2019 Philippine Senate election

As the 2016 Senate election was held concurrently with the presidential election, most of the presidential candidates also put up their respective senatorial slates. These slates shared several candidates, although most of the shared candidates only campaigned with one slate. The presidential election was won by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban), while the vice presidency was won by the Liberal Party's Leni Robredo, the representative from Camarines Sur.[3] Senator Bongbong Marcos disputed Robredo's victory, and his electoral protest was pending before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal at that time.[4]

Koko Pimentel, Duterte's party-mate, was elected as president of the Senate in July 2016 by a large majority, while a handful of Liberal Party senators comprised the minority; they were later joined by other Liberal Party members who had earlier voted for Pimentel, forming a six-person minority bloc in the Senate.[5]

Pimentel resigned from the Senate presidency on May 21, 2018. He was replaced by Tito Sotto of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), who was elected by majority of the senators.[6]

Senator Koko Pimentel, the leader of PDP–Laban and the Coalition for Change

In October 2017, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) was only considering to form a coalition with the Nacionalista Party for the 2019 senatorial elections.[7]

In November 2017, PDP–Laban reportedly released a "partial list" of their senatorial slate for the 2019 edition consisting of six people. The party's president Koko Pimentel clarified that the list was not finalized and remarked that there was "no party decision yet". In January 2018, the House Speaker announced that the 6 candidates were now official.[8] In February 2018, two more names were added to PDP–Laban's potential slate.[9]

Pimentel announced a shortlist of 20 names in April 2018. It included himself and the five other senators that were members of the majority bloc, several administration officials, representatives, and private citizens. Pimentel said that his list was not approved by Alvarez when he released it.[10]

By August 2018, Pimentel wrote to Duterte of their party's prospective candidates for the Senate. Pimentel divided the names into three groups: members of PDP–Laban, outsiders, and the incumbent senators of the majority bloc. Pimentel said that Duterte's decision would be final in the composition of their slate.[11]

In March 2018, a supposed Liberal Party slate was circulated on social media. The list of candidates included Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Sen. Bam Aquino, former senators Teofisto Guingona III and Ramon Magsaysay Jr., former Pampanga governor Eddie Panlilio, former representative from Quezon Lorenzo Tañada III, representative from Albay Edcel Lagman, representative from Northern Samar Raul Daza, Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano, Representatives Jose Christopher Belmonte from Quezon City and Kaka Bag-ao from Dinagat Islands, and Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña.[12] However, on April 2, Magsaysay said that he had no plans of returning to the Senate.[13] Lagman, Daza, and Belmonte all denied that they were running for senator. Alejano, meanwhile, neither confirmed nor denied his plans.[14] After multiple candidates denied interest in running, Senator Francis Pangilinan denied that this slate was an accurate list of Liberal Party candidates, as the official list had yet to be finalized.[12]

In April, Antonio Trillanes said that his Samahang Magdalo was cooperating with the Liberal Party, Akbayan and Tindig Pilipinas to put up an opposition coalition against the pro-Duterte parties.[15] On April 24, Liberal Party and other groups urged Mar Roxas to run.[16] By mid-May, the Liberal Party had settled on several names; however, Roxas himself declined to run. The Liberals intend to form a coalition with anti-Duterte groups, with the slate being named as "the Resistance".[17] In June, Alejano announced his intention to run.[18]

Leni Robredo announced that she accepted the role of opposition leader in the election, and they released the line-up by mid-September. The line up may include former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was removed from office by a quo warranto petition.[19] By August, Roxas, in an interview at Robredo's radio show said that he was unsure of his plans in 2019.[20] In early September, a list of 18 possible candidates was publicized by the coalition. The list included incumbent senator Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV, Magdalo representative Gary Alejano, former Department of Interior and Local Government secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II, former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, former Quezon representative Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada III, lawyer Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno, former Bangsamoro Transition Committee member Samira Gutoc, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, former Akbayan representative Ibarra "Barry" Gutierrez III, actor Dingdong Dantes, former presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, writer Manuel Luis "Manolo" Quezon III, activist Leah Navarro, actress Agot Isidro, musician Jim Paredes, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, former Social Welfare secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman, and ex-chief justice Hilario Davide Jr.[21]

By October 2018, before the 2019 general elections, the Liberal Party formed the Otso Diretso (transl. Straight Eight), an electoral coalition led by the party that also comprises members of the Magdalo Party-List, Akbayan Citizens Action Party, and Akyson Demokratiko along with independent candidates.[22] The coalition hopes to drive a new political culture based on political leaders practicing "makiking, matuto, kumilos" (listen, learn, take action), each candidate emphasizing the need for government to listen to its citizens.[23] As part of the Liberal Party's efforts to instill this new political culture, it launched Project Makining in October 2018, a modern, nationwide listening campaign driven by volunteers. It aimed to find out what have been important to Filipinos, the basis for the messaging, strategy, and platform of the coalition.[24]

Senate President Tito Sotto (NPC), HNP coalition leader in the Senate

By June 2017, Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), erstwhile chairman emeritus Danding Cojuangco returned as chairman, in an active leadership role. Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto said Cojuangco was reportedly unsatisfied with how the party was being run, as leadership cannot agree on what direction to take.[25]

The party has considered all of the eligible incumbents from the majority bloc to run in its slate as "Friends of the party". Sotto also said that Bam Aquino, the only non-term limited incumbent from the minority bloc, was also invited to run in their slate. Aquino is the nephew of NPC founder Cojuangco who Sotto said would personally help Aquino in the latter's campaign.[26] Sotto announced in July 2018 that Senator JV Ejercito and former senator Lito Lapid would run under the NPC banner. Ejercito said this was to avoid his running together with his half-brother Jinggoy Estrada, under the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino. Lapid was formerly from the-then moribund Lakas–CMD.[27]

De facto First Lady and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, the leader of the HNP Party

Hugpong ng Pagbabago, Davao City mayor Sara Duterte's regional political party in the Davao Region formed in mid-2018, reportedly had national parties it wanted to forge alliances with.[28] By August, the Hugpong had established alliances with the Nacionalista Party, Nationalist People's Coalition, the National Unity Party, and six other local parties.[29] In August, incumbent senator Cynthia Villar announced that she would seek reelection. The coalition also supported the candidacies of Governor Imee Marcos and Representative Pia Cayetano.[30]

A new political party called the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (Federal Party of the Philippines) was launched[31] and accredited by the Commission on Election on October 8, 2018.[32] It elected Land Bank of the Philippines director Jesus Hinlo as president.[33] On October 17, 2018, the party nominated three senatorial candidates for the 2019 midterm elections, namely Maria Socorro Manahan, Elmer Francisco, and Diosdado Padilla.[34]

A new political party, led by Consultative Committee on Constitutional Amendments member Ding Generoso fielded nine candidates in this mid-term election.

Alan Peter Cayetano, who was on his second consecutive term, resigned from the Senate in order to become Secretary of Foreign Affairs on May 18, 2017. It left one vacant seat and since it was vacated less than three years before Cayetano's term would have expired, no special election was held to fill the seat. Cayetano resigned as foreign affairs secretary on October 17, 2018, and filed his candidacy as House representative from Pateros and Taguig's 1st district.[46] Cayetano eventually won the election,[47] and was later elected House Speaker.[48] Cayetano ran for senator in 2022 and won.

This list includes all individuals named by at least 10% of respondents in any of the nine conducted surveys. The top 16 candidates with the highest favourability in each poll are listed below, where the top 12 is marked with a "black line". For a comprehensive list of all individuals included in the surveys, see the main article.

• Parties (excluding independents) with the plurality of seats in boldface.
• Parties (excluding independents) with the majority of seats are shaded by the party color.

• Totals may not add up to 12 due to margin of error.

Totals may not add up to 24 due to margin of error.

Notes:

• Incumbent Senator Ralph Recto was denoted as a Liberal Party member up to September 21, 2018, after which he became a Nacionalista Party member.[62]
• Incumbent Senator JV Ejercito was denoted as a PMP member up to October 10, 2018, after which he became an NPC member.[63]

One of President Rodrigo Duterte's promises during the 2016 election campaign was to revise the current constitution and to shift the country from a unitary form to a federal form. On September 29, 2017, PDP–Laban presented a draft constitution to Congress.[74]

The House of Representatives, through Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez began its own hearings on constitutional change without the participation of the Senate. Alvarez took a hard line on the interpretation that voting via the Constituent Assembly would be joint, instead of the two chambers voting separately, as is the usual. A joint vote would've rendered the Senate's votes as virtually meaningless, as the representatives outnumbered them by almost 300–23. Senators maintained that voting must be done separately. Senator Grace Poe moved that all moves to make the Senate irrelevant in the proposed constitution be rejected by the Senate, and supported Panfilo Lacson's suggestion that any vote be separate.[75]

First-placer per province in the Philippines during the Senate election 2019

Winning candidates were proclaimed on May 22. Nine candidates in the Hugpong ng Pagbabago slate won. None of the Otso Diretso candidates won, while three won who were not from either slate.

Five incumbents won reelection: Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Sonny Angara, Koko Pimentel and Nancy Binay.

Four neophytes won election: Bong Go, Ronald dela Rosa, Imee Marcos and Francis Tolentino. Go and dela Rosa won their first elections.

Three former senators were elected back to the Senate: Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid and Bong Revilla.

Four former senators, Jinggoy Estrada, Mar Roxas, Serge Osmeña, and Juan Ponce Enrile, lost in their bids to reenter the Senate.

Incumbents JV Ejercito and Bam Aquino did not successfully defend their seats.

• The seats won totals does not account for guest candidates.