House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal

House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal
Established	1987
Location	Quezon City
Composition method	Designation of the Chief Justice (3 members) Nomination by the House of Representatives (6 members)
Authorized by	Constitution of the Philippines
Appeals to	Supreme Court of the Philippines
Number of positions	9
Website	Official website
Chairman
Currently	Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa

The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) is an electoral tribunal that decides election protests in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It consists of six representatives and three justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, who are designated by the Chief Justice. The equivalent tribunals for elections to the upper house is the Senate Electoral Tribunal and for president is the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. The tribunal is located at SET-HRET Building, Commission on Audit Compound, Quezon City.

Members of the Tribunal receive a monthly allowance of 100,000 Philippine pesos on top of their regular salaries. ^[1]

In August 2020, the tribunal abandoned its old building in Quezon City when the city's Department of Building Official condemned it. ^[2]

History

In the 1935 constitution, the HRET had 9 members, 3 of which were justices of the Supreme Court designated by the Chief Justice, three designated by the largest political party, and another three from the second largest party.

In the 1987 constitution, the HRET still had 9 members, 3 were still justices of the Supreme Court designated by the Chief Justice, but the six members from the House were now "shall be chosen on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and the parties or organizations registered under the party-list system represented therein".

Current members

The chairman is always the third most senior associate justice of the Supreme Court that's sitting on the tribunal.

The three members from the Supreme Court are designated by the chief justice. While there's no regular occurrence on when a chief justice designates members, this is almost certainly done when there is a new justice of the Supreme Court.

The six members from the House of Representatives are named in a resolution of the House. This always happens at the organization of the chamber at the start of every new Congress.

These are the members in the 19th Congress, which first convened on July 22, 2022.

19th Congress (July 25, 2022 – June 30, 2025) ^[3]

Members	Party		District	Membership
Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa		Nonpartisan	—	Supreme Court associate justice (chairman)
Amy Lazaro-Javier [lower-alpha 1]		Nonpartisan	—	Supreme Court associate justice
Rodil Zalameda		Nonpartisan	—	Supreme Court associate justice
Vincent Garcia		Lakas	Davao City–2nd	Representative from the majority
Pablo John Garcia		NUP	Cebu–3rd	Representative from the majority
Maria Theresa Collantes		NPC	Batangas–3rd	Representative from the majority
Nelson Dayanghirang		Nacionalista	Davao Oriental–1st	Representative from the majority
Linabelle Ruth Villarica		PDP–Laban	Bulacan–4th	Representative from the majority
Robert Raymond Estrella		Abono	Party-list	Representative from the majority

1. Designated by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on April 13, 2021. ^[4]

Successful protests

• 1998 election:
  • Amelita Villarosa (Occidental Mindoro): disqualified in 2000, replaced by Ricardo Quintos. ^[5]
• 2001 election:
  • Henry Lanot (Pasig): disqualified in 2004, replaced by Noel Cariño
  • Mark Jimenez (Manila): disqualified in 2003, not replaced ^{[6] [7]}
• 2004 election:
  • Anuar Abubakar (Tawi-Tawi): disqualified in 2006, replaced by Nur Jaafar
• 2007 election:
  • Danilo Fernandez (Laguna-1st): disqualified in 2009, reversed by the Supreme Court in 2010. ^{[8] [9]}
  • Alvin Sandoval (Malabon/Navotas): disqualified in 2009, replaced by Josephine Lacson-Noel
  • Henry Dueñas (Taguig-2nd): disqualified in 2010, replaced by Angelito Reyes ^[10]
• 2013 election:
  • Harlin Abayon (Northern Samar): replaced by Raul Daza, reversed by the Supreme Court in 2016. ^[11]
  • Philip Pichay (Surigao del Sur-1st): ousted in 2016, replaced by Mary Elizabeth Delgado-Ty
  • Regina Reyes Mandanas (Marinduque): disqualified in 2016, replaced by Lord Allan Jay Velasco
• 2016
  • None
• 2019
  • None

References

1. Diaz, Jess (August 8, 2014). "Reduction in Senate electoral tribunal's funding sought". The Philippine Star. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
2. "Building housing HRET offices declared 'dangerous and ruinous'". Manila Bulletin. 2020-08-21. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
3. "Key posts filled as House forms CA, HRET contingents". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
4. "SC members in SET, HRET named by CJ Gesmundo". Manila Bulletin. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
5. "MA. AMELITA C. VILLAROSA, PETITIONER, VS. THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL AND RICARDO V. QUINTOS, RESPONDENTS". Senate Electoral Tribunal . 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
6. "Jimenez disqualified as congressman". Gulf News . 2003-03-07. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
7. "MJ appeals disqualification from House seat". Philstar News . 2003-03-19. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
8. "Laguna solon loses HRET appeal". ABS-CBN News . 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
9. "G. R. No. 187478". Supreme Court of the Philippines . 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
10. "G. R. No. 185401". Supreme Court of the Philippines . 2009-07-21. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
11. "G. R. No. 222236" (PDF). Supreme Court of the Philippines . 2016-05-03. Retrieved 2016-05-31.