2007 Philippine Senate election

← 2004 May 14, 2007 2010 →
Senators elected →
12 (of the 24) seats in theSenate of the Philippines 13 seats needed for a majority
Alliance GO TEAM Unity Seats won 7 (8 after 2011) 3 (2 after 2011) Popular vote 136,888,165 98,927,031 Percentage 50.87 36.76   Alliance Liberal Independent Seats won 1 1 Popular vote 14,534,678 14,331,195 Percentage 5.40 5.33
Results showing plurality of seats obtained by each electoral alliance by region Results showing the alliance affiliation of first-placed candidates by region
Senate President before election Manny Villar Nacionalista Elected Senate President Manny Villar Nacionalista

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The2007 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 29th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 14, 2007, to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. The winners in this election joined the winners of the 2004 election to form the14th Congress of the Philippines. 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. Theelections to the House of Representatives as well as local elections occurred on the same date. ThePhilippines usesplurality-at-large voting for seats in the Senate.

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

Anelectoral protest of GO'sKoko Pimentel, the 13th placed candidate, against TEAM Unity'sMigz Zubiri, the 12th place candidate, resulted in Zubiri's resignation in the Senate, and theSenate Electoral Tribunal's decision to replace Pimentel with Zubiri. This led to GO winning 8 seats, the biggest win by the opposition in theSenate election history since1951, notwithstanding 2 other opposition candidates won, and only 2 administration candidates won.

Philippine Senate elections are viapluraity block voting, with the entire country as anat-large "district". Each voter has 12 votes, and can vote for up to 12 candidates. Seats up were the seats last contested in 2001.

On March 11, 2007, the Old COMELEC Building inIntramuros, Manila was burned by a blazing fire ruining several ballot boxes and pending election protests. TheGenuine Opposition considered the fire as political act which ended in burning of several election protests and contested ballot boxes. Investigators found out that instead ofarson, 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) faced 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.^[1] The COMELEC was also lambasted for publishing on the internet the names, addresses and details of registered voters.^[2]

Three people with the nameAquino filed their candidacies (Benigno Aquino III,Tessie 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.Tessie Aquino-Oreta has the last name Oreta, COMELEC ruled that all votes with only the nameAquino would go to Tarlac Rep.Benigno Aquino III. All three Aquinos are related to each other.

The matter was the same as the Aquino issue. RepresentativeAlan Peter Cayetano (Taguig-Pateros) found out that a certain Joselito Cayetano belonging to theKilusang 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 untilSupreme Court resolved the matter. The COMELEC said that Jojo could file amotion for reconsideration at the Supreme Court within five days.

TEAM (TogetherEveryoneAchievesMore) Unity was the administration-backed coalition composed mostly of supporters and erstwhile critics of then-PresidentGloria Macapagal Arroyo. TEAM Unity sought 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. This coalition is composed by different major political parties includingLakas—Christian Muslim Democrats,Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino,Nationalist People's Coalition,Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, andPartido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas. The coalition's campaign team was headed by veteran political strategist Reli German as campaign manager, together withTourism SecretaryAce Durano as spokesperson and Ike Rodriguez as campaign director. TEAM Unity held their proclamation rally at theCebu Coliseum on February 17, 2007.

Genuine Opposition (GO) was the main opposition-backed coalition of the parties' senatorial line-up for the elections, which was in opposition to President Arroyo. It was originally called the"United Opposition" (UNO), created by opposition stalwart andMakati MayorJejomar Binay in June 2005 to unite all politicians who sought to impeach President Arroyo. UNO then reorganized itself and changed its name toGrand and Broad Coalition (GBC), with the UNO party under that coalition. On February 15, 2007, the group changed its name again toGenuine Opposition after a meeting withSenate PresidentManny Villar in his office inLas Piñas.

Iglesia ni Cristo, a known religion being courted for its block voting, endorsed 6 TEAM Unity (TU) members (Ralph Recto, Joker Arroyo, Ed Angara, Mike Defensor, Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri, and Tito Sotto), Five Genuine Opposition (GO) senatorial bets (Loren Legarda, Manny Villar, Panfilo Lacson, Chiz Escudero, and Noynoy Aquino III), with one independent (Kiko Pangilinan).^[3]Bayan Muna endorsed Legarda, Escudero, Cayetano, Pimentel, Roco, Coseteng, and Villar from GO; Arroyo and Recto of TU; and independent Pangilinan.^[3]

Candidates made use of different campaign platforms to win.Prospero Pichay Jr.,Manny Villar,Mike Defensor, andLoren 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.Teresa 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 PresidentJoseph Estrada. Some candidates likeFrancis Escudero,Vicente Magsaysay,Francis Pangilinan,Joker Arroyo,Antonio Trillanes andKoko Pimentel made use of the internet by joining networks sites likeFriendster; making or updatingWikipedia entries, establishing blogs and websites and airing the commercials onYouTube.

On March 19, 2007, COMELEC releasedResolution No.7832 which finalized and approved the official candidates for the senatorial election. On March 29, 2007, COMELEC certified 37 Senatorial Candidates.^[4]

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 theConstitution of the Philippines after serving two consecutive terms. There was one vacancy left in the outgoing Senate asNoli de Castro (Independent) was elected asvice-president in 2004.

1. Franklin Drilon (Liberal), term-limited in 2007,ran in 2010 and won
2. Loi Ejercito (PMP), retiring from politics
3. Juan Flavier (Lakas), retiring from politics
4. Alfredo Lim (PMP), ran for Mayor ofManilaand won
5. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. (Lakas), term-limited in 2007,ran in 2013 and lost
6. Serge Osmeña (PDP–Laban), term-limited in 2007 and campaigned for theGenuine Opposition,ran in 2010 and won

Opinion polling (locally known as "surveys") is carried out by two major polling firms:Social Weather Stations (SWS), andPulse 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.

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

TheGenuine Opposition (GO) originally won seven seats,TEAM Unity won three seats, aLiberal Party candidate not in any slate won one, and an independent won one.

Five incumbents successfully defended their seats:Edgardo Angara andJoker Arroyo for TEAM Unity,Panfilo Lacson andManny Villar from GO, andFrancis Pangilinan of the Liberal Party.

GO'sBenigno Aquino III,Alan Peter Cayetano,Francis Escudero,Antonio Trillanes, and TEAM Unity'sMigz Zubiri are the neophyte senators.

Returning are independent candidateGregorio Honasan, andLoren Legarda from GO.

TEAM Unity'sRalph Recto was the sole incumbent defeated.

Migz Zubiri's seat would later be awarded toKoko Pimentel of GO in 2011 when the latter won anelection protest against the former.

The election ofAlfredo Lim asMayor of Manila in concurrent elections means that his Senate seat will be vacant until June 30, 2010.

Key:

• ‡ Seats up
• + Gained by a party from another party
• √ Held by the incumbent
• * Held by the same party with a new senator
• ^ Vacancy

The 12th Senate seat was contested between TEAM Unity'sMigz Zubiri and GO'sKoko Pimentel Zubiri was proclaimed In July 2007 with a margin of about 20,000 votes,^[9] but Pimentel filed an electoral protest to the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), which the tribunal accepted, alleging there was massive electoral fraud inMaguindanao.^[10] After the revision of votes on Pimentel's protest in July 2009, he released a statement that he now leads Zubiri by 96,000 votes;^[11] Zubiri countered that his counter-protest that alleges similar fraud inMega Manila has him leading by around 132,000 votes in areas affected by his counter protest.^[11]

In July 2011, suspendedAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governorZaldy Ampatuan and Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol alleged that there was indeed fraud in the ARMM in favor of TEAM Unity.^[12] On August 3, 2011, Zubiri resigned, maintaining that he had no hand in alleged electoral fraud in the ARMM.^[13] He withdrew his counter-protest,^[14] which led to the SET to proclaim Pimentel as the winner on August 11, 2011.^[15] Pimentel took his oath atMati, Davao Oriental, where he had the highest rank among the provinces, finishing in second place.^[16]

Pimentel sued former presidentGloria Macapagal Arroyo, COMELEC chairmanBenjamin Abalos, Maguinadanao elections supervisor Lintang Bedol and others for electoral sabotage on August 17, 2011, at theDepartment of Justice (DOJ).^[17] A joint DOJ-COMELEC panel began investigations on Pimentel's suit by November 3.^[18] On November 18, 2011, the commission voted to file charges against Arroyo and others at thePasay Regional Trial Court, which later ordered Arroyo, Abalos and Bedol arrested later in the day.^[19]

In the tables below, it shows Zubiri winning, as he had served until 2011, or after the 2010 election (which also shows him holding the seat). In the 2013 election tables, it shows Pimentel as having held the seat.

This table depicts the totals before theSenate Electoral Tribunal's 2011 decision onPimentel v. Zubiri electoral protest.

This table depicts the totals before theSenate Electoral Tribunal's 2011 decision onPimentel v. Zubiri electoral protest.

This table depicts the totals before theSenate Electoral Tribunal's 2011 decision onPimentel v. Zubiri electoral protest.

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Up	Before	Won	After	+/−
	Lakas–CMD	59,976,735	22.29	−9.55	2	5	1	4	−1
	Nationalist People's Coalition	48,767,467	18.12	New	0	0	2	2	+2
	United Opposition	33,965,907	12.62	New	1	1	2	2	+1
	Liberal Party	28,844,027	10.72	−1.06	3	5	2	4	−1
	Nacionalista Party	27,126,091	10.08	New	1	2	2	3	+1
	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino	12,657,769	4.70	New	1	2	1	2	0
	Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino	11,803,107	4.39	New	1	1	1	1	0
	PDP–Laban	10,987,347	4.08	New	1	2	0	0	−1
	Aksyon Demokratiko	8,457,748	3.14	−0.53	0	0	0	0	0
	Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas	2,488,994	0.92	New	0	0	0	0	0
	Kilusang Bagong Lipunan	2,436,294	0.91	+0.70	0	0	0	0	0
	Ang Kapatiran	1,877,313	0.70	New	0	0	0	0	0
	Philippine Green Republican Party	123,608	0.05	New	0	0	0	0	0
	Independent	19,605,877	7.29	−0.52	0	0	1	1	New
	People's Reform Party				0	1	0	1	0
	Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino				1	4	0	2	−2
Vacancy					1	1	0	1	0
Total		269,118,284	100.00	–	12	24	12	24	0
Total votes		29,498,660	–
Registered voters/turnout		43,104,362	68.44

1. Ralph Recto (Lakas/TEAM Unity), ranin 2010 and won

Although theGenuine Opposition gained control of the Senate after the elections, they were divided on who was to be next Senate President. As such, Senate PresidentManuel Villar (Nacionalista) formed a bloc in the Senate to contest the Senate presidency. Facing him was the minority leaderAquilino 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. SenatorAntonio Trillanes was not allowed to attend the Senate session.^[25]

This is how the election for the Senate presidency went:^[25]

• 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)

• Halalan 2007 - Election coverage byABS-CBN
• Eleksyon 2007- Election coverage byGMA Network
• Eleksyon 2007 - Election coverage by thePhilippine Daily Inquirer

• 2007 Philippine general election
• Philippine Senate elections

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