Philippine general election, 2007

Infobox Election
election_name = Philippine general election, 2007
country = Philippines
type = legislative
ongoing = no
previous_election = Philippine general election, 2004
previous_year = 2004
next_election = Philippine general election, 2010
next_year = 2010
seats_for_election = 12 (of the 24) seats in the Senate of the Philippines and all 240 seats in the House of Representatives of the Philippines
election_date = May 14, 2007


leader_since1 =
party1 = Genuine Opposition
seats1 = 7 (Senate)
36 (House)* [The Nationalist People's Coalition is divided between administration and the opposition so the House seats does not include them.]
seat_change1 =


leader_since2 =
party2 = TEAM Unity
seats2 = 3 (Senate)
123 (House)* [The Nationalist People's Coalition is divided between administration and the opposition so the House seats does not include them.]
title =
before_election =
before_colour =
after_election =
after_colour =
before_party =
after_party =

Legislative and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 14, 2007. Positions being contested include half the seats in the Senate, which are elected for six-year terms, and all the seats in the House of Representatives, who are elected for three-year terms. The duly elected legislators of the 2007 elections will join the elected senators of the 2004 elections and will comprise the 14th Congress of the Philippines.

Most representatives win seats by being elected directly, the constituency being a geographical district comprising of about 250,000 voters. There are 220 seats in total for all the legislative districts.

Some representatives are elected under a party-list system. Only parties representing marginalized groups are allowed to run in the party-list election. To gain one seat, a party must win 2% of the vote. No party-list party may have more than 3 seats. After the election, in a controversial decision, COMELEC changed how it allocates the party-list seats. Under the new formula only one party will have the maximum 3 seats. It based its decision on a formula contained in a Supreme Court decision.

Local elections for governor, vice governor, provincial board seats and mayoral, vice mayoral and city/municipal council seats in Metro Manila and the provinces are up for grabs as well.

__TOC__

Official candidates

On March 19, 2007, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) released [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/images/news/newspics/03-03-2007/cr7832.pdf Resolution No.7832] which finalized and approved the official candidates for the senatorial election. On March 29, 2007 the Commission on Elections certified 37 Senatorial Candidates: [ [http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=52710 Comelec okays 37 senatorial bets - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos ] ]

Background

COMELEC issues and COMELEC building fire

On March 11, 2007, the Old COMELEC Building in Intramuros, Manila was burned by a blazing fire ruining several ballot boxes and election protests at the time of 12:57pm (UTC +8). 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 [http://www.gmanews.tv/story/33863/Senators-bets-Comelec-fire-cover-up-or-prelude-to-fraud] . The COMELEC was also lambasted for publishing on the internet the names, addresses and details of registered voters. [http://www.bayanihanblogs.com/34/what-price-privacy/]

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 "Tessie" Aquino-Oreta has the last name Oreta, COMELEC ruled that all votes with only the name "Aquino" would go to Tarlac Rep. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

All three Aquinos are related to each other.

The Cayetano issue

The matter was the same as the Aquino issue. Taguig City-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano found out that a certain Joselito Pepito "Peter" Cayetano belonging to the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan 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.

Automated elections

Sen. Richard J. Gordon and his fellow Senators succeeded in passing [http://www.senate.gov.ph/republic_acts/RA%209369.pdf Republic Act No. 9369] or the "Amending the Election Modernization Act" but it was too late since it was passed three months before the elections but since the law was passed, the elections for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Regional Governor and Vice-Governor later in August 2008 it will be used for the test-run for computerization and the general elections in 2010 for the nationwide computerization of elections.

Lakas vs. KAMPI

Lakas-CMD President and House Speaker Jose de Venecia was challenged by Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino or KAMPI Cebu 2nd District Rep. Pablo P. Garcia for the speakership in the incoming 14th Congress of the Philippines which has caused a battle between Administration allies. Recently, Garcia was accused by Parañaque City 1st District Rep. Eduardo Ziacita and Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante, Jr. both under the party Lakas-CMD of using Government Service Insurance System or GSIS pension funds care of Garcia's son GSIS Vice-Chairman, General Manager and President Winston Garcia to bribe congressmen of PHP 300,000 to 400,000 to support his father's speakership bid. [ [http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2007/06/10/4.lawmakers.say.gsis.funds.used.for.garcia.s.speakership.bid.html Sun.Star Network Online - 4 lawmakers say GSIS funds used for Garcia's speakership bid ] ]

The 14th Congress of the Philippines

The COMELEC has proclaimed 12 senators for the Incoming 14th Congress. Last slot was given to Former Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri who is the first Senator from Bukidnon. His rival Aquilino Pimentel III has filed already an election sabotage case against COMELEC at the Supreme Court and on July 24, 2007 and an electoral protest at the Senate Electoral Tribunal.

Incoming Senate

The top 12 candidates are elected into the 14th Congress of the Philippines and will comprise one-half of the 24-seat Senate. They will have 6-year terms and will serve up to the 15th Congress.

However, the Senate seat of Alfredo Lim will be ipso facto vacated for the next 3 years of his unexpired term beginning June 30, 2007 owing to his election as mayor of Manila. Eminent Justice Isagani Cruz suggested that the 13th placer in the senatorial elections be proclaimed as winner for the 3-year term not served by Senator Lim. [cite web | last = Cruz| first = Isagani | title = (Last updated 07:02am Mla time) A vacancy already in the incoming Senate | publisher = INQUIRER.net | date = 2007-05-27 | url = http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=68119 ]

It is interesting to note that no unofficial tally correctly predicted the 7-3-2 result.

COMELEC count

:"Official as of 10:00 a.m. July 14, 2007 (UTC+8)"

Exit polls

Numbers in percentages. Conducted by ABS-CBN and Pulse Asia.

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."

"Source:" [http://www.namfrelphilippines.org NAMFRELPHILIPPINES.org website]

Media counts

Prior to the start of the official COMELEC count and the COMELEC-accredited NAMFREL quick count, media counts were conducted by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation in concurrence with STI Colleges and GMA Network in concurrence with AMA Computer University.The media counts lasted until May 16, when NAMFREL started its quick count. Both media counts ended with about 1.5 million votes for the topnotcher. COMELEC through its chairman Benjamin Abalos then ordered the networks to stop their "unauthorized" quick counts for it "confuses our people. It shows trending and we do not allow trending because they might be reporting from places favorable to their candidates of choice." [ [http://eleksyon2007n.inquirer.net/view.php?article=20070516-66232 Comelec asks TV networks to stop ‘unauthorized’ quick counts] by Veronica Uy on the Philippine Daily Inquirer.] However, the media count conducted by ABS-CBN & STI reflected the final tally (8-2-2) of NAMFREL quick count. [ [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storyPage.aspx?storyId=79531 Namfrel Final Count] ]

House results

All winning candidates will serve at the 14th Congress of the Philippines for 3-year terms. The representatives are chosen by two means:
*Via districts - The candidates with highest amount of votes in a specific district wins that district's seat in the House of Representatives.
*Via party-lists - The party with at least 2% of the total number of votes is guaranteed one seat in the House; 4% is guaranteed 2 seats, while more than 6% has 3 seats.

Local elections

All local positions are disputed in the elections, with the candidate with the most number of votes for governor, vice-governor, mayor and vice-mayor being declared as the winner. Winners for the positions for board members and councilors depends on the size of the assembly.

Administration Candidates won the majority of the local positions.
* [http://www.inquirer.net/verbatim/SAC_523-local-posts.pdf Local tallies partial and unofficial complete]

ee also

* 14th Congress of the Philippines

Sources

External links

* [http://www.comelec.gov.ph COMELEC] - Official website of the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
* [http://www.namfrelphilippines.org NAMFREL] - Official website of National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)
* [http://www.bagongbotante.com/ Bagong Botante] - the COMELEC's official voter education site
* [http://www.ppcrv.org/main/news.php PPCRV] - Official website of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV)
* [http://www.onevoice.org.ph/index.php/?p=70 VForce] - 1 Million Volunteers for Clean Elections (VForce)

Media websites

* [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/images/news/microsites/halalan07/index.html Halalan 2007] - Election coverage by ABS-CBN
* [http://www.gmanews.tv/eleksyon2007 Eleksyon 2007 ] - Election coverage by GMA Network
* [http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/eleksyon2007/ Eleksyon 2007] - Election coverage by the Philippine Daily Inquirer