List of special elections to the Philippine Congress

The most common reason for the vacancies which were filled by special elections since 1907 is resignation (a total of 27 instances) — both from leaving office to assume another position (20), and for other reasons (7). 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 (4 instances), and to fill the seats vacated after: a winning candidate was disqualified post-election (2), a representative was expelled from the legislature (1), or a representative was "dropped from the rolls" over a criminal conviction (1).

Most of the special elections — 33, or more than half of the 61 conducted as of 2017 — were held before the Second World War (1907–1941). 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.

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.[8] 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:[9]

• 8th Congress (ended June 1992):
  • Albay–3rd (became vacant in July 1988)
  • Bulacan–4th (November 1989)
  • Cagayan–3rd (April 1989)
  • Catanduanes (November 1987)
  • Davao City–3rd (October 1987)
  • Lanao del Sur–2nd (December 1989)
  • Masbate–3rd (March 1989)
  • Quezon–2nd (April 1990)
• 10th Congress (ended June 1998):
  • Guimaras (December 1995)
  • Sorsogon–1st (April 1996)
• 14th Congress (ended June 2010):
  • Basilan (November 2007)
  • Misamis Oriental–1st (June 2008)
  • Mountain Province (February 2008)
• 17th Congress (ended June 2019):
  • Basilan (November 2016)
  • Batanes (October 2017)
  • Las Piñas (August 2016)
  • Mountain Province (June 2017)
  • Sulu–1st (June 2016)

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.

In 1949, Senator Fernando Lopez (who was on his second year of service in the Senate) 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:[10]

In 1953, Senator Carlos P. Garcia (who was on his second year of service in the Senate) 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:[11]

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 (who was serving his second year as senator) 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.

^1 Guest candidate

^2 18,000 votes deducted from Ralph Recto from Zamboanga del Norte as per Resolution No. NBC 01-003

^3 Elected to serve the unexpired term (until 2004) of Teofisto Guingona Jr., who was appointed Vice President in February 2001.

Former senator Arturo Tolentino and others sued the Commission on Elections (Comelec) 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.[12]

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 (Roberto Pagdanganan) proclaimed winner. Later that year, Marcelo Fernan died in office, leaving two vacant seats in the Senate (Fernan's seat was also up in 2001).
• 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 (Robert Barbers) 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 (Aquilino Pimentel III) 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 (Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel) proclaimed winner.

In all of those cases, the thirteenth-placed candidate was not given the vacant seat as the voters elected for only twelve senators.[13]

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 (there were two elections for the senate for senators at that time). 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.

For permanent vacancies in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial boards), Sangguniang Panlungsod (city councils) of highly urbanized and independent component cities and Sangguniang Bayan (municipal councils) of component municipalities in Metro Manila (currently just Pateros), 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 (the governor or mayor, as the case may be) 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 (village councils) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth councils), it shall be filled by the official next in rank.[14] This means no special elections are held for local legislatures under the Local Government Code.

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.[15]

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.[14]

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.