ELECTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES: ELECTORAL SYSTEM,

IRREGULARITIES AND VIOLENCE

ELECTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES:

Presidential elections are held every six years. The last one was in 2010. The next one is in 2016. Congress, Senate
and local elections are held in the years of presidential elections and three years before and after them. During the
2010 election around 50 million voters chose a president and 18,000 national and local officials.
Voter participation is typically around 70 percent to 85 percent. There were 43 million eligible voters in 2004; 36.1
million in 2001; and 34 million in 1998. Overseas Filipinos were allowed to vote in presidential elections for the first
time in 2004. Voting rates are high in national elections despite obstacles such as difficult transportation, the need to
write out the names of all candidates in longhand, and, occasionally, the threat of violence. Filipinos enjoy and expect
elections so much that even Ferdinand Marcos dared not completely deny them this outlet. Instead, he changed the
rules to rig the elections in his favor.
The voting age is 18 in the Philippines. Voters typically have to endure long lines, rain and heat. Once inside the
polling station they look for their name and number on registration lists, obtain a ballot from a poll worker and write by
hand the names of the 20 or so candidates they are voting for in different offices. Voting forms are sometime called
the world's longest and people routinely wait 45 minutes in line for their turn. Voters are stamped with indelible ink to
keep them from voting twice.
Philippine elections are characterized by lots of candidates and lots of positions. There were 17,000 electoral
positions in the 1998 election. More than 800,000 candidates vied for chairmanships and other posts in urban and
rural villages, locally called barangays— the Philippines’ smallest political units—in 2013. Voters are required to write
the name of their preferred candidates. They can write their first names, last names or their nicknames. This one
reason why candidates promote short nicknames like "Cory" Aquino or "Erap" Estrada.
Often weeks pass before the official election results are officials. Counting takes so long because much of it is done
by hand. It took five weeks before Ramos was declared the winner of the presidential election in 1992. It took six
weeks before Arroyo was declared the winner in 2004.
There were 215,000 voting precincts in 2004, compared to 175,000 in 1998. Most are run by public school teachers
Elections are run by the Commissions of Elections (Comelec) and monitored by the watchdog group National Citizens
Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel).
Elections: Senate - elections last held on May 13m 2013 (next to be held in May 2016); House of Representatives -
elections last held on May 13, 2013 (next to be held in May 2016) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party
for 2013 election - UNA 26.94 percent, NP 15.3 percent, LP 11.32 percent, NPC 10.15 percent, LDP 5.38 percent,
PDP-Laban 4.95 percent, others 9.72 percent, independents 16.24 percent; seats by party after 2013 election - UNA
5, NP 5, LP 4, Lakas 2, NPC 2, LDP 1, PDP-Laban 1, PRP 1, independents 3; House of Representatives - percent of
vote by party - LP 38.3 percent, NPC 17.4 percent, UNA 11.4 percent, NUP 8.7 percent, NP 8.5 percent, Lakas 5.3
percent, independents 6.0 percent, others 4.4 percent; seats by party - LP 110, NPC 43, NUP 24, NP 17, Lakas 14,
UNA 8, independents 6, others 12; party-list 57 [Source: CIA World Factbook]

Electoral System in the Philippines

The Philippines has universal direct suffrage at age 18 and older to elect the president, vice president (who runs
independently), and most of the seats in the bicameral legislature, consisting of the House of Representatives and
the Senate; a minority of House members known as sectoral representatives are appointed by the president.
Elections are held not just for national leadership but also for representation at the provincial and local levels. In the
last elections in May 2004, some 74 percent of eligible voters participated, but the process was marred by violence
and numerous irregularities, which the political opposition continues to protest, even calling for the president’s
impeachment. [Source: Library of Congress *]
Elections in the Philippines are the arena in which the country's elite families compete for political power. The
wealthiest clans contest national and provincial offices. Families of lesser wealth compete for municipal offices. In the
barangays, where most people are equally poor, election confers social prestige but no real power or money. *
 The constitution also empowers the commission to "accredit citizens' arms of the Commission on Elections." This
refers to the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), a private group established in the 1950s, with advice
and assistance from the United States, to keep elections honest. NAMFREL recruited public-spirited citizens
(320,000 volunteers in 104,000 precincts in the 1987 congressional elections) to watch the voting and monitor ballot-
counting, and it prepared a "quick count," based mostly on urban returns, to publicize the results immediately.
Because the Commission on Elections can take weeks or even months to certify official returns, the National
Movement for Free Elections makes it harder for unscrupulous politicians to distort the results. NAMFREL itself has
sometimes been denounced by election losers as being a tool of United States intervention and has not always been
impartial. In 1986 it favored Aquino, and its chairman, Jose Concepcion, was subsequently named Aquino's minister
of trade and industry. *
The 1987 constitution establishes a new system of elections. The terms of representatives are reduced from four
years to three, and the presidential term is lengthened from four years to six. Senators also serve a six-year term.
The Constitution's transitory provisions are scheduled to expire in 1992, after which there is to be a three-year
election cycle. Suffrage is universal at age eighteen. The constitution established a Commission on Elections that is
empowered to supervise every aspect of campaigns and elections. It is composed of a chairperson and six
commissioners, who cannot have been candidates for any position in the immediately preceding elections. A majority
of the commissioners must be lawyers, and all must be college-educated. They are appointed by the president with
the consent of the Commission on Appointments and serve a single seven-year term. The Commission on Elections
enforces and administers all election laws and regulations and has original jurisdiction over all legal disputes arising
from disputed results. To counter the unwholesome influence occasionally exercised by soldiers and other armed
groups, the commission may depute law enforcement agencies, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In dire
situations, the commission can take entire municipalities and provinces under its control, or order new elections. *
The final decision on all legislative elections rests with the electoral tribunals of the Senate and House of
Representatives. Each electoral tribunal is composed of nine members, three of whom are members of the Supreme
Court designated by the chief justice. The remaining six are members of the Senate or the House, chosen on the
basis of proportional representation from parties in the chamber. *

History of Elections in the Philippines

Until 1972 Philippine elections were comparable to those in United States cities during early industrialization: flawed,
perhaps, by instances of vote-buying, ballot-box stuffing, or miscounts, but generally transmitting the will of the
people. A certain amount of election-related violence was considered normal. Marcos overturned this system with
innovations such as asking voters to indicate by a show of hands if they wanted him to remain in office. In the snap
election of 1986, Marcos supporters tried every trick they knew but lost anyway. The heroism of the democratic forces
at that time inspired many Filipinos. [Source: Library of Congress *]
The commission to "accredit citizens' arms of the Commission on Elections” is known as the National Movement for
Free Elections (NAMFREL). A private NAMFREL was instrumental in the election of President Ramon Magsaysay in
1953, and played a minor role in subsequent presidential elections. It lapsed into inactivity during the martial law
years, then played an important role in Aquino's 1986 victory. [Source: Library of Congress *]
The first congressional elections under the 1987 constitution were held on May 11, 1987. Political parties had not
really coalesced. Seventy-nine separate parties registered with the Commission on Elections, and voters had a wide
range of candidates to choose from: 84 candidates ran for 24 Senate seats, and 1,899 candidates ran for 200 House
seats. The elections were considered relatively clean, even though the secretary of local government ordered all
governors and mayors to campaign for Aquino-endorsed candidates. There were sixty-three electionrelated killings.
Some of these deaths were attributable to small-town family vendettas, whereas others may have had ideological
motives. The armed forces charged that communists used strong-arm tactics in areas they controlled, and the
communists in turn claimed that nineteen of their election workers had been murdered. Election results showed a
virtual clean sweep for candidates endorsed by Aquino. *
The next step in redemocratization was to hold local elections for the first time since 1980. When Aquino took office,
she dismissed all previously elected officials and replaced them with people she believed to be loyal to her. Local
elections were originally scheduled for August 1987, but because many May 1987 congressional results were
disputed and defeated candidates wanted a chance to run for local positions, the Commission on Elections
postponed local elections first to November 1987 and then to January 18, 1988. More than 150,000 candidates ran
for 16,000 positions as governor, vice governor, provincial board member, mayor, vice mayor, and town council
member, nationwide. *
The final step in redemocratization was the thrice-postponed March 1989 election for barangay officials. Some
42,000 barangay captains were elected. At this level of neighborhood politics, no real money or power was involved,
the stakes were small, and election violence was rare. The Commission on Elections prohibited political parties from
becoming involved. *

Election Campaigns in the Philippines

Before elections in May 2010, Blaine Harden wrote in the Washington Post: “Elections in the Philippines are
personality-driven, a kind of national soap opera in which distinctions between infamy and celebrity tend to blur over
time. In the chaotic run-up to national elections on May 10, about 85,000 candidates are clamoring after 17,000
positions, from town council member to president. Political violence has claimed at least 80 lives, including 57 in one
incident. And families that have long called the shots in the Philippines are angling for advantage. [Source: Blaine
Harden, Washington Post, April 22, 2010]
Campaigns in the Philippines have been called charades and compared to con games. They are generally long on
impossible-to-fullfilll promises and entertainment and short on policy statements, positions on issues and substantive
debate. There are rules that limit campaign spending, advertising and television air time but these rules are often
broken. The campaign period for presidential and legislative elections is theoretically about 60 days but is often much
longer than that in reality.
Political rallies are entertainment extravaganzas. Candidates uses comic books to radio jingles to reach the voters.
In a typical campaign rally the crowd wears caps with the names of the candidates they support and chant their
names. It is not unusual for many of the members of the crowd to be paid to show up. In some cases candidates
have been accused of using taxpayer money for their campaigns.
In the early 2000s it became fashionable for politicians to appear in advertisements and commercials, peddling
everything from milk to detergents, to make money and get their names and faces recognized. Politicians have
appeared on television, radio, billboards and posters. One presidential candidate plugged a Philippine-made brandy.
President Arroyo appeared in ads endorsing low-price medicines, cheap rice and a commuter train service.
Government -owned mobile stores that sold rice and other basic foodstuffs were called Gloria’s Stores.
Describing the scene six months before presidential in 2004, Ellen Nakashima wrote in the Washington Post, “In just
one week in the Philippine capital, a former air transportation official was shot dead in a control tower at the
international airport, lawmakers clashed over whether to impeach the nation's top judge and police dispersed
thousands of protesters with tear gas and water cannons. And that, many Filipinos fear, was just another typical week
as the May 2004 presidential election season opens and opposition forces sense that President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo is vulnerable. [Source: Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, November 23, 2003]
“More than 7,000 protesters were brought in from the slums to Manila's financial district on Nov. 12, organized and in
some cases paid by anti-administration activists. They carried signs urging the ouster of Arroyo and the Supreme
Court justice who swore her in three years ago. Anti-government sentiment rising in wake of President Arroyo’s u-turn
announcement to run in 2004 elections. Fernando Poe, film actor and close friend of deposed President Joseph
Estrada, also announced intention to run. Government declared military “red alert” 3 November to preempt instability
from opposition-led impeachment bid against chief justice; military vowed to stay neutral.Three-hour siege by two
armed men (including former aviation official with links to July mutineers) at Manila airport 8 November protesting
corruption resulted in deaths of both. Thousands took to streets 11 and 14 November calling for president to step
down. Formal peace negotiations with MILF expected to resume soon after Malaysia agrees to send team of 25
observers to Mindanao. Despite July ceasefire, government forces clashed with MILF rebels 11 November, killing 13,
including two rebels and two police. [Ibid

Electoral System: Philippines

Government Type:

A presidential, representative, and democratic republic where the President of the Philippines is both the head of state and
the head of government within a pluriform multi-party system.

Head of State:

Chief of State & Head of Government: Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, President, President

Upper House total number of seats:

 24

Lower House total number of seats:

291

Electoral Constituencies:

House of Representatives:

 Directly Elected (230 seats): Single-‐member constituencies divided by population among the provinces, cities and
Manila.
 Indirectly Elected (57 seats): One at-‐large constituency.
 Senate (24 seats): One at-‐large constituency.
Population:

96.71 million (2012)

Number of registered voters:

52 million (52,014,648)

LanguageEnglish

Related Party:

Partido Kalikasan

Parties (node reference):

Philippine Green Party (Partido Kalikasan)

Philippines

Electoral System:

Mixed: Parallel (Segmented) (PR Lists and Majoritarian constituencies). • (Parallel is a first-past-the-post method in single
member constituencies & a proportional method for national party lists). President: Directly elected in a first‐past-the-post
voting system for a term of 6 years. The President is not eligible for re-‐election). Parliament: • House of Representatives:
•Directly Elected (230 seats): Elected in a single-‐member district plurality system for a term of 3 years. •Indirectly Elected
(57 seats): 20% of all seats in the House of Representatives are reserved for registered national, regional, and sectoral
parties or organizations. Elected in an open party list at-‐large voting system for a term of 3 years. Parties are limited to a
maximum of three seats. Senate (24 seats): Elected in a plurality-‐at-‐large voting system for a term of 6 years. Half of the
Senate is elected every 3 years. Limited to 2 terms."

Election Threshold:

2% • Under constitutional provisions, the PR tier must comprise 20 percent of total seats. While the constitution provides for
a 250-member House, it also permits the legislature to change that size. Numbers above reflect the current apportionment.
In the PR tier, members generally represent special ""sectoral"" minorities, though this constitutional provision was set to
expire after three terms from 1987. (The 1987 constitution reserved half of these seats to said groups.) Under a 2009 court
ruling related to the 2007 legislative elections, a party represented in one tier may not hold seats in the other, effectively
reserving all PR seats to minor parties. The threshold in the PR tier is 2 percent, but no party may hold more than three
seats in it. Prior to the 2009 ruling, elections would not necessarily fill all PR seats.)"

Election Deposit Requirement:

P10,000.00/candidate filing fee

Election Management Body:

Commission on Elections (www.comelec.gov.ph) is a 7-‐person commission appointed by the President. The chairman and
three other commissioners are appointed for a 7-‐year term, two commissioners are appointed for a 5-‐year term, and the
final member for a 3-‐year term.

Quota for women:

• 27% for the House of Representatives.

• The 1991 Local Government Code No. 7160 (s. 41, para. C) requires that a woman be 1 of 3 sectoral representatives
included in every municipal, city and provincial legislative council.