2022 Philippine Presidential Election

The 2022 Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections were held on May 9, 2022, as part of the 2022 general election. This was the 17th direct presidential election and 16th vice presidential election in the Philippines since 1935, and the sixth sextennial presidential and vice presidential election since 1992.

Incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte was ineligible for re-election because the president is limited to a single term under the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Incumbent vice president Leni Robredo was eligible for re-election but chose to run for the presidency instead. Therefore, this election determined the 17th president and the 15th vice president. The president and vice president are elected separately, so the two winning candidates can come from different political parties.

The election took place amidst the COVID-19 pandemic which had caused the country's economy to fall into recession. Other key issues were the continuation of President Duterte's policies, the country's relationships with China and the United States, management of the country's debt, rising inflation, and climate change.

The ticket of former senator Bongbong Marcos and Davao City mayor Sara Duterte won the presidency and vice presidency respectively, defeating their closest rivals, incumbent vice president Leni Robredo and incumbent senator Francis Pangilinan. It was the first election since the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1987 where the president and vice president were elected by a majority, and the first election since 2004 where the winning president and vice president came from the same presidential ticket. The election saw the highest turnout since 1998, with about 56 million voters participating. Marcos received 31.6 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a presidential election in the Philippines, while Duterte received 32.2 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in the country.

Marcos became the second president from Ilocos Norte after his father, former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos, while Duterte became the first vice president from Davao City and the youngest to be elected. This also marked the return of the Marcos family to power for the first time since the People Power Revolution. Marcos was inaugurated on June 30, 2022, while Duterte was inaugurated earlier on June 19, 2022.

Electoral system

According to the Constitution of the Philippines of 1987, the election is held every six years after 1992, on the second Monday of May. The incumbent president is term-limited. The incumbent vice president may run for two consecutive terms. The first-past-the-post voting system is used to determine the winner: the candidate with the highest number of votes, whether or not one has a majority, wins the presidency.

The vice-presidential election is separate, is held on the same rules, and voters may split their ticket. According to the Constitution, if two or more candidates get the most votes for either position, Congress shall vote from among them which shall be president or vice president, as the case may be.

Both winners will serve six-year terms commencing at noon on June 30, 2022, and ending on the same day, six years later.

Background

In the 2016 presidential and vice presidential elections, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (; PDP–Laban) won the presidency against four other candidates, while House representative from Camarines Sur Leni Robredo of the Liberal Party won against Senator Bongbong Marcos and four others in the closest vice-presidential election since 1965. Marcos put the result under protest in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.

In October 2019, the Presidential Electoral Tribunal released its report on Marcos's electoral protest against Robredo on Marcos's pilot provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental, and showed that Robredo had increased her lead by 15,742 votes. The tribunal voted to defer making a decision on the protest and instead proceeded with Marcos's plea to nullify the votes from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.

Those who dissented from the decision said that the protest should have been dismissed, as Marcos had failed to recover votes from his 3 pilot provinces, citing the rules of the tribunal. They were overruled when the others said that Marcos's plea on the ARMM provinces should also be resolved.

In July 2016, Vice President Robredo was appointed to head the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), but resigned in December 2016 after being told to stop attending all cabinet meetings, amid her criticism of the administration's war on drugs. The president later told his allies to stop trying to impeach Robredo.

In the 17th Congress, Representative Pantaleon Alvarez from Davao del Norte was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in July 2016. Midway during the 17th Congress, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was the representative from Pampanga, ousted Alvarez from the speakership. The ouster was reportedly due to a dispute between Alvarez and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, the president's daughter, when she branded him as being from the opposition when she launched the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (; HNP), a regional political party in the Davao Region of which both Davao del Norte and Davao City are a part.

In the 2019 midterm Senate election, the opposition to Duterte fielded the Otso Diretso () coalition, while the administration fielded its own slate under the Hugpong ng Pagbabago banner. Hugpong won 9 of the 12 seats contested, while Otso Diretso won no seats. Cynthia Villar, wife of defeated 2010 presidential candidate Manuel Villar, topped the election, while 2013's Senate election topnotcher and 2016 defeated presidential candidate Grace Poe finished second. While Sara Duterte's Hugpong won in the Davao Region, they notably failed to unseat Alvarez, and PDP–Laban defeated Hugpong's candidate for governor of Davao del Norte, and won both of the province's seats in the House of Representatives.

Administration-allied parties also won in the House of Representatives, but there was a dispute on who should be Speaker. President Duterte brokered a term-sharing agreement between Alan Peter Cayetano and Lord Allan Velasco, with the former serving the first 15 months of the term and Velasco the final 18 months. Meanwhile, Tito Sotto was re-elected as Senate President.

In November 2019, the president challenged Robredo to co-chair the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD), the office that oversees the war on drugs, along with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief, which she accepted. A week later, Duterte said that he would fire Robredo if she shared state secrets about the drug war. Several days later, Duterte said he could not trust Robredo after she asked the government for a list of high-value targets in the drug war. Robredo replied, "He should tell me straight if he wants me out." A day later, Duterte fired Robredo as co-chair of the ICAD.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, the government was criticized by the opposition for its its response to the pandemic. Robredo had a televised speech in August claiming that the government had no plans on how to resolve the pandemic and shared ten recommendations on how to resolve it. Duterte himself, in a separate speech days later, asked Robredo not to "add fuel to the fire".

In June 2020, American boxing promoter Bob Arum said that Senator Manny Pacquiao had confided to him that he would run for president in 2022. Pacquiao later denied talking about politics with Arum. On December 3, 2020, Pacquiao was elected party president of PDP–Laban, of which President Duterte is the party chairman. On May 3, 2021, when Pacquiao was asked about his intentions of running for president, he replied "for now, let's not think about that."

In March 2021, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio launched "1Sambayan" (read as "isambayan", meaning "one nation"), a coalition that aimed to place one lone candidate against Duterte's endorsed successor. Carpio aimed to avoid Vote splitting, pointing out that Duterte had won over Mar Roxas and Grace Poe in 2016 as those who were against him were not united.

1Sambayan considered Robredo, Moreno, Poe, and Senator Nancy Binay as candidates. Both Moreno and Pacquiao, with the former being one of 1Sambayan's choices, stated that they did not want to talk about politics during the pandemic. Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said that there was never an offer from 1Sambayan for him to run, but if that Robredo did not seek the presidency in 2022, he would consider entering the presidential race.

A dispute within the PDP–Laban began on March 12, 2021 when Senator Pacquiao began to criticize President Duterte and the government regarding the dispute in the South China Sea, alleged corruption in the government agencies under the Duterte administration, the government handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the endorsement of candidates for the 2022 presidential election, leading to the creation of two factions within the party.

On March 23, 2021, Senate President Tito Sotto stated that he and Panfilo Lacson were being pushed to form a tandem. Sotto said both of them were yet to be convinced on this, and when asked if he would run for higher office in 2022, he said that he had not yet made a decision. Lacson later declined the offer from 1Sambayan in a letter to Justice Carpio, in which he cited his principal sponsorship of the Anti-Terrorism Law as "inconsistent and incongruent" to the goals of the coalition.

On June 12, 2021, 1Sambayan announced their six initial nominees to go through the coalition's selection process for a presidential and vice-presidential tandem. The nominees (whom members of the coalition may vote for as their candidate for either post) included: senator Poe, vice president Robredo, former Senator Trillanes, human rights lawyer and former senatorial candidate Chel Diokno, incumbent house deputy speaker Vilma Santos-Recto, and CIBAC representative and house deputy speaker Eddie Villanueva. Moreno and Binay declined 1Sambayan's offer to run under their coalition. Soon after, Senator Poe and Congressman Santos also withdrew their names from contention. At the same time, Vice President Robredo, former Senator Trillanes, and Congressman Villanueva expressed their support for unity in 2022 under 1Sambayan.

Lacson and Sotto formally announced their candidacies on July, with their campaign to be launched in August. Lacson was later sworn in as a member of the Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma (), the party of former secretary of Defense Renato de Villa who lost the 1998 presidential election. On September 8, Lacson and Sotto formally launched their tandem via social media, in a taped production in an undisclosed studio. The tandem filed their candidacies on October 6.

Isko Moreno, who had returned to the political limelight after being elected Mayor of Manila, was expected to take his oath as a member of Aksyon Demokratiko (), the party founded by Senator Raul Roco after resigning from the National Unity Party. However, this did not happen as an unexpectedly large number of people turned up on vaccination sites, particularly in Manila. Moreno was subsequently elected party president a week later. He later announced his presidential bid on September 22 with Dr. Willie Ong as his running mate. They filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) on October 4.

On September 30, 2021, 1Sambayan nominated Robredo as their standard bearer. On October 7, Robredo accepted the nomination and announced that she would run for President. She later filed her certificate of candidacy on the same day as an independent. Robredo explained that she was running as an independent to show that she is open to making alliances. After Vice-President Robredo announced her presidential candidacy, several sources from the Liberal Party indicated that Senator Francis Pangilinan would be her running mate for her presidential bid. Pangilinan filed his candidacy for vice president a day after Robredo.

Back in January 2020, Bongbong Marcos had confirmed that he would be running "for a national position" in 2022, although he did not specify which position. On September 21, 2021, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP; ) nominated Marcos to run for president. During the national convention of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL; ) in Binangonan, the party founded by his father, he had already been nominated as that party's candidate for president. Marcos, who was still a member of the Nacionalista Party, thanked the KBL for the nomination, but said that he would announce his own plans "when the time comes." On October 5, Marcos announced his presidential candidacy. Marcos then resigned from the Nacionalistas and was sworn in at the PFP chairman. Marcos ultimately filed his presidential candidacy under the PFP on October 6.

Davao City mayor Sara Duterte, despite being a frontrunner in early opinion polls, did not file a candidacy for a national position; instead she nominated for re-election in the Davao mayoral race, despite having previously stated on July 9, 2021, that she was open to running for president. On the final day for the filing of candidacies, Mayor Duterte did not show up; instead, Ronald dela Rosa filed his candidacy for president, stating that he was open to being substituted by Duterte. Dela Rosa was running alongside Go, who had earlier filed his candidacy for the vice presidency on October 2, despite calls from the PDP-Laban Cusi wing for him to run for president. At the end of the period for the filing of the Certificates of Canvass (COCs), a total of 97 individuals had manifested their intention to run for President, and 29 did for Vice-President.

On November 9, Duterte withdrew from the mayoral race in Davao. On November 11, she resigned from Hugpong ng Pagbabago and joined Lakas–CMD on the same day. She filed her candidacy for the vice presidential post on November 13, 2021, substituting Lyle Fernando Uy. Partido Federal ng Pilipinas adopted Duterte as their vice presidential candidate. Dela Rosa and Go both withdrew their candidacies on the same day. A few days later, Go launched his campaign for the presidential post. Go explained that he withdrew his bid to run for vice president, to avoid complicating Sara Duterte's vice presidential campaign. President Duterte was reported to be his running mate and was to file his candidacy on November 15, but filed for senator instead.

Upon filing his candidacy on November 15 via substitution, presidential aspirant and former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson Antonio Parlade Jr. accused fellow presidential aspirant Senator Bong Go of controlling Duterte's decisions. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana dismissed Parlade's claim, calling it baseless.

On November 18, 2021, President Duterte claimed that an unnamed presidential aspirant from a well-known family was using cocaine adding that the aspirant was a "weak leader" and "not a very strong leader, except for his name, the father." The next day, presidential aspirants reacted to Duterte's statement. Leni Robredo and Leody de Guzman said that the government should file charges against the candidate allegedly using cocaine. Isko Moreno and Panfilo Lacson denied that the statement alluded to them. A report speculated that his statement was alluded to Bongbong Marcos, but Marcos's camp dismissed Duterte's claims. Lacson and Sotto, Marcos and Duterte, and Moreno and Ong all subsequently took drug tests and tested negative, while Pacquiao presented a negative drug test from the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Robredo, Go, and de Guzman expressed their willingness to undergo a drug test.

On November 30, 2021, Go announced his intention to withdraw his candidacy for the presidency, without any substitute. He had earlier expressed his doubts about his presidential run on November 25. The COMELEC stated that Go had to personally file his statement of withdrawal, which he did on December 14.

On January 17, 2022, the commission's second division dismissed the petition cancelling Marcos's candidacy. The petitioners cited Marcos's conviction on violating the National Internal Revenue Code when he had failed to file income tax returns in the early 1980s during his tenure as governor of Ilocos Norte, which allegedly carried the punishment of perpetual disqualification from public office. The commission ruled that when the crime was committed, it did not carry the punishment cited by the petitioners, so Marcos did not misrepresent certificate of candidacy where he stated that he was not convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. Marcos faced a separate disqualification case in the first division; its release of the decision was delayed when several of its staffers tested positive for COVID-19.

On January 22, 2022, ''The Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews'' premiered on GMA. Moreno, Robredo, Lacson, and Pacquiao participated in the interview, while Marcos refused to take part; his camp stated that Soho was "biased" against him. GMA later responded to the allegation and refuted his camp's statement. In a separate interview in One PH, Marcos equated bias with being "anti-Marcos," adding that it was useless as he was not going to answer issues about his father's presidency.

On January 23, 2022, as part of its efforts against online disinformation, Twitter suspended more than 300 accounts. Rappler alleged that the accounts were linked to Marcos, which his campaign denied.

Candidates

The Commission on Elections released the official list of candidates on January 25, 2022, although it was finalized nine days before. Candidates who appeared on the ballot could still have been disqualified until their proclamation.

The presidential election featured the most candidates since 1992 with ten candidates running for president, while the vice presidential election featured the most candidates since 1998, with nine candidates running for vice president. This is ordered by the surname of the presidential candidate.

Ernesto Abella (Independent)

Ernesto Abella said he was running since "ordinary people were being set aside", and that he was running as an independent since the ruling PDP–Laban did not choose him as their standard bearer. He later said that he was confident of not being declared as a nuisance candidate.

His platform was centered on three main pillars: "a fair society, a government that is felt by the people, and a strong nation." He promised to push for more public participation in government affairs and to prioritize job creation and the agricultural sector in the country.

Leody de Guzman (PLM)

Leody de Guzman, chairman of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, a progressive labor group, ran unsuccessfully for Senator in 2019. De Guzman ran for president this time under the Partido Lakas ng Masa.

According to his running mate, their vision for the country was democratic socialism. He ran on a platform based on labor and social issues. Some of his advocacies included repealing the TRAIN and CREATE taxation laws as well as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, pushing for the increase of the minimum wage, implementing a universal basic income, and legalizing divorce and same-sex marriage, among others.

Walden Bello (PLM)

The Laban ng Masa () coalition launched a campaign to collect 300,000 signatures to urge activist and former party-list lawmaker Walden Bello to run for president in the 2022 elections. In a statement, Laban ng Masa said it wanted to "push for an ambitious platform that focuses on the poor, prioritizes the neglected, and fights for the rights of ordinary Filipinos." Bello's group sought talks with Vice President Robredo's backers for three months but were ignored. This caused them to support Leody de Guzman's presidential candidacy, instead.

Later in October 20, Bello decided to run for the vice presidency, substituting Raquel Castillo who was supposed to be de Guzman's running mate.

Norberto Gonzales (PDSP)

Former secretary of National Defense Norberto Gonzales said that his campaign was a "new and more politically mature approach to winning the nation's heart and its consent to govern." He filed his candidacy on October 6, 2021, under the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas. His platform focused on making significant changes in the country's government, such as making all regions autonomous and shifting from a presidential system to a parliamentary system.

Panfilo Lacson (Independent)

In July 2021, Senate President Tito Sotto confirmed that Panfilo Lacson would run for president in a tandem with him. On September 8, the duo announced their candidacies for the upcoming election. He filed his candidacy under the Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma. On March 24, 2022, Lacson resigned from Partido Reporma and became an independent candidate after the said party switched its endorsement to Robredo.

If elected, he promised to restore trust in the government, with a platform that revolveed around addressing corruption. He planned to initiate an anti-corruption drive, reform the national budget, and digitalize government services.

Tito Sotto (NPC)

In July 2021, Tito Sotto announced that he would be Lacson's eventual running mate in the presidential race; this was followed by an official campaign announcement on September 8, 2021.

Faisal Mangondato (Katipunan)

Faisal Mangondato, who ran for Senator in 2019 and lost, filed to run for president on October 4 under the Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi. He planned to push for federalism in the Philippines, proposing a provisional government for three years to complete the shift.

Carlos Serapio (Katipunan)

Serapio, Magondato's running mate, said that he would push for federalism in the Philippines if he won.

Bongbong Marcos (PFP)

On October 5, 2021, Marcos announced his presidential candidacy. Initially nominated by four parties, Marcos chose to run under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas. He resigned from the Nacionalista Party and was sworn in as the PFP chairman the same day. Marcos ultimately filed his presidential candidacy under the PFP on October 6.

Marcos faced seven petitions against his bid. The electoral commission dismissed the petition declaring him a nuisance candidate in early December. They also dismissed another petition which claims that the real Bongbong Marcos had died decades earlier, and that an impostor had taken his place. The consolidated disqualification case against him was dismissed on February 10, 2022, although one of the petitioners have filed a motion for reconsideration. The last petition against his candidacy was dismissed on April 20, 2022.

His platform is centered on uniting the country, emphasizing the need for unity to recover from the pandemic. If elected, he promised to prioritize job creation, infrastructure development, modernization of the agricultural and industrial sectors, improving healthcare, and support for small and medium-sized enterprises. He also promised to continue President Duterte's policies.

Sara Duterte (Lakas)

On July 9, 2021, Davao City mayor Sara Duterte said that she was open to running for president. However, there was no final decision yet. On September 9, 2021, she said that she was not running for president since her father, President Duterte was running for vice president, and they had agreed that only one of them would run for a national position. On November 11, she resigned from Hugpong ng Pagbabago and joined Lakas–CMD the same day. She filed her candidacy on November 13, 2021, substituting for Lyle Fernando Uy. Partido Federal ng Pilipinas adopted Duterte as their vice presidential candidate and Bongbong Marcos's running mate. Lakas and Duterte then announced that they were supporting Marcos's presidential bid; PDP–Laban first turned down her appeal for support. Later, on March 22, PDP-Laban endorsed Marcos Jr., but President Duterte chose to remain neutral.

Jose Montemayor Jr. (DPP)

Cardiologist Jose Montemayor Jr. filed his candidacy on October 1, 2021, under the Democratic Party of the Philippines. He vowed to eliminate COVID-19, corruption, and criminality once elected.

Rizalito David (DPP)

David filed his candidacy on October 8. David was most notable for losing a ''quo warranto'' petition against Grace Poe in the 2016 election.

Isko Moreno (Aksyon)

At the start of 2021, pollster Pulse Asia published an opinion poll showing Isko Moreno in second place for president, and statistically tied for first with President Duterte in the vice presidential race. The 1Sambayan convenors' group then included Moreno as one of the people they would consider choosing as its presidential candidate. Moreno begged off, as he was concentrating on his mayoral duties. By June, Moreno informed them that he was declining their offer. On September, Moreno was named president of Aksyon Demokratiko, the party founded by the late Raul Roco. Moreno announced his candidacy on September 22 with Dr. Willie Ong as his running mate.

Some of Moreno proposed policies include maintaining the Duterte administration's " Build! Build! Build! Program", additional public housing, development of agriculture, tourism and creative industries, strengthening of policies in healthcare and education, maintaining peaceful international relations, and ending divisive politics in favor of an " open governance" rooted in "competence" over " connections".

Willie Ong (Aksyon)

Ong was the running mate of Moreno; their ticket was officially announced on September 22, 2021.

Manny Pacquiao (PROMDI)

On September 19, Pacquiao accepted the nomination of the PDP-Laban faction led by Senator Koko Pimentel. On October 1, 2021, Pacquiao filed his certificate of candidacy for the presidency under PROMDI, the party founded by the late Cebu governor Lito Osmeña.

His platform is centered around the impoverished

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