List of special elections in the Philippines

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This is a list of special elections in the Philippines. The Philippines holds two types of special elections: those that were supposed to be held on election day but were delayed, and those held after an office has become vacant. This article describes the second type, which is also known outside the Philippines and the United States as "by-elections". This includes special elections to Congress and its predecessors: the Philippine Legislature, National Assembly of the Philippines, Commonwealth Congress and the Batasang Pambansa, to local legislatures and executive offices, if applicable.

Most special elections are for vacancies in Congress.

Scheduling[]

In Republic Act (R.A.) No. 180, or the Revised Election Code of 1947, if a vacancy in either chamber of Congress occurs at least 10 months or before a regular election, the president shall call a special election as soon as the chamber where the vacancy occurred of the existence of such vacancy notified him.^[1]

In Batas Pambansa Bilang (B.P. Blg.; National Law No.) 881, or the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines, approved on December 3, 1985, in case of a vacancy in the Batasang Pambansa (National Parliament) 18 months or more before a regular election, the Commission on Elections shall call a special election to be held within sixty days after the vacancy occurs; in case parliament is dissolved, the President shall call an election which shall not be held earlier than forty-five nor later than sixty days from the date of such dissolution.^[2] Several weeks earlier, President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the Batasang Pambansa to call a special snap election a year prior to the regularly-schedule election. B.P. Blg 883 called the special presidential election on the same day B.P. Blg 881 was passed. Marcos was then ousted after the People Power Revolution when it was alleged he won that election via massive election fraud. The new government headed by President Corazon Aquino restored the presidential system with a bicameral Congress.

The constitution ratified in 1987 provided Congress to convene on the third day of the vacancy of both the presidency and vice presidency to enact a law calling for a special election for both offices, with the exception that no election will be called if the next scheduled election is 18 months away. If only one of the offices is vacant, the vice president becomes president, or the president appoints a member of Congress as vice president, with both chambers voting separately to confirm the appointment, as the case may be.^[3]

Later, as stipulated in R.A. No. 6645 approved on December 28, 1987, once a vacancy occurs in the Senate at least 18 months, or in the House of Representatives at least (1) year, before the next scheduled election, the Commission on Elections, upon receipt of a resolution from the chamber where the vacancy occurred, shall schedule a special election. The special election will then be held not earlier than 45 days and not later than 90 days from the date of the resolution.^[4]

However, R.A. No. 7166 approved on November 26, 1991, amended parts of R.A. No. 6645. When a vacancy in the House of Representatives occurs before one year before the expiration of the term, the special election shall be held not earlier than 60 days and not later than 90 days after occurrence of the vacancy. For the Senate, if the vacancy occurs one year before the expiration of the term, the special election shall be held on the day of the next succeeding regular election.^[5]

With the passage of Republic Act No. 8295 in 1997, if there is only one candidate running for the position, that candidate would be proclaimed as the winner, and an election would no longer be held.^[6] This is unlike in regularly scheduled elections where voting would still be held, and the candidate has to get one vote in order to be elected. Since the enactment of this law, no special election has seen only one candidate.

Not all vacancies that occurred a year before the next regular election resulted in a special election. To save money, the Speaker appoints a caretaker representative from a nearby district. In same cases a caretaker representative was appointed while an election date was considered.

As with general elections, special elections are usually scheduled on a Monday. During the Third Republic, special elections were held concurrently with midterm elections. However, special elections held during the 15th Congress were done on Saturdays. In some cases, election days are declared as holidays.

Lack of special elections[]

In accordance with current laws, the decision to call a special election to fill permanent vacancies is not mandatory, and is solely at the discretion of Congress, which has received criticism for not quickly acting to fill such vacancies.^[7] Despite many vacancies occurring well before a year from the end of a congressional term, Congress has left many such seats unfilled. In more extreme examples some even remained vacant for two years or more:^[8]

Since the independence in 1946, no special elections were called during the presidencies of Carlos P. Garcia, Corazon Aquino and Joseph Estrada; the 4th Congress, during the Garcia presidency, notably did not have deaths in the lower house. During the first half of the presidency of Diosdado Macapagal, and the latter half of the presidencies of Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and from the beginning of the second presidential term of Ferdinand Marcos in 1969 until his removal from office in 1986, no special elections were called. During the current presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, no special elections have been called to date.

1986 snap election[]

In 1985, the Batasang Pambansa called a special election for the offices of president and vice president on February 7, 1986; unlike special elections elsewhere when it was called due to a vacancy, incumbent president Ferdinand Marcos did not relinquish his office, and that the winners will serve a full six-year term, instead of the remainder of the current term. The vice presidency, which was vacant after it was restored when a constitutional amendment was approved in a 1984 plebiscite, was also at stake. Marcos and his running mate, MP from Manila Arturo Tolentino, won their respective elections against Corazon Aquino and Salvador Laurel, but allegations of massive fraud led to the People Power Revolution a couple of weeks later that led to his ouster.

President[]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Ferdinand Marcos	Kilusang Bagong Lipunan	10,807,197	53.62
	Corazon Aquino	United Nationalist Democratic Organization	9,291,716	46.10
		Social Democratic Party	34,041	0.17
	Narciso Padilla	Movement for Truth, Order and Righteousness	23,652	0.12
Total			20,156,606	100.00
Valid votes			20,156,606	97.30
Invalid/blank votes			559,469	2.70
Total votes			20,716,075	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			26,278,744	78.83
Source: Annex XXXVIII of the report by the International Observer Delegation

Vice President[]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Arturo Tolentino	Kilusang Bagong Lipunan	10,134,130	50.66
	Salvador Laurel	United Nationalist Democratic Organization	9,173,105	45.85
	Eva Estrada Kalaw	Liberal Party (Kalaw wing)[a]	662,185	3.31
	Roger Arienda	Movement for Truth, Order and Righteousness	35,974	0.18
Total			20,005,394	100.00
Valid votes			20,005,394	96.57
Invalid/blank votes			710,681	3.43
Total votes			20,716,075	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			26,278,744	78.83
Source: Annex XXXVIII of the report by the International Observer Delegation

House of Representatives[]

Since the 1998 elections, there have been two types of elected representatives, those who represent single-member districts and those elected via the party-list system. When a vacancy occurs for a party-list representative, the next-ranked nominee from the party replaces his predecessor. For district representatives, a special election will be held to determine who shall succeed the predecessor. During the Third Philippine Republic, where representatives had four-year terms, the special election was held together with the mid-term election.

A special election will not be held if the vacancy occurred less than a year before the next regularly scheduled election.

In the tables below, special elections where a change of party occurs have its leftmost cell shaded.

In case of deaths of appointed sectoral representatives from 1987 to 1998, the president may appoint a replacement, with the advise and consent of the Commission on Appointments.

Malolos Congress[]

The Malolos Constitution did not provide provisions for holding special elections to vacancies in the Malolos Congress.

Philippine Legislature[]

District		Leg.	Date	Predecessor	Political party		Winner	Political party		Cause
	Manila–1st	1st	March 30 and August 11, 1908	Dominador Gomez		Nacionalista	Dominador Gomez		Nacionalista	Expelled
						Nacionalista	Justo Lukban		Liga Popular	Resigned rights to sit
	Cavite		January 19, 1909	Rafael Palma		Nacionalista	Emiliano Tria Tirona		Independent	Appointed to the Philippine Commission
	Surigao		October 14, 1910	Manuel Gavieres		Nacionalista	Inocencio Cortes		Nacionalista	Died
	La Laguna–1st	2nd	December 13, 1910	Potenciano Malvar		Nacionalista	Marcos Paulino		Progresista	Appointed governor of La Laguna.
	Batanes		September 5, 1911	Teofilo Castillejos		Nacionalista	Vicente Barsana		Progresista	Died
	Zambales		October 3, 1911	Alberto Barreto		Nacionalista	Gabriel Alba		Nacionalista	Appointed judge of the Rizal Court of First Instance
	Ilocos Sur–1st	3rd	October 13, 1913	Vicente Singson Encarnacion		Progresista	Alberto Reyes		Progresista	Appointed to the Philippine Commission
	Mindoro		March 26, 1914	Macario Adriatico		Nacionalista	Mariano Leuterio		Liga Popular	Resigned
	Bulacan–1st		May 15, 1914	Aguedo Velarde		Nacionalista	Ambrosio Santos		Nacionalista	Died
	Zambales		July 22, 1914	Rafael Corpus		Nacionalista	Gabriel Alba		Nacionalista	Appointed Director of Lands
	Iloilo–4th		August 28, 1914	Amando Avanceña		Nacionalista	Tiburcio Lutero		Progresista	Resigned
	Negros Oriental–2nd		October 1, 1914	Teofisto Guingona Sr.		Progresista	Leopoldo Rovira		Progresista	Resigned
	Capiz–2nd		October 10, 1914	Simeon Dadivas		Nacionalista	Emilio Acevedo		Progresista	Died
	Cebu–7th		November 21, 1914	Eulalio Causing		Nacionalista	Tomas Alonso		Nacionalista	Resigned
	Leyte–4th		September 18, 1915	Francisco Enage		Nacionalista	Ruperto Kapunan		Progresista	Resigned
	Rizal–2nd			Sixto de los Angeles		Nacionalista	Leandro Jabson[9]		Nacionalista	Resigned[10]
	Cebu–3rd	4th	1916	Filemon Sotto		Nacionalista	Vicente Urgello		Nacionalista	Elected senator from the 10th district
	Cavite	7th	August 15, 1925	Augusto Reyes		Nacionalista	Antero Soriano		Nacionalista	Died
	Nueva Ecija		March 22, 1926	Isauro Gabaldon		Nacionalista	Feliciano Ramoso		Nacionalista	Disqualified
	Tayabas–2nd	8th	October 6, 1928	León Guinto		Nacionalista	Marcelo Boncan		Nacionalista	Appointed governor of Tayabas
	Cavite		1929	Antero Soriano		Nacionalista	Fidel Ibañez		Nacionalista	Died
	Albay–1st	9th	September 29, 1931	Froilan Paverico		Democrata	Exequiel Kare[note 1]		Nacionalista	Died
	Mindoro		June 4, 1932	Mariano Leuterio		Nacionalista	Juan L. Luna		Nacionalista	Died
	Batangas–1st		February 18, 1933	Antonio de las Alas		Nacionalista	Ramón Diokno		Nacionalista	Appointed Secretary of Public Works and Communications

National Assembly (Commonwealth)[]

District		Leg.	Date	Predecessor	Political party		Winner	Political party		Cause
	Ilocos Norte–2nd	1st	September 1, 1936	Julio Nalundasan		Nacionalista	Ulpiano Arzadon		Nacionalista	Died prior to taking office
	Samar–2nd			Serafin Marabut		Nacionalista	Pascual Azanza		Nacionalista	Appointed Secretary of Budget
	Leyte–4th			Francisco Enage		Nacionalista	Norberto Romualdez		Nacionalista	Appointed technical adviser to President Manuel L. Quezon
	Abra			Quintín Paredes		Nacionalista	Agapito Garduque		Nacionalista	Elected Resident Commissioner to the United States
	Albay–3rd	2nd	December 10, 1940	Pedro Sabido		Nacionalista	Marcial O. Rañola		Nacionalista	Appointed manager of the National Abaca and other Fibers Corporation
	Iloilo–2nd			Ruperto Montinola		Nacionalista	Oscar Ledesma		Nacionalista	Died
	Leyte–5th			Ruperto Kapunan		Nacionalista	Atilano R. Cinco		Nacionalista	Died
	Nueva Ecija–2nd			Felipe Buencamino		Nacionalista	Gabriel Belmonte		Nacionalista	Resigned

National Assembly (Second Republic)[]

The 1943 constitution did not provide provisions for holding special elections to vacancies in the National Assembly.

Commonwealth Congress[]

No special elections were called for the Commonwealth Congress, elected in 1941 and first met in 1945; the much-delayed elections of 1945 were held in 1946.

Congress of the Philippines[]

District		Leg.	Date	Predecessor	Political party		Winner	Political party		Cause
	Pangasinan–5th	1st		Narciso Ramos		Liberal	Cipriano Alas		Liberal	Appointed Minister-counsellor to the United Nations
	Bukidnon			Carlos Fortich Sr.		Liberal	Remedios Fortich		Liberal	Died
	Iloilo–1st			Jose Zulueta		Liberal	Mateo Nonato		Liberal	Resigned
	Cebu–6th			Nicolas Rafols		Nacionalista	Manuel Zosa		Nacionalista	Died
	Iloilo–4th			Mariano Peñaflorida		Nacionalista	Gaudencio Dimaisip		Nacionalista	Elected governor of Iloilo
	Leyte–1st			Carlos S. Tan		Liberal	Jose Martinez		Liberal	Elected senator
	Rizal–2nd	2nd		Emilio de la Paz		Nacionalista	Isaias R. Salonga		Nacionalista	Died
	Occidental Mindoro			Raul Leuterio[note 2]		Liberal	Jesus V. Abeleda		Nacionalista	Division of Mindoro province
	Albay–1st	3rd		Lorenzo P. Ziga		Liberal	Tecla San Andres Ziga		Liberal	Died
	Samar–1st			Gregorio Tan		Nacionalista	Eladio Balite		Nacionalista	Died
	Negros Occidental–1st	5th		Vicente Gustillo Sr.		Nacionalista	Armando Gustillo		Nacionalista	Died
	Batangas–1st			Apolinario Apacible		Nacionalista	Luis Lopez		Liberal	Died
	Iloilo–3rd			Ramon Tabiana		Liberal	Gloria Tabiana		Liberal	Died
	Davao del Sur	6th		Lorenzo Sarmiento[note 3]		Liberal	Artemio Loyola		Nacionalista	Division of Davao province
	Davao Oriental					Liberal	Constancio P. Maglana		Nacionalista
	South Cotabato			Salipada Pendatun[note 4]		Liberal	James L. Chiongbian		Nacionalista	Division of Cotabato province
	Ilocos Norte–1st			Antonio Raquiza		Liberal	Roque Ablan Jr.		Nacionalista	Appointed Secretary of Public Works
	Northern Samar			Eladio Balite		Nacionalista	Eusebio Moore		Nacionalista	Died
	Agusan del Norte–2nd	9th		Edelmiro Amante		Lakas	Edelmiro Amante		Lakas	Resigned
	Capiz–1st			Gerardo Roxas Jr.		Liberal	Mar Roxas		Liberal	Died
	Rizal–1st		March 7, 1994	Manuel Sanchez		Lakas	Gilberto Duavit Sr.		NPC	Disqualified
	Zamboanga del Norte–1st	12th	August 26, 2002			Lakas			Reporma	Dropped from the rolls
	Isabela–4th		May 12, 2003			Lakas			NPC	Died
	Cebu–5th	13th	May 30, 2005	Joseph Ace Durano		Lakas	Ramon Durano VI		NPC	Appointed Secretary of Tourism
	Cagayan–2nd	15th	March 12, 2011	Florencio Vargas		Lakas	Baby Aline Vargas-Alfonso		Lakas	Died prior to taking office
	Ilocos Sur–1st		May 28, 2011	Ronald Singson		Nacionalista	Ryan Luis Singson		Biled	Resigned
	Zambales–2nd		February 4, 2012	Antonio M. Diaz		LM			LM	Died
	Negros Occidental–5th		June 2, 2012	Iggy Arroyo		Lakas			Liberal	Died

Batasang Pambansa[]

While the 1973 constitution had the mechanism for calling special elections in case of vacancies in the Batasang Pambansa, and several vacancies indeed happened, no special elections were called.

Statistics[]

By reason[]

The most common reason for the vacancies which were filled by special elections since 1907 is resignation (a total of 27 instances)—both from leaving office to assume another position (20), and for other reasons (7). Died of the incumbent representative is the second most common, accounting for more than two-fifths of instances. Other reasons for holding special elections were to fill new seats created upon the establishment of new provinces (4 instances), and to fill the seats vacated after: a winning candidate was disqualified post-election (2), a representative was expelled from the legislature (1), or a representative was "dropped from the rolls" over a criminal conviction (1).

Reason for vacancy	Total	%
Death	27	44%
Left office to assume another position	20	32%
Resignation for a reason other than leaving office to assume another position	7	11%
Creation of a new province	4	6%
Disqualifiaction	2	3%
Expulsion	1	2%
Dropped from the rolls	1	2%
Total	62	100%

By legislative era[]

Most of the special elections—33, or more than half of the 61 conducted as of 2017—were held before the Second World War (1907–1941). In the space of 27 years after the war and before Ferdinand Marcos disbanded Congress and assumed dictatorial powers in 1972, a total of 18 special elections were held. In contrast, since the restoration of Congress in 1987 only 10 special elections have been held in the space of 30 years.

Legislative era	Total	%
Philippine Assembly (lower house of Philippine Legislature, 1907–1916)	18	29%
House of Representatives (lower house of Philippine Legislature, 1916–1935)	8	13%
National Assembly of the Commonwealth (unicameral body, 1935–1941)	7	11%
National Assembly of the Second Republic (unicameral body, 1943–1944)	0	0%
House of Representatives (lower house of Congress post-war period, 1945–1972)	18	29%
Batasang Pambansa (unicameral body, 1978–1986)	0	0%
House of Representatives (lower house of Congress post-restoration, 1987–present)	11	18%
Total	62	100%

Senate[]

In the tables below, special elections where a change of party occurs have its leftmost cell shaded.

Philippine Legislature[]

From 1917 to 1934, senators are elected via senatorial districts; a vacancy mid-term had been filled up by a special election.

District		Leg.	Date	Predecessor	Political party		Winner	Political party		Cause
	2nd	4th	May 5, 1917			Nacionalista			Nacionalista	Resigned
	3rd	5th	October 25, 1919	Francisco Liongson		Nacionalista			Nacionalista	Died
	4th	6th	October 3, 1923	Pedro Guevara		Nacionalista			Nacionalista	Elected resident commissioner
	3rd	7th	March 23, 1926	Santiago Lucero		Democrata			Democrata	Died
	9th		1926			Nacionalista			Nacionalista	Died
	7th		July 21, 1927	Jose Ma. Arroyo		Nacionalista			Nacionalista	Died
	6th	9th	1931	Juan B. Alegre		Democrata			Nacionalista	Died prior to taking office

Commonwealth Congress[]

• No special elections were called for the Commonwealth Congress.

Starting from 1941, senators elected at-large nationwide, have 6-year terms, with senators elected via staggered elections: every two years, eight out of the 24 senators were elected from 1940 to 1972, and 12 out of 24 senators every three years since 1987. In cases where a senator left office before the expiration of his term, a special election on the day of the next regularly scheduled Senate election was held to fill up the vacancy, as long as the seat per se won't be contested on that election day. There had been three cases where that happened.

Congress[]

District		Leg.	Date	Predecessor	Political party		Winner	Political party		Cause
	Nationwide at-large	2nd	November 13, 1951	Fernando Lopez		Liberal			Nacionalista	Elected vice president
	Nationwide at-large	3rd	November 8, 1955	Carlos P. Garcia		Nacionalista	Roseller T. Lim		Nacionalista	Elected vice president
	Nationwide at-large	12th	May 14, 2001	Teofisto Guingona Jr.		Lakas	Gregorio Honasan		Independent	Appointed vice president

Statistics[]

Death and leaving office for another position are the most frequent reasons why there are senatorial special elections:

Reason for vacancy	Total	%
Death	5	50%
Left office to assume another position	4	40%
Resignation	1	10%
Total	10	100%

Per election[]

1951[]

In 1949, Senator Fernando Lopez (who was on his second year of service in the Senate) was elected Vice President of the Philippines. To fill the vacancy, a special election was held separately with senators whose terms ended in that year:^[11]

 • d Summary of the November 13, 1951 Philippine Senate special election result

Rank	Candidate	Party		Votes	%
1.			Nacionalista	873,457	47.7%
2.	Cornelio Villareal		Liberal	609,303	33.3%
3.	Prospero Sanidad		Liberal (Independent)	223,810	12.2%
4.	Carlos Tan		Liberal (Independent)	124,975	6.8%
Note: A total of 5 candidates ran for senator.

1955[]

In 1953, Senator Carlos P. Garcia (who was on his second year of service in the Senate) was elected Vice President of the Philippines. To fill the vacancy, a special election was held separately with senators whose terms ended in that year:^[12]

 • d Summary of the November 8, 1955 Senate special election result

Rank	Candidate	Party		Votes	%
1.	Roseller T. Lim		Nacionalista	1,102,979	61.4%
2.	Simeon Toribio		Liberal	688,913	38.4%
3.	Avelino P. Garcia		Independent	4,378	0.2%
Total valid votes				1,796,270	100.0%
Source: Commission on Elections

2001[]

In 2001, Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo succeeded Joseph Estrada after the 2001 EDSA Revolution, leaving the office of the vice president vacant. Arroyo appointed Teofisto Guingona (who was serving the second year of his second term as senator) as vice president later that year but prior to the 2001 Senate election. The Commission on Elections ruled that instead of twelve, the electorate will vote for thirteen senators, with the thirteenth-placed candidate serving Guingona's unexpired term of three years. For purposes of term limits, that senator was deemed to have served a full six-year term.

 • d Summary of the May 14, 2001, Philippine Senate election results

Rank	Candidate	Coalition	Party		Votes	%
1.	Noli de Castro	Puwersa ng Masa1		Independent	16,237,386	55.09%
2.	Juan Flavier	PPC		Lakas	11,735,897	39.82%
3.	Serge Osmeña	PPC		PDP–Laban	11,593,389	39.33%
4.	Franklin Drilon	PPC		Independent	11,301,700	38.34%
5.	Joker Arroyo	PPC		Lakas	11,262,402	38.21%
6.	Ramon Magsaysay Jr.	PPC		Independent	11,250,677	38.17%
7.	Manuel Villar	PPC		Independent	11,187,375	37.96%
8.	Francis Pangilinan	PPC		Liberal	10,971,896	37.23%
9.	Edgardo Angara	Puwersa ng Masa		LDP	10,805,177	36.66%
10.	Panfilo Lacson	Puwersa ng Masa		LDP	10,535,559	35.74%
11.	Loi Ejercito	Puwersa ng Masa		Independent	10,524,130	35.71%
12.	Ralph Recto	PPC		Lakas	10,480,9402	35.56%
13.	Gregorio Honasan3	Puwersa ng Masa		Independent	10,454,527	35.47%
14.	Juan Ponce Enrile	Puwersa ng Masa		LDP	9,677,209	32.83%
15.	Miriam Defensor Santiago	Puwersa ng Masa		PRP	9,622,742	32.65%
16.	Dong Puno	Puwersa ng Masa		LDP	8,701,205	29.52%
17.	Wigberto Tañada	PPC		Liberal	8,159,836	27.68%
18.	Orlando S. Mercado	Puwersa ng Masa		Independent	7,395,092	25.09%
19.	Roberto Pagdanganan	PPC		Lakas	7,185,415	24.38%
20.	Ernesto Herrera	PPC		Lakas	6,801,861	23.08%
21.	Winnie Monsod	PPC		Aksyon	6,728,728	22.83%
22.	Nina Rasul	Puwersa ng Masa		Independent	5,222,490	17.72%
23.	Jamby Madrigal	Puwersa ng Masa		LDP	5,043,043	17.11%
24.	Liwayway Vinzons-Chato	PPC		Independent	4,831,501	16.39%
25.	Perfecto Yasay			Independent	4,557,364	15.46%
26.	Ombra Tamano	Puwersa ng Masa		LDP	3,548,480	12.04%
27.	Reuben Canoy	Puwersa ng Masa		LDP	3,542,460	12.02%
28.	Homobono Adaza			Nacionalista	770,647	2.61%
29.	Rod Navarro			Independent	652,012	2.21%
30.	Manuel Morato			Independent	625,789	2.12%
31.	Moner Bajunaid			PDSP	503,437	1.71%
32.	Oliver Lozano			KBL	470,572	1.60%
33.	Melchor Chavez			KBL	244,553	0.83%
34.	Camilo Sabio			Independent	230,759	0.78%
35.	Norma Nueva			KBL	83,700	0.28%
36.	Juan Casil			KBL	74,481	0.25%
37.	Eddie Gil			Partido Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa	15,522	0.05%
Turnout					29,474,309	86.39%
Note: A total of 37 candidates ran for senator.			Source: Comelec (vote totals), NCSB (turnout)

^1 Guest candidate

^2 18,000 votes deducted from Ralph Recto from Zamboanga del Norte as per Resolution No. NBC 01-003

^3 Elected to serve the unexpired term (until 2004) of Teofisto Guingona Jr., who was appointed Vice President in February 2001.

Former senator Arturo Tolentino and others sued the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to set aside the proclamation of the thirteen senators in 2001. In Tolentino vs. Comelec, the Supreme Court ruled that the commission did not comply with the requirements of R.A. 6645, nor did the commission "give formal notice that it would proclaim as winner the senatorial candidate receiving the 13th highest number of votes in the special election." However, the court ruled that while the commission failed to give notice of the time of the special election, it did not negate the calling of such election, "indispensable to the elections validity." Since R.A. 6645 as amended "charges the voters with knowledge of this statutory notice and Comelec's failure to give the additional notice did not negate the calling of such special election, much less invalidate it", the court dismissed the petition for lack of merit and allowed the result of the election to stand.^[13]

The "thirteenth" senator[]

There had been four instances in the Fifth Republic where a seat was vacated exactly midway through the senators term due to election to another office. In all cases, the thirteenth-placed senator in the immediately preceding election was not given the formers seat since the vacancy occurred after the election.

• In 1998, Senator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was elected vice president midway through her term. Arroyo's seat was up for the 2001 election and no special elections were held, nor was the thirteenth-placed candidate during the 1998 Senate election (Roberto Pagdanganan) proclaimed winner. Later that year, Marcelo Fernan died in office, leaving two vacant seats in the Senate (Fernan's seat was also up in 2001).
• In 2004, Senator Noli de Castro was elected vice president midway through his term. De Castro's seat was up for the 2007 election and no special election was held, nor was the thirteenth-placed candidate during the 2004 Senate election (Robert Barbers) proclaimed winner.
• In 2007, Senator Alfredo Lim was elected mayor of Manila midway through his term. Lim's seat was up for the 2010 election and no special election was held, nor was the thirteenth-placed candidate during the 2007 Senate election (Koko Pimentel) proclaimed winner. On August 15, 2011, Pimentel assumed the seat of Juan Miguel Zubiri after allegations of electoral fraud.
• In 2010, Senator Benigno Aquino III was elected president midway through his term. Aquino's seat was up for the 2013 election and no special election was held, nor was the thirteenth-placed candidate during the 2010 Senate election (Risa Hontiveros) proclaimed winner.

In all of those cases, the thirteenth-placed candidate was not given the vacant seat as the voters elected for only twelve senators.^[14]

This was not a problem for senators elected from 1946 to 1971, as long as they were elected to a new position prior to the second Senate election of their terms; a senator is expected to see two Senate elections in a six-year term instead of just one post-1987:

• In 1949, two years in to his term, Senator Fernando Lopez was elected vice president. A special election was called in 1951 for a successor to serve out the final two years of the term. Felixberto Verano was elected in the special election. Verano was subsequently defeated in the next regular election in 1953.
• In 1953, two years in to his term, Senator Carlos P. Garcia was elected vice president. A special election was called in 1955 for a successor to serve out the final two years of the term. Roseller T. Lim was elected in the special election. Lim was able to defend his seat in the next regular election in 1957.

For senators elected since 1987, their seats will be vacant until the end of their terms since there will be no intervening Senate elections from the day they gave up their seat up to the expiration of their term, unless it becomes vacant prior to election day, as shown in the four examples above.

Special elections elsewhere[]

Local legislatures[]

Legislatures under the Local Government Code[]

For permanent vacancies in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial boards), Sangguniang Panlungsod (city councils) of highly urbanized and independent component cities and Sangguniang Bayan (municipal councils) of component municipalities in Metro Manila (currently just Pateros), the president through the Executive Secretary appoints someone from the same political party where the person who caused the vacancy belonged. If the person who vacated the post did not belong to a political party, the local chief executive (the governor or mayor, as the case may be) appoints upon the recommendation of the sanggunian concerned. For vacancies in the city and municipal councils for component cities and municipalities outside Metro Manila, the same process applies, with the local chief executive appointing the replacement. For the Sangguniang Barangay (barangay councils) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth councils), it shall be filled by the official next in rank.^[15] This means no special elections are held for local legislatures under the Local Government Code.

Bangsamoro Parliament[]

In the upcoming Bangsamoro Parliament created via the Bangsamoro Organic Law, a special election may be called if the vacating seat is from an unaffiliated member of parliament, and the vacancy happened at least one year before the next general election. If the vacancy is from an affiliated member of parliament, the party shall nominate a new member, and if it is on a proportional seat, the party names the replacement.^[16]

Chief executives[]

The vice president, vice governor and vice mayor shall replace the president, governor and mayor, as the case may be, upon permanent vacancy, and shall serve until the next general election. For permanent vacancy for the barangay chairman, the highest-ranking member of the Sangguniang Barangay (the barangay councilor that received the most votes in the preceding election) shall replace the predecessor. No special election shall be called.^[15]

If a permanent vacancy for the president and vice president at the same time occurs, a special election will be called. An extraordinary special election was called in 1986.

Deputy of chief executives[]

Once a vacancy for the vice governor or vice mayor occurs, the highest-ranking member of the local legislature (the member that received the most votes in the preceding election) shall replace the predecessor. If that member belongs to a political party, that party will nominate a new member to the legislature. If that member is an independent, the governor or mayor will nominate a new member. No special election shall be called.

Delayed elections[]

On the first type of special elections, the Commission on Elections usually sets the vote a day later, or up to several weeks later. The latest date the commission set a delayed special election is a more than year later after the regular election, when it held the elections for provincial government officials of Sulu in October 1996 after being delayed since May 1995.^[17]

In 2018, the barangay elections in Marawi originally scheduled in May 2018 was done in September due to the aftermath of the Battle of Marawi.^[18]

Footnotes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Online roster of Philippine legislators (House of Representatives)
• Commission on Elections' special elections webpage
• Republic Act No. 180
• Batas Pambansa Blg. 881
• Batas Pambansa Blg. 883
• Republic Act No. 6645
• Republic Act No. 7166
• Republic Act No. 8295