| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Kongreso / Congress |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Kapulungan Ng Mga Kinatawan / House of Representatives |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Senado / Senate
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
14 May 2007 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Representatives on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
The 2007 elections followed attempts by opposition members to impeach President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in July 2005 and in June 2006. Both attempts
concerning allegations of fraud and vote rigging in the 2004 presidential elections
were subsequently dismissed.
President Arroyo was sworn in in January 2001
replacing former president Joseph Estrada
who had been ousted by street protests against corruption. She implemented economic policies in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
cutting public spending and increasing the value-added tax (VAT). Under her presidency
the country achieved economic growth reaching seven per cent in 2007. However
price increases and unemployment reportedly frustrated the country's poor.
In December 2006
the country was divided over constitutional amendments that proposed to abolish the current US-style presidential system and introduce a parliamentary system. A draft constitution which provided for a unicameral parliament was severely criticized by the Senate. The House of Representatives subsequently agreed to "temporarily withdraw" the proposed constitutional amendments in order to "put an end to the historic divide" between the two chambers.
In the 2007 parliamentary elections
supporters of President Arroyo formed a coalition called TEAM Unity (Together Everyone Achieves More) that included the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr. José de Venecia Jr. It criticized the impeachment moves of the past years
arguing they had destabilized the country and hampered the reforms started by President Arroyo.
The main opposition parties formed an electoral coalition called the "Genuine Opposition (GO)"
which included three current or former Senate Presidents. The GO pledged to fight corruption and to alleviate poverty.
In the elections to the House of Representatives
turnout was estimated at 70 percent of the 45 million registered voters. Of 8 million citizens working abroad
only 504
122 registered to vote. In the elections to renew half the seats in the Senate
approximately 68 per cent of the 43 million registered voters cast their ballot.
The elections were marred by violence. According to the National Police
a total of 121 people were killed during the 2007 election period (from 14 January to 13 June)
including 37 politicians. Due to irregularities
elections were repeated for one senatorial seat in Mindanao.
As in previous years
the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) did not publish final election results for the House of Representatives. It was reported that the pro-presidential TEAM Unity coalition secured nearly 170 seats while the opposition GO won just over 40 seats. The remaining seats were distributed through a proportional representation system to party-list nominees proposed by indigenous groups. Most nominees subsequently joined TEAM Unity
giving it around 190 seats in the 240-member House of Representatives. Only four pro-presidential candidates were elected to the Senate
where the GO coalition took an overall majority.
The newly-elected House of Representatives and the Senate were convened on 23 July. The House re-elected Mr. Venecia of the majority coalition as its Speaker for a fifth consecutive term
making him the longest-serving Speaker in the country's post-war history. The Senate re-elected Mr. Manny Villar (Nationalist Party) as its President.
On 5 February 2008
Mr. de Venecia lost his position as speaker in a vote of 174 against 35
with 16 abstentions. Mr. Prospero Nograles Jr. of Davao City was elected as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives.
*The Commission on Elections did not publish the election results for the House of Representatives. The statistics below have been calculated on the basis of information available from the website of the House of Representatives.
The Composition of the House of Representatives
TEAM Unity (168 seats)
Kampi and its allies 46
LDP 3
Lankas-CMD and its allies 89
NPC and its allies 28
PSDP 2
Party nominees: 25 (most of them subsequently joined the TEAM Unity)
Genuine Opposition (GO) 44
UNO and its allies 5
LP and its allies 23
NP and its allies 9
PMP and its allies 4
PDP - LABAN 3
Others: 3 |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 14 May 2007 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
45'000'000
70%
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
191
49
20.42%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
| Source: House of Representatives (13.11.2007
01.01.2008
17.11.2009
01.01.2010) |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
