Philippine Senate election, 2007

Philippine Senate election, 2007

May 14, 2007

12 (of the 24) seats in the Senate of the Philippines 13 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Francis Pangilinan Manny Villar Juan Miguel Zubiri Party Liberal Nacionalista Lakas Alliance GO GO TEAM Unity Leader's seat Nationwide at-large Nationwide at-large Nationwide at-large Last election 2 seats, 11.8% Did not participate 4 seats, 31.7% Seats before 4 2 6 Seats won 2 2 1 Seats after 4 3 4 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 28,843,415 27,125,724 59,973,862 Percentage 10.7% 10.1% 22.3% Swing 1.1% 10.1% 5.1%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Juan Ponce Enrile Edgardo Angara Party PMP LDP Alliance GO TEAM Unity Leader's seat Nationwide at-large Nationwide at-large Last election 2 seats, 12.0% 1 seat, 5.2% Seats before 4 2 Seats won 0 1 Seats after 2 2 Seat change 2 Popular vote Did not participate 12,657,538 Percentage 0.0% 4.7% Swing 12.0% 0.5%

Senate President before election Manny Villar Nacionalista Elected Senate President Manny Villar Nacionalista

Election to the Senate of the Philippines was held on Monday, May 14, 2007. This is to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. Together with those elected in 2004, they will comprise the 14th Congress via plurality-at-large voting. The senators elected in 2004 will serve until June 30, 2010, while the senators elected in this election will serve up to June 30, 2013. The elections to the House of Representatives as well as local elections occurred on the same date. The Philippines uses plurality-at-large voting for seats in the Senate.

In the election, the opposition-backed alliance called the Genuine Opposition (GO) defeated the administration-led alliance TEAM Unity by winning seven of the twelve seats in the Senate. For the first time in Philippine history, Antonio Trillanes IV was elected as a senator while currently detained for mutiny and rebellion charges. Almost the incumbents running for reelection won except for Ralph Recto who was at fourteenth place.

Official candidates

On March 19, 2007 COMELEC released Resolution No.7832 which finalized and approved the official candidates for the senatorial election. On March 29, 2007 COMELEC certified 37 Senatorial Candidates:^[1]

Background

COMELEC issues

The Old COMELEC Building after being razed by fire on March 11, 2007.

On March 11, 2007 the Old COMELEC Building in Intramuros, Manila was burned by a blazing fire ruining several ballot boxes and pending election protests. The Genuine Opposition considered the fire as political act which ended in burning of several election protests and contested ballot boxes. Investigators found out that instead of arson, it was the generator of the building which caused and since the building was built with tar and wood it would easily razed by fire. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is facing scrutiny because of the fire that hit its old building on March 11 resulting in speculations of conspiracies to cheat on the May 14 elections . The COMELEC was also lambasted for publishing on the internet the names, addresses and details of registered voters.

The Aquino issue

Three people with the name Aquino filed their candidacies (Benigno Aquino III, Teresa Aquino-Oreta and Theodore Aquino), and there was confusion as to who is credited with a vote if someone wrote only "Aquino" on the ballot. Since Theodore Aquino was disqualified because he had dual citizenship and former Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta has the last name Oreta, COMELEC ruled that all votes with only the name Aquino would go to Tarlac Rep. Benigno Aquino III. All three Aquinos are related to each other.

The Cayetano issue

The matter was the same as the Aquino issue. Representative Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig City-Pateros) found out that a certain Joselito Cayetano belonging to the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) filed his candidacy with the nickname "Peter" which was really "Jojo". Alan therefore filed a disqualification case (SPA 07-019) against Jojo. Jojo was declared a nuisance candidate by the COMELEC resolution on March 27, 2007.

Jojo then filed for a motion for reconsideration which was eventually rejected on May 11, 2007 but COMELEC did not remove his name from the Official List of Senatorial Candidates and ruled on May 12, 2007 that all votes with only the name "CAYETANO" will be stray votes (discarded) and therefore not counted to either the candidates until Supreme Court resolved the matter. The COMELEC said that Jojo could file a motion for reconsideration at the Supreme Court within five days.

Coalitions and party groupings

TEAM Unity

TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) Unity is the administration-backed coalition composed mostly of supporters and erstwhile critics of current Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. TEAM Unity seeks to take several Senate seats in order to ensure the passage of President Arroyo's legislative programs and also to protect her from any impeachment attempts by the political opposition after the midterm elections. Team Unity is composed by different major political parties in the country such as the Lakas – Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), and the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP). The campaign team of TEAM Unity is headed by veteran political strategist Reli German (campaign manager), Tourism Secretary Ace Durano (spokesperson) and Ike Rodriguez (campaign director). TEAM Unity had their proclamation rally at the Cebu Coliseum last February 17, 2007.

Genuine Opposition

Genuine Opposition (GO) is the main opposition-backed coalition of the parties' senatorial line-up for the elections, which is in opposition to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It was originally called the "United Opposition" (UNO), created by opposition stalwart and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay on June 2005 to unite all politicians who wanted to impeach President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. UNO then reorganized itself and changed its name to Grand and Broad Coalition (GBC), with the UNO party under that coalition. On February 15, 2007 the group changed its name again to Genuine Opposition after a meeting with Senate President Manny Villar in his office in Las Piñas City.

Campaign

Candidates made use of different campaign platforms to win. Prospero Pichay, Manny Villar, Mike Defensor, and Loren Legarda had been very visible in TV ads. Francis Pangilinan preferred to run as an independent and decided not to participate in sorties and campaign of the Genuine Opposition, even though he was initially drafted as a guest candidate. Tessie Aquino-Oreta had raised different reactions in her TV ad campaign asking the people’s forgiveness being the “dancing queen” during the impeachment of deposed President Joseph Estrada. Some candidates like Chiz Escudero, Vic Magsaysay, Kiko Pangilinan, Joker Arroyo, Antonio Trillanes and Koko Pimentel made use of the internet by joining networks sites like Friendster; making or updating Wikipedia entries, establishing blogs and websites and airing the commercials on YouTube.

Candidates

Retiring and term-limited incumbents

At this point in time, two Senators are voluntarily retiring from the Senate at the end of their current term. As well four Senators are term-limited by the Constitution of the Philippines after serving two consecutive terms. There was one vacancy left in the outgoing Senate as Noli de Castro (Independent) was elected as Vice-President in 2004.

Lakas-CMD incumbents

• Juan Flavier: Term-limited in 2007.
• Ramon Magsaysay Jr.: Term-limited in 2007.

Liberal Party incumbent

• Franklin Drilon: Term-limited in 2007, return in 2010.

Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino incumbents

• Loi Estrada: Retiring from the Senate.
• Alfredo Lim: Ran and won for Mayor of Manila.

Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan incumbent

• Sergio Osmeña III: Term-limited in 2007, campaigned for the Genuine Opposition, return in 2010.

Opinion polls

Opinion polling (locally known as "surveys") is carried out by two major polling firms: Social Weather Stations (SWS), and Pulse Asia, with a handful of minor polling firms. A typical poll asks a voter to name twelve persons one would vote for in the senate election.

Winning candidates

Composition

Candidates who were not make it to the top 12, but were within the margin of error from the 12th-placed candidate, are denoted by figures inside the parenthesis.

Result

Per candidate

Per coalition

Per party

Party		Popular vote			Breakdown				Seats
		Total	%	Swing	Entered	Up	Not up	Won	End 13th	14th	%	+/−
	Lakas	59,973,862	22.3%	9.5%	7	3	3	1	6	4	12.5%	2
	NPC	48,766,327	18.1%	18.1%	4	0	0	2	0	2	8.3%	2
	UNO	33,965,338	12.6%	12.6%	3	1	0	2	1	2	16.7%	1
	Liberal	28,843,415	10.7%	1.1%	2	2	2	2	4	4	16.7%
	Nacionalista	27,125,724	10.1%	10.1%	2	1	1	2	2	3	12.5%	1
	LDP	12,657,538	4.7%	4.7%	1	1	1	1	2	2	8.3%
	KAMPI	11,802,870	4.4%	4.4%	1	1	0	1	1	1	4.2%
	PDP-Laban	10,984,807	4.1%	4.1%	1	1	1	0	1	1	4.2%
	Aksyon	8,457,710	3.1%	0.5%	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	PDSP	2,488,553	0.9%	0.9%	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	KBL	2,436,193	0.9%	0.7%	7	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	Ang Kapatiran	1,877,293	0.7%	0.7%	3	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	PGRP	123,602	0.0%	0.0%	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	PMP	0	0.0%	2.2%	0	1	3	0	4	2	0.0%	2
	PRP	0	0.0%	4.8%	0	0	1	0	1	1	0.0%
	Independents	19,605,622	7.3%	0.5%	3	0	0	1	1	1	8.3%
Totals		269,109,091	100.0%	--	37	11	12	12	23	23	95.8%

Unofficial tallies Party/coalition Revised by SET COMELEC NAMFREL Pulse Asia ABS-CBN[6] GMA[7] GO 8 7 8 8 8 7 TEAM Unity 2 3 2 2 2 4 Independents 2 2 2 2 2 1 Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 ABS-CBN/Pulse Asia Numbers in percentages. Conducted by ABS-CBN and Pulse Asia. Name Pulse Asia Legarda, Loren 58.5 Escudero, Francis 53.3 Villar, Manuel Jr., 49.8 Lacson, Panfilo 46.4 Pangilinan, Francis 44.6 Aquino, Benigno Simeon III 42.6 Angara, Edgardo 41.1 Arroyo, Joker 36.8 Trillanes, Antonio IV 35.4 Zubiri, Juan Miguel 34.9 Honasan, Gregorio 34.6 Recto, Ralph 34.3 Cayetano, Alan Peter 31.0 Pichay, Prospero Jr. 30.4 Pimentel, Aquilino III 28.5 Roco, Sonia 28.4 Defensor, Michael 28.2 Sotto, Vicente III 26.2 Montano, Cesar 24.0 Osmeña, John Henry 21.6 Magsaysay, Vicente 19.9 Coseteng, Anna Dominique 14.8 Oreta, Teresa 11.6 Singson, Luis 11.6 Gomez, Richard 8.9 Kiram, Jamalul III 6.6 Chavez, Melchor 3.0 Cayetano, Joselito* 2.9 Bautista, Martin 2.6 Sison, Adrian 1.7 Paredes, Zosimo Jesus II 1.6 Lozano, Oliver 1.4 Wood, Victor 1.4 Estrella, Antonio 1.1 Cantal, Felix 0.7 Enciso, Ruben 0.7 Orpilla, Eduardo 0.3 NASSA/NAMFREL quick count Partial and Unofficial - 197,084 of 224,748 precincts or 87.69% of total precincts. June 2, 2007 11:41 p.m. Batch 43. Name[8] Party[8] NAMFREL[9] Legarda, Loren NPC 15,200,169 Escudero, Francis NPC 14,926,697 Lacson, Panfilo UNO 12,880,049 Villar, Manuel Jr. NP 12,537,728 Aquino, Benigno Simeon III LP 11,965,505 Pangilinan, Francis LP 11,930,557 Angara, Edgardo LDP 10,403,534 Cayetano, Alan Peter NP 9,691,262 Honasan, Gregorio Independent 9,636,150 Arroyo, Joker KAMPI 9,618,637 Trillanes, Antonio IV UNO 9,248,609 Pimentel, Aquilino III PDP-LABAN 8,985,408 Zubiri, Juan Miguel Lakas-CMD 8,811,731 Recto, Ralph Lakas-CMD 8,599,532 Defensor, Michael Lakas-CMD[10] 8,075,073 Pichay, Prospero Jr. Lakas-CMD 7,938,313 Roco, Sonia AD 7,027,063 Montano, Cesar Lakas-CMD 6,444,301 Osmeña, John Henry UNO 6,095,478 Sotto, Vicente III NPC 6,082,898 Magsaysay, Vicente Lakas-CMD 5,269,394 Coseteng, Anna Dominique Independent 4,408,406 Oreta, Teresa NPC 3,481,280 Singson, Luis Lakas-CMD 3,468,039 Gomez, Richard Independent 2,308,620 Kiram, Jamalul III PDSP 1,956,612 Chavez, Melchor KBL 753,434 Paredes, Zosimo II AK 716,544 Bautista, Martin AK 689,272 Cayetano, Joselito* KBL 560,281 Sison, Adrian AK 420,080 Lozano, Oliver KBL 366,146 Estrella, Antonio KBL 344,670 Wood, Victor KBL 310,079 Orpilla, Eduardo KBL 211,986 Enciso, Ruben KBL 184,401 Cantal, Felix PGRP 165,116 Source: NAMFRELPHILIPPINES.org website Aftermath Although the Genuine Opposition gained control of the Senate after the elections, they were divided on who was to be next Senate President. As such, Senate President Manny Villar (Nacionalista) formed a bloc in the Senate to contest the Senate presidency. Facing him was the minority leader Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. backed by several fellow opposition senators. On July 26, 2007, Villar defeated Pimentel was elected to Senate by a vote of 15–7 with Villar and Pimentel voting for each other. Senator Antonio Trillanes IV was not allowed to attend the Senate session.[11] This is how the election for the Senate presidency went:[11] Voted for Villar Voted for Pimentel Not voting Vacancy Manny Villar Edgardo Angara (LDP) Joker Arroyo (Kampi) Alan Peter Cayetano Pia Cayetano Miriam Defensor Santiago (PRP) Juan Ponce Enrile (PMP) Francis Escudero (NPC) Jinggoy Estrada (PMP) Richard J. Gordon (Independent) Gringo Honasan (Independent) Lito Lapid (Lakas-CMD) Francis Pangilinan (Liberal) Bong Revilla (Lakas-CMD) Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas-CMD) Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. Benigno Aquino III (Liberal) Rodolfo Biazon (Liberal) Panfilo Lacson (UNO) Loren Legarda (NPC) Jamby Madrigal (UNO) Mar Roxas (Liberal) Antonio Trillanes IV (UNO; detained) * Seat vacated by Alfredo Lim (PMP; Elected Mayor of Manila) Votes needed to win: 13 Pimentel vs. Zubiri electoral protest Main article: Pimentel vs. Zubiri electoral protest The 12th Senate seat was contested between TEAM Unity's Juan Miguel Zubiri and GO's Aquilino Pimentel III; Zubiri was proclaimed in July 2007 with a margin of about 20,000 votes,[12] but Pimentel filed an electoral protest to the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), which the tribunal accepted, alleging there was massive electoral fraud in Maguindanao.[13] After the revision of votes on Pimentel's protest on July 2009, he released a statement that he now leads Zubiri by 96,000 votes;[14] Zubiri countered that his counter-protest that alleges similar fraud in Mega Manila has him leading by around 132,000 votes in areas affected by his counter protest.[14] On July 2011, suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy Ampatuan and Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol alleged that there was indeed fraud in the ARMM in favor of TEAM Unity.[15] On August 3, 2011, Zubiri resigned, maintaining that he had no hand in alleged electoral fraud in the ARMM.[16] He withdrew his counter-protest,[17] which led to the SET to proclaim Pimentel as the winner on August 11, 2011.[18] Pimentel took his oath at Mati, Davao Oriental, where he had the highest rank among the provinces, finishing in second place.[19] Pimentel sued former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, COMELEC chairman Benjamin Abalos, Maguinadanao elections supervisor Lintang Bedol and others for electoral sabotage on August 17, 2011 at the Department of Justice (DOJ).[20] A joint DOJ-COMELEC panel began investigations on Pimentel's suit by November 3.[21] On November 18, 2011, the commission voted to file charges against Arroyo and others at the Pasay Regional Trial Court, which later ordered Arroyo, Abalos and Bedol arrested later in the day.[22] References ↑ Comelec okays 37 senatorial bets - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos 1 2 "Pulse Asia's January 2007 Pre-election Survey Media Release on Filipinos' Senatorial Preferences". Pulse Asia. Pulse Asia. 2007. Retrieved 2011-12-28.  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "AT THE SENATE HOMESTRETCH: GO 6, IND. 2, TU 4". Social Weather Stations. Social Weather Stations. 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2011-12-07.  1 2 3 "Pulse Asia's March 2007 Ulat ng Bayan Survey Media Release on Filipinos' Senatorial Preferences". Pulse Asia. Pulse Asia. 2007. Retrieved 2011-12-28.  ↑ "Pulse Asia's April 3 - 5, 2007 Pre-election Survey Media Release on Filipinos' Senatorial Preferences". Pulse Asia. Pulse Asia. 2007. Retrieved 2011-12-28.  ↑ ABS-CBN Interactive - HALALAN 2007 ↑ Eleksyon 2007 - INQUIRER.net 1 2 Certified List of Candidates for Senators ↑ Inquirer has the National Quick count of the NAMFREL ↑ He resigned from the Liberal Party in early February 2006. 1 2 Uy, Veronica (2007-07-23). "(UPDATE 3) Villar elected Senate President". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2010-07-17.  ↑ "Zubiri: SC ruling on Pimentel bid seals case". abs-cbnNEWS.com. 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2011-07-23.  ↑ "Zubiri: SC ruling on Pimentel bid seals case". abs-cbnNEWS.com. 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2011-08-03.  1 2 Ubac, Michael Lim (2009-07-23). "I'm ahead in recount, Koko Pimentel claims". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2011-07-23.  ↑ Jumilla, Lynda (2011-07-13). "Hope comes alive for Koko Pimentel". abs-cbnNEWS.com. Retrieved 2011-07-23.  ↑ Ager, Maila (2011-08-03). "Zubiri resigns amid poll fraud scandal". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2011-08-03.  ↑ "Zubiri to withdraw counter-protest vs Koko Pimentel". GMA News Online. 2011-08-03. Retrieved 2011-08-03.  ↑ Calonzo, Andreo C. (2011-08-11). "Pimentel proclaimed 12th winning senator in '07 polls". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2011-08-11.  ↑ Merueñas, Mark (2011-08-12). "Koko Pimentel takes oath as senator". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2011-08-12.  ↑ Philip C. Tubeza (2011-10-18). "Sen. Pimentel files election fraud raps vs Arroyo couple et al.". Philippine Daily Inquirer.  ↑ Dennis Carcamo (2011-11-03). "Joint DOJ-Comelec panel starts poll sabotage hearings". Philippine Star.  ↑ Matikas Santos (2011-11-18). "Warrant of arrest served on Arroyo". Philippine Daily Inquirer.  External links Official website of the Commission on Elections Official website of National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) Official website of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) VForce - 1 Million Volunteers for Clean Elections (VForce) Media websites Halalan 2007 - Election coverage by ABS-CBN Eleksyon 2007- Election coverage by GMA Network Eleksyon 2007 - Election coverage by the Philippine Daily Inquirer Elections and referendums in the Philippines Presidential elections 1935 1941 1946 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1981 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2016 Senate elections 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1941 1946 1947 1949 1951 1953 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 1965 1967 1969 1971 1987 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 Special elections House elections 1898 1907 1909 1912 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1935 1938 1941 1943 1946 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1978 1984 1987 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 Special elections Constitutional Conventions 1934 1970 Local elections 1895 1899 1905 1909 1912 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1941 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1980 1988 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 Referendums 1935 1937 1939 1940 1947 1967 1973 (Jan) 1973 (Jul) 1975 1976 1977 1981 (Apr) 1981 (Jun) 1984 1987 General topics Elections Timeline Electoral process Voter registration Vote counting Commission on Elections See also: Local elections and referendums in the Philippines