Philippine Election 2013

The 2013 Philippine general election on 13 May 2013 will be a midterm election, as the officials elected will assume office on 30 June 2013, or midway intoPresident Benigno Aquino III's term of office.

There will be elected twelve senators, 229 district members of the House of Representatives, 80 provincial governors, 80 provincial vice governors, 766 members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial legislature), 138 city mayors, 138 city vice mayors, 1,532 members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (city council), 1,496municipal mayors, 1,496 municipal vice mayors, and 11,972 members of the Sangguniang Bayan (municipal council). In the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), there will be elected one regional governor, one regional vice governor, and 24 regional assemblymen.^[1] Party-list representatives will also be elected. In total, there will be 18,022 national and local positions decided.^[1]

Barangay officials, including barangay captains, will not be elected in May. The 2013 Philippine barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections are scheduled to be held in October 2013.The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) ended the year-long registration of new voters and voters transferring residences nationwide, apart from the general registration of voters in theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on October 31, 2012. Due the commission not allowing an extension of registration, COMELEC offices nationwide were swamped with people on the last day of registration, although the process was mostly peaceful.^[2]

The COMELEC held a week-long separate registration for prospective candidates starting from October 1. The commission is expected to release a final list of candidates by October 6. Candidates running for the Senate should file certificates of candidacies at the commission's main office at Intramuros, while those running for the other positions should file at their local COMELEC offices.^[3]

The commission completed the cleansing of the voters list in the ARMM, rejecting 236,489 names. Most were either double registrants or were too young to vote.^[4]

On January 13, the election period began. This allowed the commission to impose prohibitions on 24 activities, including a nationwide ban on guns and other deadly weapons on that day.^[5]

The commission released regulations on online campaigning on January 16. The COMELEC resolution stipulated that online propaganda can only be published on a website thrice a week, and allows advertisements in the form of pop-ups, banners and the like. Campaigning via social websites such as Twitter and Facebook would not be regulated. This is the first election the commission has regulated online campaigning.^[6] The commission dramatically reduced the amount of airtime candidates and parties can use during the campaign period. Previously, the commission imposed a 120-minute airtime limit on every TV station and 180 minutes on radio stations; for 2013, the commission capped the cumulative airtime to 120 minutes on TV and 180 minutes on radio for all networks. This was a reversion on the 2004, 2007 and 2010 elections, and returned to the original 2001 limit. The Fair Elections Act was not clear on whether the 120 minutes for TV and 180 minutes for radio were for every station or for all stations.^[7]

The commission, in a cost-saving measure, announced on January 18 that they ruled to use plastic seals with serial numbers instead of padlocks in securing ballot boxes. Chairman Sixto Brillantes remarked that padlocks are bulky and expensive, as compared to plastic seals cannot be tampered with and are cheaper. The commission expects to save more than 50% if plastic seals will be used; plastic seals would cost the commission P14 million, while padlocks would have cost them P34.2 million. The commission also announced that voters would no longer place their thumbprints on the ballot; instead signatures would be used.^[8]

The commission also removed 238,557 overseas absentee voters from the voters' list after failing to manifest their intention to vote. Out of about 915,000 overseas voters, more than 200,000 had not voted in two preceding elections and were sent notices; only 29 replied and were not removed from the voters' list.^[9]

On January 23, the commission announced that it will be regulating the use of political colors, logos and insignias during the campaign. It shall monitor television personalities on whether they are being paid to wear colors that are connected to certain candidates.^[10] The commission also imposed a right of reply provision, that would give equal time and space for charges against candidates. This was also the first time the commission imposed the rule; the rule has been heavily opposed by the press, but Commission Rene Sarmiento said the rule balances the freedom of expression and public interest.^[11]