2022 Philippine general election

In September 2020, Duterte appointed lawyer Michael Peloton as commissioner, filling in for the seat vacated by Luie Tito Guia's retirement. As this was a regular appointment as opposed to an ad interim one made when Congress is in recess, Peloton has to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments before he can take office.[2] In November, Duterte appointed Davao del Norte election supervisor Aimee Ferolino Ampoloquio to the seat vacated by Al Parreño.[3]

By October 2021, there were reports that Duterte will appoint the Melvin Matibag, the secretary-general of the PDP–Laban faction preferred by the former, as chairman. Matibag denied he knows about him in talks in being appointed as chairman.[4] Several weeks later, Duterte appointed Rey Bulay, chief prosecutor of Manila, as commissioner, with a term ending in 2027, replacing Peloton, who was rejected by the Commission on Appointments.[5] Bulay was accepted by the Commission on Appointments on December 1.[6]

Chairman Sheriff Abas and commissioners Rowena Guanzon and Antonio Kho Jr. retired on February 2, 2022.[7] Over a month later, acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar announced the appointments of Saidamen Balt Pangarungan as chairman, and George Erwin Garcia and Aimee Neri as commissioners.[8] Garcia, who lists presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos as a previous client, promised to inhibit himself from cases involving his former clients, including Marcos.[9]

"Vote-rich provinces," or provinces and Metro Manila as a whole that have more than one million voters. Nationally-elected candidates and parties typically campaign in these areas to reduce costs.

Voter registration began on January 20, 2020, and was scheduled to end on September 30, 2021. The commission expects 4.3 million eligible voters to register. Registration was suspended in some areas in Cavite, Laguna and Batangas due to the Taal Volcano eruption, and in Makilala, Cotabato due to an earthquake.[10] However, even before registration for 2022 opened, many other voters enrolled early between August 1 and September 30, 2019, ahead of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections initially scheduled for May 11, 2020, but were eventually postponed after the general election to December 5, 2022.[11][12]

On March 10, the commission suspended voter registration in the entire country due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.[13] By June, the commission announced its initial resumption on July 1.[14] However, the commission suspended voter registration anew up to August 31.[15] The commission later stated on August 15 that voter registration would resume on September 1 in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) or modified general community quarantine (MGCQ). Areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) will have their registration suspended.[16]

Registration in the province of Palawan was also suspended due to the plebiscite to divide it into three provinces on March 13, 2021.[17] The plebiscite was originally set on May 11, 2020, but was rescheduled due to the pandemic.[18][19]

In some areas, almost eight months of voter registration were lost due to lockdowns.[20] There were calls to extend voter registration after September 30, 2021, but the commission rejected this, saying that this will delay other election-related activities.[21] The commission instead allowed voter registration to continue in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting on September 6, with longer hours, and even in malls.[22]

With barely a week before registration closed, the Senate passed a bill on second reading extending registration for another month.[23] The House of Representatives likewise passed a similar bill days later, also on second reading.[24] Earlier, both chambers separately passed resolutions urging the commission to extend registration,[25] while the Senate threatened to cut the commission's 2022 budget if registration is not extended.[26] On the eve of the end of registration, Sheriff Abas announced that they approved extending registration from October 11 to 30 for voters in the Philippines, and from October 1 to 14 for overseas voters.[27] On the same day, President Duterte signed into law extending registration for 30 days from when it is made effective.[28]

After extended registration ended, the commission announced that 400,000 people registered in October.[29] The commission tallied 65,745,529 voters in the Philippines, with Calabarzon being the region with the most voters, with 9.1 million voters. The total was almost 4 million more as compared to 2019.[30] By January 2022, the commission announced that they will print 67,442,714 ballots, with 1,697,202 of these for overseas absentee voting.[31] The commission later released per-location total of registered voters, with Cebu (including independent cities associated with it) as the most vote-rich province, Quezon City the most vote-rich city, and Calabarzon being the most vote-rich region.[32]

In connection to the 2021 Southeast Asian Games which will be held in Vietnam from May 12 to 23, 2022, the Philippine Sports Commission lobbied the commission to allow the participants to vote as local absentee voters. The commission denied the request, saying that unless a participant is a government official or employee, a member of either the Philippine National Police or Armed Forces of the Philippines who was assigned in places where one is not a voter, or media covering the games, the athlete cannot vote as a local absentee voter.[33]

Representative from Camarines Sur Luis Raymund Villafuerte proposed to use a hybrid electoral system in 2022, or manual counting of votes, then electronic transmission of results. This is in contrast to the automated counting and transmission system used since 2010. He cited 40 lawsuits on the current system used by the Commission on Elections as evidence to shift away from automated counting of votes.[34] President Rodrigo Duterte has suggested junking Smartmatic as the automation partner for future elections because of problems from the previous election.[35] However, Smartmatic expressed its interest to participate in future elections.[36] In May 2021, the commission awarded the contract to conduct automated elections, specifically the software that will be used in the voting machines, to Smartmatic.[37][38]

Administration of logistics related to the election was awarded to F2 Logistics in August 2021.[39] A former commissioner has questioned the deal because of the company's association with Dennis Uy, who donated to Duterte's 2016 presidential campaign.[40] The commission stated that the deal with F2 Logistics is legal and valid.[41]

In April 2020, COMELEC Commissioner Rowena Guanzon has proposed voting by mail as an option in the elections, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[42] By May 2021, Commissioner Antonio Kho Jr. said that voting hours will be extended, as the eight-hour timeframe given for previous elections cannot be used any longer. As for voting in multiple days, Kho said that only a law passed by Congress will allow that to happen.[43]

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, in a privilege speech, disclosed that he commissioned a Pulse Asia survey in July 2021 which said that 46% of voters will not vote if COVID-19 cases in their barangay is high on election day, with 35% willing to vote and 19% undecided. Zubiri questioned if the public will accept the results if less than majority of the voters turned out to vote.[44]

The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines states that unless otherwise provided by law, the election of members of Congress is held on the second Monday of May.[45] According to Republic Act No. 7166, the election for national, provincial, city and municipal positions are held 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.[46] It has been three years since the 2019 general election and six years since the 2016 presidential election, and with no law postponing the election to date, this meant that the election is scheduled to be held on May 9, 2022.

However, some congressmen and government officials have suggested postponing the election due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.[47][48][49] Sherriff Abas, the chairman of the commission, said that it has not entered their minds, that the terms are fixed, adding that they are planning on having the vote done on two days.[50] Postponement would only be possible if Congress passes a law permitting such, and if it is approved by the people in a plebiscite. The commission has no part in scheduling the election outside from what is mandated by the constitution.[51]

A group called Coalition for Life and Democracy petitioned the commission to postpone the elections due to ongoing pandemic. The group conceded that only Congress can postpone the election, and that their petition contained different dates to hold the election: the body of the petition called for it to be rescheduled to May 2023. but the prayer in it called for it to be held in May 2025.[52] Another petition that would affect the election's date was filed on December 31 by the Cusi wing of the PDP–Laban. Their petition aimed to re-open the filling of candidacies, and to suspend the printing of ballots.[53] The commission tackled both petitions, and announced that both were unanimously dismissed on January 12.[54]

In November 2020, the 80-person Bangsamoro Parliament passed a resolution urging Congress to extend the transition from June 2022 to 2025. If Congress agrees, no election shall be held.[55] By July 2021, senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said that postponing the Bangsamoro election to 2025 is likely.[56] In September, the Senate passed a bill postponing the election to 2025.[57] A few days later, the House of Representatives passed their own version of the bill.[57] As the two bills are different, it had to be reconciled before being sent to the President Duterte for his signature.[58] Conference committee approved the Senate version, giving the winner of the 2022 presidential election the power of appointing the next transitional parliament.[59] Duterte then signed the bill into law, postponing the election to 2025.[60]

The following table is sorted by which national party holds the presidency, vice presidency, number of House of Representatives (House) seats, then the number of Senate seats.

National political conventions and assemblies were held to nominate candidates in the upcoming election.[95] The PDP–Laban's two factions held separate conventions. On September 8, 2021, the Cusi faction held their national convention in San Fernando, Pampanga. The faction selected Senator Bong Go as their presidential nominee and incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte as his running mate. They also nominated eight people for senator.[96] The opposing faction led by Pimentel held their convention in Quezon City on September 19, 2021. Senator Manny Pacquiao was nominated as their presidential candidate.[97] On the same day, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) held their own convention, nominating former senator Bongbong Marcos as their presidential candidate.[94] He was also nominated by the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) in their convention, which they held on September 24.[98] National democracy coalition Makabayan held their assembly on September 27 and nominated nominees for its party-lists.[99] The Aksyon Demokratiko party also held their convention on September 27 in Manila, selecting Manila mayor Isko Moreno and Willie Ong as their standard bearers for the presidential and vice presidential elections respectively.[91] Aksyon also nominated two persons as their senatorial candidates. PROMDI held their national convention in Cebu City on the same day, nominating Pacquiao as their presidential candidate and approving an electoral alliance between PROMDI and the Pimentel faction of PDP–Laban.[93] On September 28, two labor parties, Labor Party Philippines (LPP) and Partido Lakas ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PLMP), held their political convention in Mabalacat. This convention oversaw the nomination of Marcos as their presidential nominee and the approval of the electoral alliance between LPP and PLMP, endorsement of the AAsenso party-list, and approval of partnerships between LPP and KBL and LPP and PFP. The Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) also held their national convention on the same day and nominated labor leader Leody de Guzman as their presidential bet.[100]

Some of the results of the national conventions were noticeably not followed. For the Cusi faction of the PDP–Laban, Bong Go declined to run for president,[101] and Rodrigo Duterte, who originally accepted the nomination,[101] changed his mind and announced his retirement from politics.[102] In the end, Go became the vice presidential nominee,[103] while Ronald dela Rosa was named their presidential nominee.[104] For the Pimentel faction of the same party, Manny Pacquiao was named their standard bearer,[105] but carried the PROMDI party banner in his candidacy, after their faction and PROMDI forged an electoral alliance.[106] Marcos, who was nominated by at least four parties, chose to run under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas.[107] PLM only nominated De Guzman for president in their convention. Former Akbayan representative Walden Bello was eventually chosen to be his running mate.[108] The Makabayan bloc would also later endorse vice president Leni Robredo and senator Francis Pangilinan as their presidential and vice presidential candidates respectively.[109]

In the flurry of substitutions prior to the deadline, Rodrigo Duterte and Bong Go, erstwhile PDP–Laban politicians, were to run under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan as senator and president respectively, to avoid legal complications amidst the ongoing dispute in PDP–Laban.[110] Go himself later on announced his withdrawal from the presidential election.[111]

The Philippines is a multi-party democracy. This means parties enter into coalitions and alliances with each other prior to, during and after elections in order to be a part of government. These coalitions are ordered by date when it was formalized.

Laura del Rosario, a former Undersecretary for International Economic Affairs, encouraged the public to reject "Manchurian candidates," or candidates who are clandestinely supported by China, who is currently involved in territorial disputes with the Philippines. Del Rosario also said that to ensure that a pro-Chinese leader is elected, China may support more than one candidate in the election.[115]

Substitution of candidates aside from death or illness is allowed in the Philippines, under the Omnibus Election Code. In case of withdrawal, the substitute can replace the original candidate only on the commission's set schedule; for death or disqualification, the substitute can replace the original candidate until midday of election day.[116] Incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte notably was a substitute in 2016 where he won.[117] Deputy speaker Rufus Rodriguez proposed to ban such substitutions, and to reimpose the old rule that automatically makes candidates deemed as resigned on any political position that they are on.[118] The commission promised to be firm on rules regarding substitution after Sara Duterte missed the deadline to file a presidential candidacy.[119]

On January 10, 2022, the Manila Bulletin published an article alleging that the COMELEC's servers were hacked by a group, who downloaded more than 60 gigabytes of data containing usernames and passwords for the vote-counting machines (VCMs) and other sensitive information.[120] The commission initially denied its servers were breached and asserted that their system has not yet been connected to any network and that no PINs have been generated yet.[121] Following the report, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) launched its own investigation into the incident.[122] Another investigation by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) asserted that it was not the COMELEC that was hacked, but its software contractor, Smartmatic.[123] A public hearing was held by the Senate. On March 17, 2022, senators Imee Marcos and Tito Sotto, after the Senate's executive session with COMELEC officials, revealed that Smartmatic was breached after an employee allowed a group to copy data from a company-issued laptop.[124][125] The commission later met with Smartmatic officials on March 31.[126] On April 1, the COMELEC confirmed the Smartmatic breach, but clarified that the leaked data was not related to the elections, and that the SD cards for the VCMs were not compromised.[127]

The commission placed the following places under its control. Once it is placed under COMELEC control, the commission has direct supervision over officials and employees, and full control over law enforcement agencies.

• Malabang, Lanao del Sur, due to a "recent spate of killings"
• Tubaran, Lanao del Sur, which has a history of election-related violence

The commission previously withheld releasing a list of such areas because it has not yet been validated.[128]

The Philippine National Police started its "Oplan Baklas" (lit. 'operation plan remove') on the first day of campaigning.[132] The Leni Robredo presidential campaign, citing the arbitrary application of the law, were considering legal action on the actions of the authorities, as they removed campaign materials on private properties. This followed the removal of their campaign materials from their media center in Quezon City, and from their Santiago, Isabela campaign headquarters.[133] Interior Secretary Eduardo Año defended their actions, saying that private property owners were first notified of the violations before the campaign materials were removed.[134] 1Sambayan cited Diocese of Bacolod v. COMELEC Supreme Court case, where "COMELEC (has) no legal basis to regulate expressions made by private citizens."[135] On March 8, the Supreme Court issued a restraining order against the operation.[136]

The presidential election will determine the successor of Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte is term-limited and thus cannot run for president. The Commission on Elections released the official list of candidates on January 18, 2022, with 10 candidates listed on the final ballot.[139]

The vice presidential election will determine the successor of Leni Robredo. Robredo is eligible to run for a second term but has decided to run for president. The Commission on Elections released the official list of candidates on January 18, 2022.[139] There will be nine candidates on the ballot.

Members of the 19th Congress of the Philippines will be elected in this election.

One half of the membership or 12 of 24 seats in the Senate, or those last contested in 2016, are up for election. Those elected in 2019 will be joined by the winners of this election to serve in the 19th Congress. There are 178 people who filed up to run for a Senate seat.[137] The 64 names are included in the ballot.[140]

All 316 seats in the House of Representatives will be up for election, an increase of 12 seats from the outgoing 18th Congress. There are now 253 congressional districts, each electing one representative, and 63 seats elected via the party-list system on a nationwide vote.[1] There are 733 people who filed to run for Congress.[137]

Local elections above the barangay level are expected to be held along with the national elections:[1]

• All 81 governors and vice governors, and 782 seats to provincial boards in all provinces;
• All 146 city mayors and vice mayors, and 1,650 seats to city councils in all cities
• All 1,488 municipal mayors and vice mayors, and 11,908 seats to municipal councils in all municipalities