List of special elections to the Philippine Congress
These are the special elections to the Congress of 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.
Scheduling
As stipulated in Republic Act 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 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.However, Republic Act 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.
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With the passed 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. 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.
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. In some cases, election days are declared as holidays.
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 table below, special elections where a change of party occurs are boldfaced.
Statistics
By reason
The most common reason for the vacancies which were filled by special elections since 1907 is resignation — both from leaving office to assume another position, and for other reasons. Death 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, and to fill the seats vacated after: a winning candidate was disqualified post-election, a representative was expelled from the legislature, or a representative was "dropped from the rolls" over a criminal conviction.| Reason for vacancy | Total | % |
| Death | 27 | 44% |
| Left office to assume another position | 20 | 32% |
| Resigned for a reason other than leaving office to assume another position | 7 | 11% |
| Creation of a new district | 4 | 6% |
| Disqualified | 2 | 3% |
| Expelled, or dropped from the rolls | 2 | 3% |
| 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. 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 | Special Elections | % |
| Philippine Assembly | 18 | 29% |
| House of Representatives | 8 | 13% |
| National Assembly of the Commonwealth | 7 | 11% |
| National Assembly of the Second Republic | 0 | 0% |
| House of Representatives | 18 | 29% |
| Interim and Regular Batasang Pambansa | 0 | 0% |
| House of Representatives | 11 | 18% |
| Total | 62 | 100% |
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 the Congress, which has received criticism for not quickly acting to fill such vacancies. 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:- 8th Congress :
- *Albay–3rd
- *Bulacan–4th
- *Cagayan–3rd
- *Catanduanes
- *Davao City–3rd
- *Lanao del Sur–2nd
- *Masbate–3rd
- *Quezon–2nd
- 10th Congress :
- *Guimaras
- *Sorsogon–1st
- 14th Congress :
- *Basilan
- *Misamis Oriental–1st
- *Mountain Province
- 17th Congress :
- *Basilan
- *Batanes
- *Las Piñas
- *Mountain Province
- *Sulu–1st
Senate
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:
| District | Philippine Legislature | Date | Predecessor | Political party | Winner | Political party | Cause of vacancy |
| 2nd | 4th | May 5, 1917 | Aquilino Calvo | Nacionalista | Matias Gonzales | Nacionalista | Resigned February 26, 1917 after being appointed as governor of Mountain Province. |
| 3rd | 5th | October 25, 1919 | Francisco Liongson | Nacionalista | Ceferino de Leon | Nacionalista | Died on February 20, 1919 |
| 4th | 6th | October 3, 1923 | Pedro Guevara | Nacionalista | Ramon J. Fernandez | Nacionalista | Left office after being elected Resident Commissioner to the U.S. on March 24, 1923 |
| 3rd | 7th | March 23, 1926 | Santiago Lucero | Democrata | Luis Morales | Democrata | Died on November 2, 1925 |
| 9th | 7th | Tomas Gomez | Nacionalista | Pastor Salazar | Nacionalista | Died on July 28, 1926 | |
| 7th | 7th | July 21, 1927 | Jose Ma. Arroyo | Nacionalista | Jose B. Ledesma | Nacionalista | Died on March 8, 1927 |
| District | Congress | Date | Predecessor | Political party | Winner | Political party | Cause of vacancy |
| Nationwide at-large | 2nd | November 13, 1951 | Fernando Lopez | Liberal | Felisberto Verano | Nacionalista | Left office after being elected as vice president on December 30, 1949. |
| Nationwide at-large | 3rd | November 8, 1955 | Carlos P. Garcia | Nacionalista | Roseller T. Lim | Nacionalista | Left office after being elected as vice president on December 30, 1953. |
| Nationwide at-large | 12th | May 14, 2001 | Teofisto Guingona | Lakas | Gregorio Honasan | Independent | Left office after being appointed as vice president on February 7, 2001 |
Statistics
Leaving office to assume another position is the most common reason to trigger a Senate special election; in fact, out of four such instances, three involve the assumption of the vice presidency.| Reason for vacancy | Total | % |
| Left office to assume another position | 4 | 57% |
| Death | 2 | 29% |
| Resigned for a reason other than leaving office to assume another position | 1 | 14% |
| Total | 7 | 100% |
1951
In 1949, Senator Fernando Lopez 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:1955
In 1953, Senator Carlos P. Garcia 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: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 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.Former senator Arturo Tolentino and others sued the Commission on Elections 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 election's 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.
The "thirteenth" senator
There had been four instances in the Fifth Republic where a seat was vacated exactly midway through the senator's term due to election to another office. In all cases, the thirteenth-placed senator in the immediately preceding election was not given the former's 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 proclaimed winner. Later that year, Marcelo Fernan died in office, leaving two vacant seats in the Senate.
- 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 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 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 proclaimed winner.
Note that this is not a problem for senators elected prior to 1971, as long as they are elected to a new position prior to the second senate election of their terms. For senators elected since 1987, their seats will be vacant since there will be no intervening senate elections from the day they gave up their seat up to the expiration of their term.
Special elections elsewhere
Local legislatures
Legislatures under the Local Government Code
For permanent vacancies in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Sangguniang Panlungsod of highly urbanized and independent component cities and Sangguniang Bayan of component municipalities in Metro Manila, 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 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 and Sangguniang Kabataan, it shall be filled by the official next in rank. 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.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 shall replace the predecessor. No special election shall be called.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.