Philippine senatorial elections

The Senate, when it existed, met at the Old Legislative Building from 1918 to 1941, from 1949 to 1973, and from 1987 to 1997.

The building that the Senate shares with the Government Service Insurance System since 1997.

Elections to the Senate of the Philippines is done via plurality-at-large voting; a voter can vote for up to twelve candidates, with the twelve candidates with the highest number of votes being elected. The 24-member Senate uses staggered elections, with only one-half of its members up for election at any given time, except for special elections, which are always held concurrently with regularly scheduled elections.

Manner of choosing candidates

With the advent of the nominal multi-party system in 1987, political parties have been able to muster enough candidates to fill their 12-person ticket. This means they have to join coalitions or alliances in order to present a full slate. If a slate is still not complete, guest candidates may be invited, even from rival slates. A guest candidate may not be compelled to join the campaign rallies of the slate that invited him/her. A party may even not include their entire ticket to a coalition slate, or assign their candidates to competing slates. A candidate may defect from one slate to another or be unaffiliated with any slate while the campaign is ongoing. The Commission on Elections uses the names of the political parties on the ballot.

In Third Republic elections under the nominal two-party system, the Liberal Party and the Nacionalista Party often presented complete 8-person tickets; a party may even exceed the 8-person slate due to perceived popularity.

Once elected, the parties involved in the different slates may form alliances with one another totally different from the alliances prior to the election.

Manner of election

1916 to 1935

Map of the senatorial districts.

See also: Senatorial districts of the Philippines

From 1916 to 1934, the country was divided into 12 senatorial districts. Eleven of these districts elected two senators each. In 1916, each district elected two senators (plurality-at-large): one was to serve a six-year term, the other a three-year term. On each election thereafter, one seat per district was up (first past the post). The senators from the 12th district were appointed by the American governor-general for no fixed term.

In 1935, the electorate approved in a plebiscite a new constitution that abolished the Senate and instituted a unicameral National Assembly of the Philippines. The members of the Constitutional Convention originally wanted bicameralism but could not agree on how the senators shall be elected: via the senatorial districts or being nationally elected.

1941 to 1949

The electorate in 1940 approved in a plebiscite amendments to the constitution that restored the bicameral Congress of the Philippines, including the Senate. Elections for the Senate were held on every second Monday of November of every odd-numbered year; however, the old senatorial districts were not used anymore; instead, the 24-member Senate was to be elected on a nationwide at-large basis. As the first election in the new setup, the voters in the 1941 election voted for 24 senators. However, they were also given the option of writing the party's name on the ballot, wherein all of the candidates of the party would receive votes. With the 24 candidates with the most number of votes winning in the election, the ruling Nacionalista Party won all 24 seats in a landslide victory. The winners included Rafael Martinez, who replaced Norberto Romualdez, who died the day before the election; Martinez won because of voters who had selected the party, rather than specifying a particular candidate.

Due to World War II, Congress was not able to convene until June 1945. President Sergio Osmeña called for special sessions to convene the 1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines until elections could be organized. Originally, to observe the staggered terms, the eight candidates with the most votes were to serve for eight years, the next eight for four years, and still the next eight for two years. However, several members had died and others were disqualified because they were charged with collaboration with the Japanese, so the Senate conducted a lottery to determine which senators would serve until 1946 and which would serve until 1947. In the 1946 election, voters elected 16 senators; the first eight candidates with the highest amount of votes were to serve until 1951, the next eight were to serve until 1949.

1951 to 1971

File:Sen. Primcias debates Sen. Paredes.jpg

The Senate chamber at the Old Congress building: Cipriano P. Primicias, Sr., far left, debates Quintín Paredes, far right. In the center are, from left to right, Justiniano Montano, Mariano Jesús Cuenco, Enrique B. Magalona, and Francisco Delgado. In the foreground is Edmundo Cea.

Electoral reform enacted in 1951 eliminated block voting, which had given voters the option of writing the party's name on the ballot. In the 1951 election, voters voted for eight senators for the first time and each voter had to write at most eight names for senator (writing the party's name would result in a spoiled vote). Noting that after the elimination of block voting, many people voted for a split ticket, political scientist David Wurfel has remarked that "The electoral reform of 1951 was thus one of the most important institutional changes in the postwar Philippines, making the life of the opposition easier."

In September 1973, President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and assumed legislative powers. In the 1973 plebiscite, the electorate approved a new constitution that abolished Congress and replaced it with a unicameral National Assembly, which would ultimately be the Batasang Pambansa (parliament).

1987 to present

The GSIS building: The Senate session hall.

Marcos was overthrown as a result of the 1986 People Power Revolution. The new president, Corazon Aquino, appointed a Constitutional Commission to write a new constitution. The electorate approved the constitution in 1987, restoring the bicameral Congress. Instead of electing 8 senators every two years, the new constitution provided that 12 senators would be elected every three years. As part of the transitory provisions, the voters elected 24 senators in the 1987 election, to serve until 1992. In the 1992 election, the voters still voted for 24 candidates, but the first 12 candidates with the most number of votes were to serve until 1998, while the next 12 were to serve only until 1995. Thereafter, 12 candidates are elected every second Monday of May every third year since 1995.

Summary

Election results by number of seats from 1916 to the present. Note that some senators may switch to another party mid-term.

Election results by total votes from 1946 to the present.

Elections	Elected	Seats per district	Districts	Total seats
1916	22	2	11	24
1919	11	1	11	24
1922	12	1	12	24
1925	12	1	12	24
1928	12	1	12	24
1931	12	1	12	24
1934	12	1	12	24
Senate abolished from 1935 to 1941. Senators elected in 1941 will not serve until 1945.
1941	24	24	1	24
1946	16	16	1	24
1947	8	8	1	24
1949	8	8	1	24
1951	9	9	1	24
1953	8	8	1	24
1955	9	9	1	24
1957	8	8	1	24
1959	8	8	1	24
1961	8	8	1	24
1963	8	8	1	24
1965	8	8	1	24
1967	8	8	1	24
1969	8	8	1	24
1971	8	8	1	24
Senate abolished from 1972 to 1987.
1987	24	24	1	24
1992	24	24	1	24
1995	12	12	1	24
1998	12	12	1	24
2001	13	13	1	24
2004	12	12	1	24
2007	12	12	1	24
2010	12	12	1	24
2013	12	12	1	24

^1 Out of the 24 senators-elect, the first eight candidates with the highest number of votes will serve for six years, the next eight for four years, and the next eight for two years. However, this was not followed due to the intervention of World War II.

^2 Out of the 16 senators-elect, the first eight candidates with the highest number of votes will serve for six years, and the next eight for four years.

^3 A special election for the seat vacated by Fernando Lopez who was elected vice president on 1949 was held.

^4 A special election for the seat vacated by Carlos P. Garcia who was elected vice president on 1953 was held.

^5 Out of the 24 senators-elect, the first twelve candidates with the highest number of votes will serve for six years, and the next twelve for three years.

^6 Teofisto Guingona, Jr. was appointed vice president on 2001; the thirteenth-placed candidate in the election will serve for Guingona's unexpired term of three years.

List of results

Senatorial districts era

Election	Nacionalista	Progresista	Democrata	Collectivista	Pro- Independencia	Consolidato	Independents	Total
1916	22	1					1	24
1919	21		1				2	24
1922	12		5	3			4	24
1925	5		8	3	6		2	24
1928	24		0	3				24
1931	6		4				2	12
1934	6		17				1	24

At-large era

Since the at-large era, a high-scoring winner can be seen as a strong contender for a future presidential or vice-presidential bid.

In this table, the "administration" ticket is the ticket supported by the sitting president. In 1992, Corazon Aquino who was nominally supporting the LDP, supported the presidential candidacy of Fidel V. Ramos of Lakas, making the "administration ticket" ambiguous.

• Key: Darker shade was a midterm election. Boldface denotes the party that won at least majority of the seats contested.

Election	Topnotcher	Party	Future election to higher office result	Result (Party/coalition totals)
				Administration ticket	Primary opposition ticket	Others
1941	Claro M. Recto	Nacionalista	Lost 1957 presidential election	24 Nacionalistas
1946	Vicente Francisco	Nacionalista (Liberal wing)	Lost 1949 vice presidential election	7 Nacionalistas	8 Nacionalistas (Liberal wing)	1 Popular Front
1947	Lorenzo Tañada	Liberal	Lost 1957 vice presidential election	6 Liberals	2 Nacionalistas
1949	Quintin Paredes	Liberal		8 Liberals
1951	José P. Laurel	Nacionalista			9 Nacionalistas
1953	Fernando Lopez	Democratic	Won 1965 vice presidential election		5 Nacionalistas	2 Democrats 1 Citizens'
1955	Pacita Madrigal-Warns	Nacionalista		9 Nacionalistas
1957	Gil Puyat	Nacionalista		6 Nacionalistas	2 Liberals
1959	Ferdinand Marcos	Liberal	Won 1965 presidential election Won 1969 presidential election Won 1981 presidential election Victory at the 1986 presidential election disputed	5 Nacionalistas	2 Liberals	1 NCP
1961	Raul Manglapus	Progressive		2 Nacionalistas	4 Liberals	2 Progressives
1963	Gerardo Roxas	Liberal	Lost 1965 vice presidential election	4 Liberals	4 Nacionalistas
1965	Jovito Salonga	Liberal	Lost 1992 presidential election	2 Liberals	5 Nacionalistas	1 NCP
1967	Jose Roy	Nacionalista		6 Nacionalistas	1 Liberal	1 independent
1969	Arturo Tolentino	Nacionalista	Victory at the 1986 vice presidential election disputed	6 Nacionalistas	2 Liberals
1971	Jovito Salonga	Liberal	(see 1965)	2 Nacionalistas	6 Liberals
1987	Jovito Salonga	LABAN	(see 1965)	22 LABAN	2 GAD
1992	Vicente Sotto III	LDP	TBD	16 LDP	5 NPC	2 Lakas 1 Liberal/PDP-Laban
1995	Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo	LDP	Won 1998 vice presidential election Won 2004 presidential election	9 Lakas-Laban	3 NPC
1998	Loren Legarda	Lakas-NUCD-UMDP	Lost 2004 vice presidential election Lost 2010 vice presidential election	5 Lakas	7 LAMMP
2001	Noli de Castro	Independent	Won 2004 vice presidential election	8 PPC	5 Puwersa ng Masa	1 independent
2004	Mar Roxas	Liberal	Lost 2010 vice presidential election Lost 2016 presidential election	7 K-4	5 KNP
2007	Loren Legarda	NPC	(see 1998)	2 Team Unity	8 GO	2 Independents
2010	Bong Revilla	Lakas-Kampi	TBD	2 Lakas-Kampi	3 Liberals	2 Nacionalistas 2 PMP 1 PRP 1 NPC 1 Independent
2013	Grace Poe	Independent	Lost 2016 presidential election	9 Team PNoy	3 UNA
2016	Franklin Drilon	Liberal	TBD	5 Liberals	1 UNA	3 Independents 2 NPC 1 Akbayan

Latest elections

2016

Main article: Philippine Senate election, 2016

 Summary of the May 9, 2016 Philippine Senate election results

Rank	Candidate	Party		Votes	%
1	Franklin Drilon		Liberal	18,607,391	41.52%
2	Joel Villanueva		Liberal	18,459,222	41.39%
3	Tito Sotto		NPC	17,200,371	38.51%
4	Panfilo Lacson		Independent	16,926,152	37.82%
5	Richard J. Gordon		Independent	16,719,322	37.28%
6	Juan Miguel Zubiri		Independent	16,119,165	35.87%
7	Manny Pacquiao		UNA	16,050,546	35.67%
8	Francis Pangilinan		Liberal	15,955,949	35.56%
9	Risa Hontiveros		Akbayan	15,915,213	35.53%
10	Sherwin Gatchalian		NPC	14,953,768	33.58%
11	Ralph Recto		Liberal	14,271,868	31.79%
12	Leila de Lima		Liberal	14,144,070	31.55%
13	Francis Tolentino		Independent	12,811,098	28.64%
14	Sergio Osmeña III		Independent	12,670,615	28.20%
15	Ferdinand Martin Romualdez		Lakas	12,325,824	27.60%
16	Isko Moreno		PMP	11,126,944	24.95%
17	TG Guingona		Liberal	10,331,157	22.92%
18	Jericho Petilla		Liberal	7,046,580	15.77%
19	Mark Lapid		Aksyon	6,594,190	14.71%
20	Neri Colmenares		Makabayan	6,484,985	14.48%
21	Edu Manzano		Independent	5,269,539	11.69%
22	Roman Romulo		Independent	4,824,484	10.79%
23	Susan Ople		Nacionalista	2,775,191	6.07%
24	Alma Moreno		UNA	2,432,224	5.42%
25	Greco Belgica		Independent	2,100,985	4.62%
26	Raffy Alunan		Independent	2,032,362	4.45%
27	Larry Gadon		KBL	1,971,327	4.40%
28	Rey Langit		UNA	1,857,630	4.12%
29	Lorna Kapunan		Aksyon	1,838,978	4.03%
30	Dionisio Santiago		Independent	1,828,305	4.02%
31	Samuel Pagdilao		Independent	1,755,949	3.91%
32	Melchor Chavez		PMM	1,736,822	3.85%
33	Getulio Napeñas		UNA	1,719,576	3.82%
34	Ina Ambolodto		Liberal	1,696,558	3.62%
35	Allan Montaño		UNA	1,605,073	3.56%
36	Walden Bello		Independent	1,091,194	2.41%
37	Jacel Kiram		UNA	995,673	2.12%
38	Shariff Albani		Independent	905,610	1.94%
39	Jovito Palparan		Independent	855,297	1.87%
40	Cresente Paez		Independent	808,623	1.80%
41	Sandra Cam		PMP	805,756	1.77%
42	Dante Liban		Independent	782,249	1.72%
43	Ramon Montaño		Independent	759,263	1.68%
44	Aldin Ali		PMM	733,838	1.56%
45	Romeo Maganto		Lakas	731,021	1.60%
46	Godofredo Arquiza		Independent	680,550	1.50%
47	Levi Baligod		Independent	596,583	1.31%
48	Diosdado Valeroso		Independent	527,146	1.16%
49	Ray Dorona		Independent	495,191	1.09%
50	Eid Kabalu		Independent	379,846	0.81%
Total turnout				44,683,515	80.6%
Total votes				319,308,507	N/A
Registered voters				55,735,757	100%
Reference: Commission on Elections sitting as the National Board of Canvassers.

2013

Main article: Philippine Senate election, 2013

 Summary of the May 13, 2013 Philippine Senate election results

#	Candidate	Coalition	Party		Votes	%	Swing
1.	Grace Poe	Team PNoy		Independent	20,337,327	50.66%
2.	Loren Legarda	Team PNoy		NPC	18,661,196	46.49%	16.24%
3.	Alan Cayetano	Team PNoy		Nacionalista	17,580,813	43.79%	3.83%
4.	Chiz Escudero	Team PNoy		Independent	17,502,358	43.60%	18.32%
5.	Nancy Binay	UNA		UNA	16,812,148	41.88%
6.	Sonny Angara	Team PNoy		LDP	16,005,564	39.87%
7.	Bam Aquino	Team PNoy		Liberal	15,534,465	38.70%
8.	Koko Pimentel	Team PNoy		PDP-Laban	14,725,114	36.68%	0.56%
9.	Antonio Trillanes	Team PNoy		Nacionalista	14,127,722	35.19%	2.74%
10.	Cynthia Villar	Team PNoy		Nacionalista	13,822,854	34.43%
11.	JV Ejercito Estrada	UNA		UNA	13,684,736	34.09%
12.	Gringo Honasan	UNA		UNA	13,211,424	32.91%	6.58%
13.	Dick Gordon	UNA		UNA	12,501,991	31.14%
14.	Migz Zubiri	UNA		UNA	11,821,134	29.45%	7.86%
15.	Jack Enrile	UNA		NPC	11,543,024	28.75%
16.	Ramon Magsaysay, Jr.	Team PNoy		Liberal	11,356,739	28.29%
17.	Risa Hontiveros	Team PNoy		Akbayan	10,944,843	27.26%
18.	Edward Hagedorn	Not affiliated		Independent	8,412,840	20.96%
19.	Eddie Villanueva	Not affiliated		Bangon Pilipinas	6,932,985	17.27%
20.	Jamby Madrigal	Team PNoy		Liberal	6,787,744	16.91%
21.	Mitos Magsaysay	UNA		UNA	5,620,429	14.00%
22.	Teodoro Casiño	Makabayan		Makabayan	4,295,151	10.70%
23.	Ernesto Maceda	UNA		UNA	3,453,121	8.60%
24.	Tingting Cojuangco	UNA		UNA	3,152,939	7.85%
25.	Samson Alcantara	Not affiliated		Social Justice Society	1,240,104	3.09%
26.	John Carlos de los Reyes	Not affiliated		Ang Kapatiran	1,238,280	3.08%
27.	Greco Belgica	Not affiliated		DPP	1,128,924	2.81%
28.	Ricardo Penson	Not affiliated		Independent	1,040,293	2.59%
29.	Ramon Montaño	Not affiliated		Independent	1,040,131	2.59%
30.	Rizalito David	Not affiliated		Ang Kapatiran	1,035,971	2.58%
31.	Christian Señeres	Not affiliated		DPP	706,198	1.76%
32.	Marwil Llasos	Not affiliated		Ang Kapatiran	701,390	1.75%
33.	Baldomero Falcone	Not affiliated		DPP	665,845	1.66%
Total turnout					40,144,207	75.77%	1.43%
Total votes					297,625,797	N/A
Registered voters, including overseas voters					52,982,173	100.00%	3.24%
Reference: Commission on Elections sitting as the National Board of Canvassers.