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| General elections | |
|---|---|
| Presidential elections | |
| Senate elections | |
| House elections | |
| Constitutional conventions | |
| Local elections | |
| Barangay elections | |
| Referendums | |
This is a list of elections and referendums held in the Philippines.
For much of its history since 1935, the Philippines has been governed as a presidential unitary republic. The term "general election" is not predominantly used in the Philippines, but for the purposes of this article, a "general election" may refer to an election day where the presidency or at least a class of members of Congress are on the ballot. Since 1992, on presidential election days, the presidency, half of the Senate, the House of Representatives and all local officials above the barangay level, but below the regional level, are at stake. On a "midterm election", it's the same, except for the presidency is not at stake.
Local elections above the barangay level, but below the regional level, are synchronized with elections for national positions. From 1947 until 1971, these were scheduled in midterm election years.
Barangay elections are usually held separately from general and local elections.
Regional elections are held for the autonomous regions. There had been four autonomous regions in the Philippines: Central Mindanao and Western Mindanao, then replaced by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), then the Bangsamoro that replaced it. Regional elections were not synchronized with general elections above, but on 2013 and 2016, they were. The 2016 election was the last ARMM election. After the approval of the Bangsamoro in a plebiscite, there was a transition period, and the first Bangsamoro election is expected to be held on 2022.
| Year | Autonomous region(s) | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Western Mindanao and Central Mindanao | Details |
| 1982 | Western Mindanao and Central Mindanao | Details |
| 1990 | Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao | Details |
| 1993 | Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao | Details |
| 1996 | Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao | Details |
| 2001 | Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao | Details |
| 2005 | Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao | Details |
| 2008 | Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao | Details |
| 2013 | Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao | Details |
| 2016 | Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao | Details |
| 2025 | Bangsamoro | Details |
Referendums are on an ad hoc basis. Before 1973, these were mostly used on amending the constitution. Starting from martial law up to the People Power Revolution, referendums became more frequent. After the People Power Revolution, there had only been one national referendum, on the approval of the current constitution.
| Year | Type | Ballot question | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Plebiscite | Approval of constitution | Yes 96.47% | Details |
| 1937 | Plebiscite | Women's suffrage | Yes 90.94% | Details |
| 1939 | Plebiscite | Setting up export tariffs | Yes 96.56% | Details |
| 1940 | Plebiscite | Creation of a bicameral Congress | Yes 79.14% | Details |
| Re-election of president and vice president | Yes 81.67% | |||
| Creation of a Commission on Elections | Yes 77.95% | |||
| 1947 | Plebiscite | Approval of the Bell Trade Act | Yes 78.89% | Details |
| 1967 | Plebiscite | Enlarging the House of Representatives | No 81.72% | Details |
| Allowing members of Congress to serve in the Constitutional Convention without forfeiting their seats | No 83.44% | |||
| 1973 | Plebiscite | Adopting the constitution | Yes 90.67% | Details |
| Calling a plebiscite to ratify the constitution | No 90.96% | |||
| Referendum | Allow the president to continue beyond 1973 and finish the reforms under martial law | Yes 90.67% | Details | |
| 1975 | Referendum | Approval of the president's actions | Yes 88.69% | Details |
| Approval of the president continuing the same powers | Yes 87.51% | |||
| Selection of local officials | By appointment 60.51% | |||
| 1976 | Referendum | Allowing martial law to continue | Yes 90.95% | Details |
| Plebiscite | Substituting the Regular Batasang Pambansa with the Interim Batasang Pambansa | Yes 87.58% | ||
| 1977 | Referendum | Allowing the president to continue in office after the organization of the Interim Batasang Pambansa | Yes 89.27% | Details |
| 1981 | Plebiscite | Approval of the modified parliamentary system | Yes 79.53% | Details |
| Yes 78.95% | |||
| Allowing erstwhile natural-born citizens who lost citizenship to own land | Yes 77.55% | |||
| Referendum | Holding barangay elections after the 1981 presidential election | Yes 81.09% | Details | |
| 1984 | Plebiscite | Redistricting the Batasang Pambansa to per city and province | Yes 83.94% | Details |
| Abolishing the executive committee and restoring the vice presidency | Yes 82.99% | |||
| Allowing indigents to possess public lands by grants | Yes 69.25% | |||
| Undertaking an urban land reform program | Yes 68.59% | |||
| 1987 | Plebiscite | Approval of constitution | Yes 77.04% | Details |
Only officials elected via the Local Government Code of 1991 can be recalled.
These are the recall elections above the barangay level:
| Year | Location | Position recalled | Incumbent | Result | Winner | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Bataan | Governor | Ding Roman | Lost | Tet Garcia | Details |
| 1997 | Basilisa, Surigao del Norte | Mayor | Details | |||
| Vice mayor | ||||||
| Six councilors | ||||||
| Caloocan | Mayor | Rey Malonzo | Won | Rey Malonzo | Details | |
| 2000 | Lucena | Mayor | Bernard Tagarao | Lost | Ramon Talaga Jr. | Details |
| Pasay | Mayor | Jovito Claudio | Lost | Wenceslao Trinidad | Details | |
| 2002 | Puerto Princesa, Palawan | Mayor | Dennis Socrates | Lost | Edward Hagedorn | Details |
| 2003 | Agoo, La Union | Vice mayor | Ramil Lopez | Lost | Shiela Milo | Details |
| 2015 | Puerto Princesa | Mayor | Lucilo Bayron | Won | Lucilo Bayron | Details |
Both chambers of Congress conduct special elections (known as "by-elections" elsewhere) once a seat becomes vacant.
The upcoming Bangsamoro Parliament can also hold special elections for vacancies for seats from its parliamentary districts.
A special election can also be called if the offices of president and vice president of the Philippines are vacant in the same time.
People's Initiative is a common appellative in the Philippines that refers to either a mode for constitutional amendment provided by the 1987 Philippine Constitution or to the act of pushing an initiative (national or local) allowed by the Initiative and Referendum Act of 1987. While the Supreme Court had declared amending the constitution via initiative as "fatally defective" and those inoperable, the Initiative and Referendum Act of 1987 can still be used to initiate initiatives for statues, ordinances and resolutions at the national and local level.
While there had been no referendums at the national level, this has been successfully implemented at the local level, particularly in barangays.
| General elections | |
|---|---|
| Presidential elections | |
| Senate elections | |
| House elections | |
| Constitutional conventions | |
| Local elections | |
| Barangay elections | |
| Referendums | |
In the Philippines, regions are administrative divisions that primarily serve to coordinate planning and organize national government services across multiple local government units (LGUs). Most national government offices provide services through their regional branches instead of having direct provincial or city offices. Regional offices are usually but not necessarily located in the city designated as the regional center.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was an autonomous region of the Philippines, located in the Mindanao island group of the Philippines, that consisted of five predominantly Muslim provinces: Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. It was the only region that had its own government. The region's de facto seat of government was Cotabato City, although this self-governing city was outside its jurisdiction.
Elections in the Philippines are of several types. The president, vice-president, and the senators are elected for a six-year term, while the members of the House of Representatives, governors, vice-governors, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, mayors, vice-mayors, members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod/members of the Sangguniang Bayan, barangay officials, and the members of the Sangguniang Kabataan are elected to serve for a three-year term.
Matanog, officially the Municipality of Matanog, is a 4th class municipality in the province of Maguindanao del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 36,034 people.
The government of the Philippines has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and democratic constitutional republic in which the president functions as both the head of state and the head of government of the country within a pluriform multi-party system.
The Philippines is divided into four levels of administrative divisions, with the lower three being defined in the Local Government Code of 1991 as local government units (LGUs). They are, from the highest to the lowest:
Pandag, officially the Municipality of Pandag, is a municipality in the province of Maguindanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 26,356 people.
The ARMM Regional Assembly, also known as the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly, was the devolved unicameral regional legislature of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It was known as the "Little Congress" of the ARMM.
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao general elections was held in the ARMM for the regional governor, vice-governor posts and election of members of the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly on August 11, 2008. The electronic voting used is the first in Philippines election history. The ₱500 million COMELEC's "ARMM balloting" is a pilot program for the 2010 national polling.
In the Philippines, local government is divided into three levels: provinces and independent cities, component cities and municipalities, and barangays, all of which are collectively known as local government units (LGUs). In some areas, above provinces and independent chartered cities are autonomous regions, such as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Some towns and cities remit their revenue to national government and is returned through the national government through a process called internal revenue allotment. Below barangays in some cities and municipalities are sitios and puroks. All of these, with the exception of sitios and puroks, elect their own executives and legislatures. Sitios and puroks are often but not necessarily led by an elected barangay councilor.
Datu Salibo, officially the Municipality of Datu Salibo, is a municipality in the province of Maguindanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 18,795 people.
Shariff Saydona Mustapha, officially the Municipality of Shariff Saydona Mustapha, is a municipality in the province of Maguindanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 25,080.
Formal peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines and the various armed groups involved in the Moro conflict began in 1976 when the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front first met to negotiate towards the 1976 Tripoli Agreement, and most recently reached a major milestone in the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) through a plebiscite in 2018, leading to the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. However, conflicts with other smaller armed groups continue to exist.
Bangsamoro, officially the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is an autonomous region in the Philippines, located in the southwestern portion of the island of Mindanao.
Local elections were held in the Philippines on May 13, 2013, the same day and on the same ballot as national elections. Elected were governors, mayors and council members of Philippine provinces, Philippine cities and Philippine municipalities. Separate elections for barangay officials were held on October.
An autonomous region of the Philippines is a first-level administrative division that has the authority to control a region's culture and economy. The Constitution of the Philippines allows for two autonomous regions: in the Cordilleras and in Muslim Mindanao. Currently, Bangsamoro, which largely consists of the Muslim-majority areas of Mindanao, is the only autonomous region in the country.
The 2016 general election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was held on May 9, 2016. This was the second ARMM election that was synchronized with the general elections in the Philippines.
The 2019 Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite was a two-part plebiscite held in Mindanao, Philippines, that ratified the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as well as the scope of the said region.
The transition period of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) into the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) began when the Bangsamoro Organic Law was ratified in a two-part plebiscite held in January and February 2019. It is set to end after the first set of regular officials are elected in 2025.
Referendums in the Philippines are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Referendums can either by national or local in scope. In the Philippines, "referendums" and "plebiscites" mean different things.
