Philippine House of Representatives elections, 2016

Philippine House of Representatives elections, 2016

May 9, 2016

All 297 seats in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. 147 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   NPC NP Leader Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. Jack Duavit Ronaldo Zamora Party Liberal NPC Nacionalista Leader's seat Quezon City–4th Rizal-1st San Juan Last election 113 seats, 39.03% 42 seats, 17.50% 17 seats, 8.53% Seats before 111 42 27 Seats won 115 42 24 Seat change 4 3 Popular vote 15,403,160 6,344,267 3,512,975 Percentage 41.73% 17.19% 9.52%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   NUP Leader Karlo Nograles Toby Tiangco Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Party NUP UNA Lakas-CMD Leader's seat Davao City–1st Navotas Pampanga–2nd Last election 24 seats, 8.59% 10 seats, 11.40% 14 seats, 4.97% Seats before 26 8 7 Seats won 23 11 4 Seat change 3 3 3 Popular vote 3,604,266 2,311,859 573,843 Percentage 9.76% 6.26% 1.55%

Election results; map refers to results from congressional districts, with Metro Manila at the inset, while the boxes to the right represent party-list seats.

Speaker before election Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. Liberal Elected Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez PDP–Laban

The 2016 Philippine House of Representatives elections were the 34th lower house elections in the Philippines. They were held on May 9, 2016 to elect members to the House of Representatives of the Philippines. The winning candidates were to comprise the House's contingent in the 17th Congress of the Philippines that would serve from June 30, 2016 to June 30, 2019.

The House of Representatives elections were part of the 2016 general election where elections for President, Vice President, Senators, and all local officials, including those from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, were also held.

The Philippines uses parallel voting in its lower house elections. There are 297 seats in the House; 238 of these are district representatives, and 59 are party-list representatives. The law mandates that there should be 1 party-list representative for every 4 district representatives. District representatives are elected under the plurality voting system from single-member districts. Party-list representatives are elected via the nationwide vote with a 2% "soft" election threshold, with a 3-seat cap. The party in the party-list election with the most number of votes usually wins 3 seats, the other parties with more than 2% of the vote 2 seats, and the parties with less than 2% of the vote winning a seat each if the 20% quota isn't met.

Electoral system

The election for seats in the House of Representatives is done via parallel voting. A voter has two votes: one for one's local district, and another via the party-list system. A candidate is not allowed to stand for both ballots, and parties participating in the district elections would have to ask for permission on the Commission on Elections, with major parties not allowed to participate, in the party-list election.

Election via the districts

Each district sends one representative to the House of Representatives, with the winner having the highest number of votes winning that district's seat. The representatives from the districts comprise at most 80% of the seats.

Election via the party-list system

In the party-list system, the parties contesting the election represent a sector, or several sectors, or an ethnic group. In determining the winners, the entire country is treated as one "district". Each party that surpasses the 2% election threshold automatically wins one seat, they can win an additional number of seats in proportion to the number of votes they received, but they can't have more than three seats. The representatives elected via the party-list system, also known as "sectoral representatives" should comprise at least 20% of the seats. However, since the winners from the parties that surpass the 2% threshold had not reached the 20% quota ever since the party-list system was instituted, the parties that received less than 2% of the first preference vote are given one seat each until the 20% quota has been filled up.^[1]

Campaigning

The parties contesting the district elections campaign at the district level; there is no national-level campaigning. While no party has been able to win a majority of seats in the House of Representatives since the 1987 elections, the party of the incumbent president had usually controlled the chamber in the phenomenon known locally as the "Padrino System" or patronage politics, with other parties aligning themselves with the president's policies in exchange for pork barrel and future political favors.

Usually, a gubernatorial candidate has a slate of candidates for vice governor, board members and representative. He or she, aside from supporting a slate of national politicians, may also have slates in the individual cities or towns for mayors, vice mayors and councilors. These slates are usually under one party, but multi-party alliances are not uncommon.

District changes

Reapportioning (redistricting) the number of seats is either via national reapportionment after the release of every census, or via piecemeal redistricting for every province or city. National reapportionment has not happened since the 1987 constitution took effect, and aside from piecemeal redistricting, the apportionment was based on the ordinance from the constitution, which was in turn based from the 1980 census.

These are currently 5 new districts that shall be contested in 2016:

• Davao Occidental

  No seat was added as the part of the old 2nd district of Davao del Sur shall be absorbed by its lone district, while the remainder became the province of Davao Occidental

• Biñan, alternatively the fifth district of Laguna
• Legislative districts of Batangas
  • Batangas City district designated as its fifth district
  • Lipa district designated as its sixth district
• Cebu–7th

These are House (HB) and Senate (SB) Bills that pertains to redistricting:

Retiring and term limited incumbents

There are 69 open seats in the House from incumbents that are term-limited and were not running.

Results

2016 Philippine House congressional district elections chart of votes (inner ring) compared to seats won (outer ring).

President Benigno Aquino III's Liberal Party emerged with the party having the plurality of seats in the House of Representatives, winning more than a hundred seats. Meanwhile, in the presidential election, Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) emerged with an insurmountable lead over the Liberals' Mar Roxas.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist People's Coalition finished second in number of seats won, followed by the Nacionalista Party, National Unity Party, United Nationalist Alliance, Lakas-CMD, PDP-Laban, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino and Aksyon Demokratiko. Several local parties also won seats, along with a handful of independents.

While PDP-Laban just won three seats, several members of the Liberal Party immediately abandoned that party in favor of PDP-Laban. PDP-Laban also signed coalition agreements with all major parties, including the Liberal Party, ensuring that they would have the numbers once the 17th Congress of the Philippines opens in late July.

Congressional districts results

 Summary of the May 9, 2016 Philippine House of Representatives election results for representatives from congressional districts

Party/coalition		Popular vote		Breakdown						Seats
		Total	%	Entered	Up	Gains	Holds	Losses	Wins	Elected	%	+/−
	Liberal (Liberal Party)	15,552,401	41.72%	164	111	15	96	15	4	115	38.7%	4
	NPC (Nationalist People's Coalition)	6,350,310	17.04%	77	42	8	33	9	0	42	14.1%
	NUP (National Unity Party)	3,604,266	9.67%	39	26	1	22	4	0	23	7.7%	3
	Nacionalista (Nationalist Party)	3,512,975	9.42%	46	27	3	21	6	0	24	8.1%	3
	UNA (United Nationalist Alliance)	2,468,335	6.62%	47	8	4	7	1	0	11	3.7%	3
	PDP-Laban (Philippine Democratic Party–People's Power)	706,407	1.90%	26	0	3	0	0	0	3	1.0%	3
	Lakas (People Power–Christian Muslim Democrats)	573,843	1.54%	5	7	0	4	3	0	4	1.3%	3
	Aksyon (Democratic Action)	514,612	1.38%	8	1	1	0	1	0	1	0.3%
	KBL (New Society Movement)	198,754	0.53%	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	Asenso Manileño (Progress for Manilans)	184,602	0.50%	4	0	2	0	0	0	2	0.7%	2
	Kusog Baryohanon (Force of the Villagers)	172,601	0.46%	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0.3%	1
	PTM (Voice of the Masses Party)	145,417	0.39%	2	1	0	1	0	0	1	0.3%
	PCM (People's Champ Movement)	142,307	0.38%	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0.3%	1
	Bukidnon Paglaum (Hope for Bukidnon)	129,678	0.35%	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	0.3%
	Lingap Lugud (Caring Love)	127,762	0.34%	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0.3%	1
	Padayon Pilipino (Onward Filipinos)	127,759	0.34%	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	1-Cebu (One Cebu)	114,732	0.31%	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	0.0%
	LDP (Struggle of Democratic Filipinos)	111,086	0.30%	2	2	0	2	0	0	2	0.7%
	ASJ (Forward San Joseans)	83,945	0.23%	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	0.3%	1
	PMP (Force of the Filipino Masses)	78,020	0.21%	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	KABAKA (Partner of the Nation for Progress)	72,130	0.19%	2	1	0	1	0	0	1	0.3%
	Hugpong (Party of the People of the City)	53,186	0.14%	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	SZP (Forward Zambales Party)	52,415	0.14%	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	CDP (Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines)	13,662	0.04%	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0.0%
	PMM (Workers' and Peasants' Party)	7,239	0.02%	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	PGRP (Philippine Green Republican Party)	4,426	0.01%	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
	Independent	2,172,562	5.83%	178	3	3	1	2	0	4	1.3%	1
Vacancy		—	—	—	3	0	0	3	—	0	0.0%	3
Total		37,275,432	100%	634	234	45	189	45	4	238	80.1%	4
Valid votes		37,275,432	83.97%
Invalid votes		7,077,692	15.94%
Turnout		44,392,375	81.66%
Registered voters (without overseas voters)		54,363,844	100%

Party-list result

Philippines
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the Philippines
Constitution Charter Change Laws and legal codes
Legislature Congress Senate Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III President pro tempore Franklin Drilon Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III Minority Floor Leader Ralph Recto House of Representatives Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez Deputy Speakers Eric Singson Mercedes Alvarez Fredenil Castro Raneo Abu Miro Quimbo Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas Minority Floor Leader Danilo Suarez
Executive President of the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Vice President Leni Robredo Cabinet Executive departments Local government
Judiciary Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno Carpio Velasco Leonardo-De Castro Brion Peralta Bersamin Del Castillo Perez Mendoza Reyes Perlas-Bernabe Leonen Jardeleza Caguioa Court of Appeals Regional Trial Courts Sandiganbayan (special appellate) Ombudsman Katarungang Pambarangay (barangay justice)
Constitutional Commissions Civil Service Commission Chairperson Alicia dela Rosa-Bala Commission on Elections Chairman Andres D. Bautista Commission on Audit Chairman Michael G. Aguinaldo
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Related topics Foreign relations Human rights Taxation
Other countries Atlas

The winning party-lists were proclaimed on May 19. The commission proclaimed 46 party-lists, with Ako Bicol winning the maximum three seats, while parties with at least 2% of the vote being guaranteed at least 1 seat.^[6] Eleven parties won 2 seats each, while 34 others won one seat each.^[7]

Ako Bicol won three seats for the second time in history, after achieving the same feat in 2010. Bayan Muna, on the other hand, failed to win at least 2 seats for the first time, after winning the maximum three seats in 2001, 2004 and 2007.

 Summary of the May 9, 2016 Philippine House of Representatives election results for party-list representatives

Party	Popular vote			Seats
	Total	%	Swing	Up	Won	+/−
Ako Bicol	1,664,975	5.14%	2.38%	2	3	1
GABRIELA	1,367,795	4.22%	1.64%	2	2
1-PACMAN	1,310,197	4.05%	4.05%	0	2	2
ACT Teachers	1,180,752	3.65%	2.00%	1	2	1
Senior Citizens	988,876	3.05%	0.60%	2	2
Kabayan	840,393	2.60%	2.60%	0	2	2
AGRI	833,821	2.58%	1.25%	1	2	1
PBA	780,309	2.41%	1.64%	0	2	2
Buhay	760,912	2.35%	2.25%	3	2	1
Abono	732,060	2.26%	0.52%	2	2
AMIN	706,689	2.18%	0.80%	1	2	1
Coop-NATCCO	671,699	2.07%	0.25%	2	2
Akbayan	608,449	1.88%	1.12%	2	1	1
Bayan Muna	606,566	1.87%	1.58%	2	1	1
AGAP	593,748	1.83%	0.31%	2	1	1
An Waray	590,895	1.82%	0.13%	2	1	1
CIBAC	555,760	1.72%	0.40%	2	1	1
AAMBIS-Owa	495,483	1.53%	0.40%	1	1
Kalinga	494,725	1.53%	0.18%	1	1
A TEACHER	475,488	1.47%	2.31%	2	1	1
YACAP	471,173	1.46%	0.13%	1	1
DIWA	467,794	1.44%	0.21%	1	1
TUCP	467,275	1.44%	0.11%	1	1
Abang Lingkod	466,701	1.44%	0.50%	1	1
LPGMA	466,103	1.44%	0.10%	1	1
Alona	434,856	1.34%	1.34%	0	1	1
1-SAGIP	397,064	1.23%	0.18%	1	1
Butil	395,011	1.22%	0.37%	1	1
ACTS-OFW	374,601	1.16%	1.16%	0	1	1
Anakpawis	367,376	1.13%	0.03%	1	1
Ang Kabuhayan	348,533	1.08%	1.08%	0	1	1
ANGKLA	337,245	1.04%	0.26%	1	1
Mata	331,285	1.02%	0.14%	0	1	1
1-CARE	329,627	1.02%	2.37%	2	1	1
ANAC-IP	318,257	0.98%	0.11%	1	1
ABS	301,457	0.93%	0.37%	1	1
Kabataan	300,420	0.93%	0.31%	1	1
BH	299,381	0.92%	0.24%	0	1	1
AASENSO	294,281	0.91%	0.67%	0	1	1
SBP	280,465	0.87%	0.87%	0	1	1
Magdalo	279,356	0.86%	1.19%	2	1	1
1-ang Edukasyon	278,393	0.86%	0.86%	0	1	1
Manila Teachers	268,613	0.83%	0.83%	0	1	1
Kusug Tausug	247,487	0.76%	0.76%	0	1	1
Aangat Tayo	243,266	0.75%	0.00%	0	1	1
Agbiag!	240,723	0.74%	0.13%	1	1
Ating Guro	237,566	0.73%	0.04%	0	0
ADDA	226,751	0.70%	0.70%	0	0
A.I.	223,880	0.69%	0.69%	0	0
All-Fish	220,599	0.68%	0.68%	0	0
Append	219,218	0.68%	0.18%	1	0	1
Ang Nars	218,593	0.68%	0.21%	1	0	1
ABAKADA	216,405	0.67%	0.22%	1	0	1
CONSLA	213,814	0.66%	0.66%	0	0
Tingog Sinirangan	210,552	0.65%	0.65%	0	0
ABAMIN	209,276	0.65%	1.04%	1	0	1
OFW Family	203,767	0.63%	2.09%	2	0	2
Anakalusugan	191,362	0.59%	0.59%	0	0
Alay Buhay	186,712	0.58%	0.57%	1	0	1
Abante Retirees	166,138	0.51%	0.07%	0	0
AAB	162,547	0.50%	0.50%	0	0
AVE	157,792	0.49%	0.49%	1	0	1
RAM	153,743	0.47%	0.47%	0	0
KGB	148,869	0.46%	0.46%	0	0
AGHAM	140,661	0.43%	0.04%	0	0
AWAT Mindanao	138,040	0.43%	0.28%	0	0
Tama	136,555	0.42%	0.42%	0	0
Asean, Inc.	125,069	0.39%	0.39%	0	0
Amepa Ofw	121,086	0.37%	0.37%	0	0
ATING Koop	120,361	0.37%	0.60%	1	0	1
Ang Kasangga	120,042	0.37%	0.36%	0	0
UMALAB KA	118,149	0.36%	0.20%	0	0
Disabled/PWD	118,043	0.36%	0.36%	0	0
Global	117,552	0.36%	0.36%	0	0
ALE	112,052	0.35%	0.21%	0	0
Cancer	109,965	0.34%	0.34%	0	0
ACT-CIS	109,300	0.34%	1.03%	1	0	1
AMA	102,583	0.32%	0.57%	1	0	1
Marino	102,430	0.32%	0.32%	0	0
1-PABAHAY	100,746	0.31%	0.11%	0	0
Metro	94,515	0.29%	0.29%	0	0
PISTON	89,384	0.28%	0.36%	0	0
Sanlakas	87,351	0.27%	0.04%	0	0
TGP	87,009	0.27%	0.27%	0	0
KAP/KAKASA-KA	79,178	0.24%	0.24%	0	0
Migrante	76,523	0.24%	0.05%	0	0
Amor-seaman	68,226	0.21%	0.21%	0	0
1-AALALAY	65,459	0.20%	0.39%	0	0
Sinag	61,393	0.19%	0.19%	0	0
Akin	56,809	0.18%	0.18%	0	0
1-AHAPO	54,550	0.17%	0.17%	0	0
Ang Prolife	53,078	0.16%	0.31%	0	0
Samako	52,251	0.16%	0.16%	0	0
Tricap	50,401	0.16%	0.16%	0	0
Unido	49,742	0.15%	0.15%	0	0
Clase	49,212	0.15%	0.15%	0	0
Tinderong Pinoy	46,942	0.14%	0.14%	0	0
Pbb	46,853	0.14%	0.14%	0	0
Kamais Pilipinas	46,521	0.14%	0.14%	0	0
1-GB	46,182	0.14%	0.14%	0	0
KMM	42,935	0.13%	0.13%	0	0
PM	42,742	0.13%	0.13%	0	0
KM Ngayon Na	39,777	0.12%	0.12%	0	0
FICTAP	36,619	0.11%	0.11%	0	0
ACP	35,270	0.11%	0.11%	0	0
Banat	31,185	0.10%	0.10%	0	0
A Tambay	30,147	0.09%	0.09%	0	0
Awake	28,727	0.09%	0.09%	0	0
Nactodap	24,407	0.08%	0.08%	0	0
Anupa	18,793	0.06%	0.06%	0	0
Melchora	17,040	0.05%	0.05%	0	0
1-ABILIDAD	16,805	0.05%	0.02%	0	0
MTM PHILS	9,200	0.03%	0.12%	0	0
CWS	9,121	0.03%	0.03%	0	0
Dumper PTDA	6,941	0.02%	0.02%	0	0
Total	32,377,841	100.00%	N/A	58	59	1
Valid votes	32,377,841	71.98%	3.15%
Invalid votes	12,601,310	28.02%	3.15%
Total turnout	44,980,362*	80.70%	4.93%
Registered voters	55,739,911	100.00%	5.21%

*1,211 votes are unaccounted for.

Summary

Defeated incumbents

Aftermath

After proclamations were held for district representatives, three people were seen to have a chance in becoming speaker. These include PDP-Laban's Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte, National Unity Party (NUP)'s Karlo Nograles of Davao City, and incumbent speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. of Quezon City.^[9]

Duterte chose PDP-Laban's Alvarez, a returning congressman, over Nograles as his preferred candidate for the speakership. Nograles gave way to Alvarez, to secure a "super majority" in Congress, while keeping the minority bloc to about 20 members.^[10]

Alvarez and defeated senatorial candidate Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, chairman of the Lakas-CMD, signed an agreement formalizing their parties' alliance. The Nacionalista Party (NP) also joined the alliance with the PDP-Laban; Duterte's running mate, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, although ran as an independent, is a member of the Nacionalista Party. The Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) have also contacted Alvarez about the speakership election, while Alvarez described a coalition with the NUP as a "done deal".^[11]

The incumbent speaker, the Liberals' Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. of Quezon City expects the support of at least 120 members of the Liberal Party and allies from other parties. Meanwhile, Alvarez hosted a luncheon at the Midas Hotel and Casino on May 18 where 59 representatives attended. Alvarez said that his "Coalition for Change" includes representatives from the PDP-Laban, the NP, NPC, NUP, Lakas, various party-lists, and even from the Liberal Party.^[12]

Days after the Alvarez luncheon, Belmonte conceded the speakership race, saying that Alvarez had the numbers. Alvarez visited Belmonte's home in Quezon City to pave way for a smooth transition of power in the lower house. This was after the NPC affirmed its support for PDP-Laban.^[13] Meanwhile, outgoing Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said that there are some Liberal representatives who won't jump ship to PDP-Laban, but would still vote for Alvarez for the speakership, with the Liberals signing the same coalition agreement with the NPC, which the latter also signed with PDP-Laban.^[14]

Danilo Suarez of Quezon, who ran under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) emerged as Belmonte's primary opponent for the minority leader position. Suarez says he has the support of some 17 lawmakers from UNA, Lakas-CMD, and party-list representatives allied with the former.^[15] While this is happening, the NUP and Lakas announced a coalition that would support Duterte in the lower house, and backed the election of Alvarez for the speakership.^[16]

Alvarez spent the remainder of May consolidating the pro-Duterte forces in the House of Representatives. Belmonte seemed content to lead the opposition in the lower house, rather than joining the majority bloc, saying that "we must have a minority. That's needed."^[17] At least 23 representatives abandoned the Liberal Party for PDP-Laban.^[18] Meanwhile, the NUP signed a coalition agreement with PDP-Laban, joining the Coalition for Change.^[19]

References

Elections and referendums in the Philippines
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See also: Local elections and referendums in the Philippines