1. Preparation
    Date of the election 

2. Automated Election System
    Equipment  Commission on Elections membership 

3. Proposed cancellation

4. Results
    Congress  Senate  House of Representatives  Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao  Local 

5. References

The 2019 Philippine general election will be conducted on May 13, 2019. It shall be a midterm election, where the winners will take office on June 30, 2019, midway the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The following positions are expected to be contested:

• 12 seats in the Senate of the Philippines
• All seats in the House of Representatives of the Philippines
• All regional elected positions in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
  • If the electorate approves the creation of the Bangsamoro Automomous Region, the regional election for the ARMM won't be done on this day
• All provincial-level elected positions in the provinces of the Philippines
• All city-level elected positions in the cities of the Philippines
• All municipal-level elected positions in the municipalities of the Philippines

Under the Local Government Code and the 1987 constitution, all terms start on June 30, 2019, and end on June 30, 2022, except for elected senators, whose terms shall end on June 30, 2025. The Commission on Elections will administer the election.

Preparation

Date of the election

The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines states that unless otherwise provided by law, the election of members of Congress is on every second Monday of May.^[1] According to Republic Act No. 7166, election for national, provincial, city and municipal elections are on the second Monday of May, since 1992, and every three years thereafter, with the president and vice president being elected in six-year intervals.^[2] It has been three years since the last general election of 2016, and with no law canceling the election, this means that the election shall be held on Monday, May 13, 2019.

The commission confirmed the day of the election day of May 13 when it released the calendar for the election. The important days are:^[3]

• Filing of candidacies and nominations for party-list representatives: October 11 to 12, and October 15 to 17, 2018
• Campaign period
  • For Senate and party-list elections: February 12 to May 11, 2019
  • For district congressional and local elections: March 29 to May 11, 2019
• Substitution of candidates: November 30 to 12:00 p.m. of May 13, 2019
• Election silence: April 18 to 19 and May 12 to 13, 2019
• Election day: May 13, 2019
• Deadline of filing of expenses: June 12, 2019

Automated Election System

The Philippines will adopt an automated election system (AES) in the 2019 elections. The COMELEC announced In December 2018 that the Philippine AES passed the review conducted by international systems and software testing firm, Pro V&V, in Alabama, USA.^[4]

The Commission had a 'trusted build' program wherein the program to be used in the midterms in 2019 is built using the reviewed components. Commissioner Marlon Casquejo on Monday turned over the executable file of the Election Management System (EMS) Trusted Build for the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections (NLE) to the Commission en banc. The file which will be escrowed to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.^[5]

The EMS compiles the number and profile of registered voters, their geographic locations and polling precinct information, and these will be used in designing the official ballots.

Equipment

The Commission on Elections made a decision on February 1, 2018 to purchase vote-counting machines (VCM), which were used in the 2016 presidential election for a price of 2.122 billion pesos for the 2019 mid-term elections.^[6]

Commission on Elections membership

On October 17, 2017, the House of Representatives impeached Commission on Elections Chairman Andres D. Bautista due to allegations of manipulation of the 2016 vice presidential election in favor of Leni Robredo.^[7] Hours earlier, Bautista announced his resignation effective December 31st.^[8] President Duterte accepted Bautista's resignation effective immediately, on October 23.^[9] Duterte then appointed Sheriff Abas as new chairman, in November 2017.^[10]

The Commission on Appointments confirmed Duterte's appointment of Abas as Chairman on May 2018. Abas is expected to head the commission on the 2019 elections. At the confirmation hearing, Abas defended the commission's purchase of the vote-counting machines, saying that they were purchased at one-third of the cost.^[11] The commission later confirmed Duterte's appointment of Socorro Inting as Commissioner later that month.^[12] Duterte also appointed Marlon S. Casquejo as Commissioner on June and undersecretary of Justice Antonio Kho as Commissioner on July, completing the commission's seven seats.^[13]

Proposed cancellation

Due to the drive to change the constitution to make the Philippines a federation, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said in January 2018 that the cancellation of the 2019 elections is possible, as a transition government would be needed. Later, the president disapproved of cancelling the election.^[14]

By July, after the consultative committee submitted their draft constitution to the president and Congress, Alvarez proposed to cancel the 2019 election so that Congress can concentrate in revising the constitution.^[15] Senate President Tito Sotto said that this is possible by Congress passing a law for the cancellation of the election.^[16] Members of the consultative committee, on the other hand, prefer holding the election. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said that "I suggest elections will continue (because people suspect that) we are proposing federalism so that the elections can be postponed. It is not true, not at all."^[17]

Later that month, Senator Panfilo Lacson said that most senators, including those who are running for reelection, will block any moves by the lower house to cancel the election. This comes as Alvarez switched his preferred mode of amending the constitution via a People's Initiative. Franklin Drilon earlier said that the minority bloc will sue if Alvarez's plan of cancelling the election pushes through.^[18]

With the ouster of Alvarez by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Speaker In July 2018, the latter said that she prefers for the elections to push through.^[19]

Results

Congress

The 18th Congress of the Philippines shall comprise the winners of this election, together with the winning candidates in the 2016 Senate election.

Senate

Twelve seats in the Senate, or those seats that were first disputed in 1995, and were last up in 2013, will be up for election.

House of Representatives

All seats in the House of Representatives will be up for election.

• Currently, 60 party-list seats will also be disputed.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

The positions of governor and vice governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and all 24 seats in the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly shall be up for election.

With the signing into law of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, a plebiscite will be held for approval of the people. If the plebiscite passes, an election for the Bangsamoro regional parliament would be held, instead. The parliament will then elect the Chief Minister, or head of government, and the wali, or the chief executive or regional head.

Local

All totals as of the first quarter of 2018:^[20]

• All 81 provincial governors and vice governors, and all regular members of all of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan shall be up for election.
• All 145 city mayors and vice mayors, and all regular members of all of the Sangguniang Panlungsod shall be up for election.
• All 1,489 municipal mayors and vice mayors, and all regular members of all of the Sangguniang Bayan shall be up for election.

The ex officio members of the local legislatures, who have been elected after the 2018 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, shall serve until 2020.

References

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