Philippines

Senate

Political system: Presidential system
Structure of parliament: Bicameral
IPU membership: Yes

Election results

Data on parliamentary elections, including the background, candidates, voter turnout, results and the formation of the new legislature. By default the latest election results are displayed. Select a date to view results from previous elections.

Background

Election date(s): 13 May 2019
Date of dissolution of the outgoing legislature: No information available
Timing of election: Upon normal expiry
Number of seats at stake: 12
Scope of elections: Partial renewal

Candidates

Number of parties contesting the election: 16
Total number of candidates: 62
Number of male candidates: 51
Number of female candidates: 11
Percentage of women candidates: 17.7%

Results

About the election: President Rodrigo Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) and its allies (see note 1) won the majority of seats in the 304-member House of Representatives (see note 2) in the mid-term elections. President’s Duterte’s eldest son, Paolo, was elected to the House of Representatives and subsequently formed the "Duterte Coalition" in the House. In the half-renewal of the 24-member Senate, the President’s allies took 9 of the 12 seats at stake, holding a total of 20 seats. Newly elected senators include Mr. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go (PDP–Laban), the President’s personal aide; Mr. Ronald dela Rosa (PDP–Laban), the former national police chief who enforced the President's war on illegal drugs (which officially caused over 5,000 deaths); and Ms. Imee Marcos, daughter of former President Ferdinand Marcos, who ran on the Nacionalista Party (NP) ticket. Five women were elected in 2019, up from two elected in 2016, making a record seven women in all.

The major electoral issues included reinstating the death penalty (most recently abolished in 2006), lowering the age for criminal liability below the current 15 years old, and constitutional amendments to introduce a federal form of government.

Note 1:

The PDP–Laban, which took only three House seats in 2016, won 84 in 2019. Its allies since 2016 – including the Nacionalista Party (NP), the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) and the National Unity Party (NUP) – took over 100 seats. Many members of the Liberal Party (LP, the largest party in the 2016 elections), including the country’s Vice-President Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona vda. de Robredo, had joined the PDP–Laban before the 2019 elections.

Note 2:

The statutory number of members of the House of Representatives has increased from 297 to 304: 243 members elected under the first-past-the-post system and 61 members elected under the proportional representation system.
Number of parties winning seats: 6
Percentage of parties winning seats: 37.5%
Percentage of seats won by largest party or coalition: 33.3%
Alternation of power after elections: No

Parties or coalitions winning seats

Parties or coalitions winning seats
Political group	Total
Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban)	4
Nacionalista Party (NP)	3
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP)	1
Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC)	1
Lakas	1
United Nationalist Alliance (UNA)	1
Independents	1

Members elected, by sex

Number of men elected: 7
Number of women elected: 5
Percentage of women elected: 41.7%
Women Directly Elected: 5
Sources: Senate (11.06.2019)

BBC Monitoring

Rappler

Aljazeera

The Guardian

ABS-CBN

New legislature

Total number of men after the election: 17
Total number of women after the election: 7
Percentage of women after the election: 29.2%
First-term parliamentarians: No information available
Percentage of first-term parliamentarians: No information available
Date of the first session: 22 Jul 2019

First Speaker of the new legislature

Personal details for the first Speaker of the new legislature: Vicente C. Sotto III (Male)
Date of birth: 1948
Date of election: 22 Jul 2019