesse ...
. Hours earlier, Bautista announced his resignation effective December 31. President Duterte accepted Bautista's resignation effective immediately, on October 23. Duterte then appointed Sheriff Abas as new chairman, in November 2017.
The
Commission on Appointments
The Commission on Appointments ( fil, Komisyon sa Paghirang, abbreviated as CA) is a constitutional body which confirms or rejects certain political appointments made by the President of the Philippines. The current commission was created by th ...
confirmed Duterte's appointment of Abas as chairman in May 2018. Abas was expected to head the commission on the 2019 elections. At the confirmation hearing, Abas defended the commission's purchase of the vote-counting machines, saying that they were purchased at one-third of the cost. The commission later confirmed Duterte's appointment of Socorro Inting as commissioner later that month. Duterte also appointed Marlon S. Casquejo as commissioner on June and
Undersecretary of Justice Antonio Kho as commissioner on July, completing the commission's seven seats.
Proposed cancellation
Due to the drive to change the constitution to make the Philippines a
federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...
, Speaker of the House of Representatives
Pantaleon Alvarez
Pantaleon Diaz Alvarez (born January 10, 1958) is a Filipino politician serving as the Representative of Davao del Norte's 1st district since 2016, previously holding the position from 1998 to 2001. He served as the Speaker of the House of R ...
said in January 2018 that the cancellation of the 2019 elections was possible, as a transition government would be needed. Later, Duterte ruled out the cancellation the election.
By July, after the consultative committee submitted their draft constitution to Duterte and Congress, Alvarez proposed to cancel the 2019 elections so that Congress could concentrate on revising the constitution. Senate President
Tito Sotto
Vicente Castelo Sotto III (; born August 24, 1948), professionally known as Tito Sotto, is a Filipino politician, entertainer and athlete who served as Senate President from 2018 to 2022. Before that, had two stints each as Senate Majority Le ...
said that this was possible by Congress passing a law for the cancellation of the election. Members of the consultative committee, on the other hand, preferred holding the election.
Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
Aquilino Quilinging Pimentel Jr. (, December 11, 1933 – October 20, 2019), commonly known as Nene Pimentel, was a Filipino politician and human rights lawyer who was one of the leading political opposition leaders during the regime of Ferdinan ...
said that "I suggest elections will continue (because people suspect that) we are proposing federalism so that the elections can be postponed. It is not true, not at all."
Later that month, Senator
Panfilo Lacson
Panfilo "Ping" Morena Lacson Sr. (; born June 1, 1948) is a Filipino former politician and police general who served as a Senator for three terms: from 2001 to 2013 and from 2016 to 2022. He was the Director General of the Philippine National ...
said that most senators, including those who were running for reelection, would have blocked any moves by the lower house to cancel the election. This came as Alvarez switched his preferred mode of amending the constitution via a
People's Initiative
People's Initiative (or "PI") is a common appellative in the Philippines that refers to either a mode for constitutional amendment provided by the 1987 Philippine Constitution or to the act of pushing an initiative (national or local) allowed b ...
. Senator
Franklin Drilon earlier stated that the minority bloc would have sued if Alvarez's plan of cancelling the election pushed through.
With the ouster of Alvarez by
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously ...
as speaker in July 2018, the latter said that she preferred the elections pushing through.
Results
Congress
The
18th Congress of the Philippines
The 18th Congress of the Philippines ( fil, Ikalabingwalong Kongreso ng Pilipinas), composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives, met from July 22, 2019, until June 1, 2022, during the last three years of Rodrigo Duterte's pres ...
comprises the winners of this election, together with
the winning candidates in the 2016 Senate election.
Senate
Twelve seats in the Senate, or those seats that were first disputed in 1995, and were last up in 2013, were up for election.
The
Hugpong ng Pagbabago, the alliance backed by
Davao City
Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...
mayor and presidential daughter
Sara Duterte won nine of the seats up. The primary opposition coalition,
Otso Diretso
Otso Diretso ( ), initially called the Oposisyon Koalisyon () was an electoral alliance formed to field candidates for the 2019 Philippine general election, in opposition to President Rodrigo Duterte. Otso Diretso fielded eight candidates (''otso' ...
, failed to win any seats. Candidates from neither alliance won the other three seats.
House of Representatives
![2019 Philippine House of Representatives Elections](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/2019_Philippine_House_of_Representatives_Elections.svg)
All seats in the House of Representatives were up for election.
Parties associated with the current administration, such as
PDP–Laban
Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (), abbreviated as PDP–Laban, is a democratic socialist political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was part of the country's ruling party alliance from 1986 to 1992 under the administrat ...
, the
Nacionalista Party,
National Unity Party and
Partido Federal ng Pilipinas
Partido Federal ng Pilipinas ( en, Federal Party of the Philippines; PFP) is a national political party in the Philippines. It is chaired by Bongbong Marcos, president of the Philippines who won by a landslide in the 2022 election. During the r ...
won a majority of the seats contested. Other allies of the Duterte administration, such as the
Nationalist People's Coalition,
Lakas–CMD
Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats, abbreviated as Lakas–CMD and also known simply as Lakas, is a political party in the Philippines. Lakas–CMD is considered to sit on the centre-right of the political spectrum, and is influenced by Chris ...
and various local parties, also won many seats. The
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
won 18 seats, and is to form the nucleus of the minority bloc.
=Congressional district elections
=
=Party-list election
=
Pro-administration
ACT-CIS Partylist topped the party-list election, winning the maximum three seats. The leftist opposition
Bayan Muna
Bayan Muna () is a party-list in the Philippines, a member of the leftist political coalition Makabayan. The motto of the party is ''"New Politics, the Politics of Change"'', against "traditional, elitist, pro-imperialist politics". Its platform i ...
also won the maximum three seats. Other members of the
Party-List Coalition
Party-list Coalition Foundation, Inc. (PCFI), also known as the Party-list Coalition, is a coalition of representatives of political organizations with party-list representation in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the bicameral C ...
won most of the other seats. Some consistent winners in past party-list elections noticeably failed to win seats, such as
Akbayan
The Akbayan Citizens' Action Party, better known as Akbayan (), is a democratic socialist and progressive political party in the Philippines. Akbayan is noted as a leading member of the progressive movement in the Philippines, having been forme ...
,
Anakpawis
Anakpawis is a party-list in the Philippines. The party-list is the electoral wing of the radical trade union movement Kilusang Mayo Uno and the peasant group Kilusang Mangbubukid ng Pilipinas.
Known for its radical pro-labor and peasant stand, ...
and
Butil Farmers Party.
Local
All totals as of the first quarter of 2018:
* All 81 provincial governors and vice governors, and all regular members of all of the
Sangguniang Panlalawigan were up for election.
* All 145 city mayors and vice mayors, and all regular members of all of the
Sangguniang Panlungsod were up for election.
* All 1,489 municipal mayors and vice mayors, and all regular members of all of the
Sangguniang Bayan
The Sangguniang Bayan () is the local legislative branch of the municipal governments in the Philippines. It is responsible for passing ordinances and resolutions for the administration of a municipality. Its powers are defined by the Local Gov ...
were up for election.
The ''ex officio'' members of the local legislatures, who have been elected after the
2018 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, shall serve until January 1, 2023, after the barangay elections in May 2020 were postponed to
December 2022.
Changes are as compared to the
2016 local elections.
Provincial-level
City- and municipal-level
Glitches
On May 13, the number of malfunctioned vote counting machines (VCMs) tripled compared to the
2016 election.
According to COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez, 400–600 out of 85,000 VCMs across the country (representing 0.7%) encountered glitches. The machines were from the 2016 elections, and the COMELEC admitted that it could be because the machines are not new.
[
Faulty SD cards were also reported to be the cause of malfunction. The substandard ballot forms as well as markers that bleed ink are other causes of malfunction and anomalies. The COMELEC will probe the suppliers: Triplex Enterprises Incorporated for the ballot paper and marking pens and S1 Technologies Incorporated and Silicon Valley Computer Group joint venture for the SD cards.
Jimenez, however, said that the problems experienced were still within range of expected range of expectation, as problematic machines account for only less than 1 percent of total machines used.
There are reports of running out of ballots in a polling precinct in ]Alburquerque, Bohol
Alburquerque, officially the Municipality of Alburquerque ( ; ceb, Munisipalidad sa Alburquerque; tgl, Bayan ng Alburquerque), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. It had a population of 11,246 people at the time ...
; affected voters have waited for two hours before the extra ballots was delivered at 3pm. At around 10, the COMELEC has experienced problems with the transparency server where the unofficial tally has been stuck for hours, with only 0.38% of polling precincts have managed to transmit the results. But experts agree that the glitches don't necessarily mean cheating took place. The transmission happened, according to PPCRV Chairperson Myla Villanueva. In an interview, Villanueva said that 'results were receiver by transparency server continuously, despite media temporarily not being able to see the results.' She added that 'most importantly, the ERs match with transmitted results.'
Despite the glitches, the random manual audits (RMA) conducted days after the elections show that the 2019 midterms yielded the highest rate of accuracy among the previous automated elections. Based on the 2019 RMA, the accuracy rate for the senatorial votes was at 99.9971 percent; for members of the House 99.9946 percent; and 99.9941 percent for mayor.
The COMELEC recorded at least 20 people have been killed in an election-related incidents and 43 incidents during the course of election campaign as of May 13, most notably the killing of AKO Bicol congressman Rodel Batocabe on December 22, 2018. There are reported violence during the election day: a shooting occurred at the polling center in Panglima Estino, Sulu
Panglima Estino, officially the Municipality of Panglima Estino ( Tausūg: ''Kawman sin Panglima Estino''; tl, Bayan ng Panglima Estino), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Sulu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a po ...
where six have been injured.
Reaction
In a Pulse Asia
Pulse Asia Research Inc. is a public opinion polling body in the Philippines. It was founded by Professor Emeritus Felipe B. Miranda (M.A. Political Science, University of Chicago) of the University of the Philippines Diliman.
Pulse Asia Inc. wa ...
opinion poll
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinion ...
dated June 24–30, 2019, 82% of those surveyed found the election to be believable while 82% said the release of the results were fast. Meanwhile, 10% of respondents found their names missing in the voters list, 4% of their registration was deactivated, 1% of the vote counting machine malfunctioned, as the issues in the election.
References
{{Philippine elections
2019 elections in the Philippines
May 2019 events in the Philippines
General elections in the Philippines