The 2025 Philippine House of Representatives elections will be the 37th lower house elections in the Philippines, scheduled to be held on May 12, 2025, within the 2025 Philippine general election. All 317 seats in the House of Representatives will be contested in the election, including one seat for each of the 254 congressional districts in the country and 63 seats representing party-lists apportioned on a nationwide vote.
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All 317 seats to the House of Representatives of the Philippines 159 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||
All 254 seats from congressional districts | |||||||||||||||||||||
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All 63 seats under the party-list system | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
editIn the 2022 election, parties aligned with the UniTeam Alliance and eventual president Bongbong Marcos secured a supermajority of seats in the House of Representatives of the Philippines.[1] Political observers noted that among those elected to the chamber, most came from "wealthy and influential families", which was associated with the vote-buying incidents observed in the election.[2]
Upon the opening of the 19th Congress of the Philippines, Representative Martin Romualdez of Leyte's 1st district, a cousin of President Marcos, was elected as the speaker of the House of Representatives unopposed.[3][4] Media outlets have noted that a number of positions in the house leadership were assigned to representatives related to the Marcos family, including senior deputy majority leader Sandro Marcos, the son of President Marcos, and chair of the accounts committee Yedda Marie Romualdez, the wife of Speaker Romualdez.[5][6]
Electoral system
editThe Philippines uses parallel voting for its lower house elections. For this election, there are 317 seats in the House of Representatives; 254 of these are district representatives, and 63 are party-list representatives.[7]
Philippine law mandates that there should be one party-list representative for every four district representatives. District representatives are elected under the first-past-the-post system from single-member districts. Party-list representatives are elected via the nationwide vote with a 2% election threshold, with a party winning not more than three seats.[8] The party with the most votes usually wins three seats, then the other parties with more than 2% of the vote two seats. At this point, if all of the party-list seats are not filled up, the parties with less than 2% of the vote will win one seat each until all party-list seats are filled up.[9] The electoral system, with the 2% threshold and the three-seat cap, encourage vote splitting; and encourage sectors to up separate party-lists for every sector so as not to waste their vote on just one party.[10]
Political parties competing in the party-list election are barred from participating district elections, and vice versa, unless permitted by the Commission on Elections. Party-lists and political parties participating in the district elections may forge coalition deals with one another.
Redistricting
editIn the Philippines, Congress has the power to create new congressional districts. Congress can either redistrict the entire country within three years after each Philippine census, or create new districts from existing ones piecemeal, although Congress has never redistricted the entire country wholesale since the approval of the 1987 constitution. Congress usually creates a new district once a place reaches the minimum 250,000 population mandated by the constitution.[11]
New districts can also be created by creating new provinces and cities; in this case, it also must be approved by the people in a plebiscite in the affected places.
Changes from the 18th (previous) Congress
editThese are the districts, not contested in 2022, created by the 18th Congress that were either signed by then-President Rodrigo Duterte or approved by lapse:
- Dividing Maguindanao to Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur:
- The municipalities included in Maguindanao's 1st congressional district and Talitay (formerly Sultan Sumagka, part of the 2nd district) were included in the at-large district of the newly created province of Maguindanao del Norte.[12]
- The rest of the municipalities included in Maguindanao's 2nd congressional district was included in the at-large district of the newly created province of Maguindanao del Sur.[12]
- Enacted as Republic Act No. 11550[13]
- Took effect following the 2022 Maguindanao division plebiscite[14]
- Reapportioning Agusan del Norte's 1st and 2nd districts:
- Agusan del Norte's 2nd district and Las Nieves (part of the 1st district) were grouped into the recreated Agusan del Norte's at-large district.
- Butuan (part of the 1st district) became its own congressional district
- Enacted as Republic Act No. 11714.[15]
- Dividing South Cotabato's 2nd district to 2 districts:
- Koronadal and its bordering municipalities shall remain as South Cotabato's 2nd district, while the westernmost municipalities shall become the third district.
- General Santos, the old 3rd district, became its own congressional district
- Enacted as Republic Act No. 11804.[16]
Changes from the 19th Congress
edit- Reapportioning Taguig/Pateros's 1st and 2nd districts, and Makati's 2nd congressional district
- The three barangays remaining in Makati's jurisdiction after the Supreme Court awarded Taguig the 10 EMBO barangays after winning the Fort Bonifacio boundary dispute shall be retained as Makati's 2nd district.[17]
- The EMBO barangays now under the jurisdiction of Taguig were originally not allocated to any congressional district by the COMELEC.[18]
- The COMELEC later adopted a resolution by the Taguig City Council reapportioning the EMBO barangays to its 2 districts with Pateros, with the barangays solely bordering Pateros (Comembo, Pembo and Rizal) going to the 1st district, then the other seven barangays going to the 2nd district.[19] [20]
- No redistricting laws were passed by the 19th Congress.
On June 21, 2024, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) confirmed that there will be 254 congressional districts to be contested in the election and 63 seats apportioned among the party-lists.[7]
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Congressional districts in the current Congress | 253 |
| New districts from redistricting laws from previous Congress | 1 |
| Congressional districts in the next Congress | 254 |
| Party-list seats for the next Congress | 63 |
| Total seats for the next Congress | 317 |
Participating parties
editIn both chambers of Congress, members are organized into "blocs", akin to parliamentary groups elsewhere. In keeping with the traditions of the Third Philippine Republic which was under a two-party system, there are two main blocs, the majority and minority blocs; this is although the country is now in a multi-party system. Those who voted for the winning speaker are from the majority bloc, while those who did not (if there are more than two candidates for the speakership) will vote amongst themselves on who will be the minority bloc. Those who belong to neither bloc shall be the independent minority bloc. Members can also be from the independent bloc. Each bloc can have members from multiple parties. Only the majority and minority blocs have voting privileges in committees.
In the 19th Congress, the majority bloc is aligned with the administration of President Marcos.[1]
In congressional districts
edit| Party | 2022 results | Seats before the election | Bloc membership | Political affiliation | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Seat(s) won | Seats | Change | Majority | Minority | 2022 | 2025 | |||||
| Lakas | 26 / 316
|
92 / 317
|
 66
|
All | None | UniTeam | Bagong PIlipinas | |||||
| NUP | 33 / 316
|
36 / 317
|
3
|
Most | Some | n/a | Bagong PIlipinas | |||||
| Nacionalista | 36 / 316
|
32 / 317
|
 4
|
Most | Some | n/a | Bagong PIlipinas | |||||
| NPC | 35 / 316
|
33 / 317
|
2
|
All | None | Reporma–NPC | Bagong PIlipinas | |||||
| PFP | 2 / 316
|
10 / 317
|
8
|
All | None | UniTeam | Bagong PIlipinas | |||||
| Liberal | 10 / 316
|
10 / 317
|
|
Most | Some | TRoPa | TBA | |||||
| Others | 76 / 316
|
40 / 317
|
36
|
Most | Some | — | ||||||
| Local parties | 29 / 316
|
8 / 317
|
21
|
Most | Some | — | ||||||
| Independents | 6 / 316
|
1 / 317
|
2
|
All | None | — | ||||||
| Vacant | — | 5 / 317
|
5
|
— | ||||||||
| Total | 100% | 253 / 316 | 253 / 317 | |||||||||
In party lists
edit| Party list | Seats before the election | Bloc membership | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Majority | Minority | |||
| Party-list | 60 / 317
|
Most | Some | |
| Makabayan | 3 / 317
|
None | All | |
| Total | 63 / 317 | |||
Retiring and term-limited incumbents
editEach representative is limited to three full consecutive terms in office, with voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term for which he was elected.
Term-limited
edit48 representatives have been elected three consecutive times in regular elections and are barred from seeking another term in 2025.
Marginal seats
editElections in congressional districts
editThese are the marginal seats that had a winning margin of 5% or less in the 2022 elections, in ascending order via margin:
| District | 2022 winner | 2022 margin |
|---|---|---|
| Laguna's 4th | Jam Agarao | 0.07% |
| Zamboanga del Norte's 1st | Pinpin Uy | 0.33% |
| Zamboanga Sibugay's 2nd | Antonieta Eudela | 0.82% |
| Quezon City's 4th | Marvin Rillo | 1.18% |
| Manila's 5th | Irwin Tieng | 1.98% |
| Negros Oriental's 3rd | Arnolfo Teves Jr.[a] | 2.03% |
| Batangas's 2nd | Gerville Luistro | 2.18% |
| Bulacan's 6th | Salvador Pleyto | 2.26% |
| Tawi-Tawi's lone | Dimszar Sali | 2.87% |
| Quezon City's 3rd | Franz Pumaren | 3.27% |
| Calamba's lone | Cha Hernandez | 3.38% |
| Camarines Norte's 1st | Josefina Tallado | 3.38% |
| Agusan del Norte's 1st | Lawrence Fortun | 3,91% |
| Iligan's lone | Celso Regencia | 3.54% |
| Sorsogon's 2nd | Manuel Fortes Jr. | 3.94% |
| Misamis Oriental's 2nd | Yevgeny Emano | 4.02% |
| Cebu's 2nd | Edsel Galeos | 4.33% |
| Cavite's 1st | Jolo Revilla | 4.62% |
| Pangasinan's 2nd | Mark Cojuangco | 4.98% |
Party-list election
editThe following party-lists won less than 2% of the vote in 2022, and only won one seat each because all of party-list seats have not been filled up by the parties that did win at least 2% of the vote. These are sorted by number of votes in descending order.
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Less than 2% of the vote, but greater than or equal to 1%:
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Less than 1% of the vote:
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Notes
edit- ^ Expelled on August 16, 2023.[21]
- ^ Prevented from assuming seat on June 29, 2022 through a temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court.
References
edit- ^ a b Gomez, Jim (May 13, 2022). "Allies of Marcos Jr. set to dominate Philippine Congress". AP News. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ Palatino, Mong (May 23, 2022). "Political Dynasties Dominate Philippines Election — Again". The Diplomat. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ Gregorio, Xave. "Marcos cousin Martin Romualdez is new House speaker". Philstar.com. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ Cupin, Bea (August 4, 2022). "Who's who: House leaders of the 19th Congress – and their roles". RAPPLER. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ Cepeda, Mara (July 29, 2022). "Marcos tightens grip on Congress with 'supermajority' blocs in Senate and House". RAPPLER. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ Porcalla, Delon. "Marcos son elected senior deputy majority leader". Philstar.com. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ a b Villanueva, Rhodina (June 22, 2024). "18,271 posts up for grabs in 2025 polls". Philstar.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
There are also 63 available seats for party-list representatives and 254 for congressional district representatives.
- ^ "IPU PARLINE database: PHILIPPINES (Kapulungan Ng Mga Kinatawan), Electoral system". archive.ipu.org. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ Delizo, Michael Joe (May 21, 2019). "EXPLAINER: The math behind the party-list system". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ "The party-list system in the Philippines: Is it better or worse for democracy?". Asia Dialogue. July 4, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
- ^ Tiongson-Mayrina, Karen; Barrientos-Vallarta, Brenda. "Is 'piecemeal' redistricting a questionable process?". GMA News Online. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ a b "House Members". House of Representatives of the Philippines. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- ^ "Duterte approves splitting Maguindanao into 2 provinces". RAPPLER. May 27, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
- ^ Jaymalin, Mayen; Ramirez, Robertzon (September 19, 2022). "Maguindanao now split into 2 provinces". Philstar.com. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ "PRRD inks law creating lone district of Butuan". Philippine News Agency. May 4, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
- ^ "Eleksyon sa 3rd district ng So.Cot, tuloy sa 2025". Brigada (in Filipino). May 28, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
- ^ Panti, Llanesca T. (June 28, 2024). "Comelec: Makati's 2nd district intact despite losing 10 EMBO barangays". GMA News Online. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
- ^ "Comelec: 10 Taguig barangays can't vote for House representative in 2025 elections". Philstar.com. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
- ^ Leon, Dwight de (September 27, 2024). "Comelec allows EMBO residents in Taguig to vote for congressman in 2025". RAPPLER. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
- ^ Cabato, Luisa (June 25, 2024). "Comelec: Embo barangay residents can vote in 2025 polls". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ "In historic first, House expels congressman Arnie Teves". Rappler. August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.