2007 Philippine Senate election

The 2007 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 29th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 10, 2007 to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. Together with those elected in 2004, they will comprise the 14th Congress via plurality-at-large voting. The senators elected in 2004 will serve until June 30, 2010, while the senators elected in this election will serve up to June 30, 2013. The elections to the House of Representatives as well as local elections occurred on the same date. The Philippines uses plurality-at-large voting for seats in the Senate.

2007 Philippine Senate election

May 14, 2007
12 (of the 24) seats in the Senate of the Philippines 13 seats needed for a majority
Leader Francis Pangilinan Manuel Villar Juan Miguel Zubiri Party Liberal Nacionalista Lakas Alliance GO GO TEAM Unity Leader's seat Nationwide at-large Nationwide at-large Nationwide at-large Last election 2 seats, 11.8% Did not participate 4 seats, 31.7% Seats before 4 2 6 Seats won 2 2 1 Seats after 4 3 4 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 28,843,415 27,125,724 59,973,862 Percentage 10.7% 10.1% 22.3% Swing 1.1% 10.1% 5.1%   Leader Juan Ponce Enrile Edgardo Angara Party PMP LDP Alliance GO TEAM Unity Leader's seat Nationwide at-large Nationwide at-large Last election 2 seats, 12.0% 1 seat, 5.2% Seats before 4 2 Seats won 0 1 Seats after 2 2 Seat change 2 Popular vote Did not participate 12,657,538 Percentage 0.0% 4.7% Swing 12.0% 0.5%
Senate President before election Manuel Villar Nacionalista Elected Senate President Manuel Villar Nacionalista

In the election, the opposition-backed alliance called the Genuine Opposition (GO) defeated the administration-led alliance TEAM Unity by winning seven of the twelve seats in the Senate. For the first time in Philippine history, Antonio Trillanes was elected as a senator while currently detained for mutiny and rebellion charges. Almost the incumbents running for reelection won except for Ralph Recto who was at fourteenth place.

Official candidates

On March 19, 2007 COMELEC released Resolution No.7832 which finalized and approved the official candidates for the senatorial election. On March 29, 2007 COMELEC certified 37 Senatorial Candidates:[1]

Background

COMELEC issues

The Old COMELEC Building after being razed by fire on March 11, 2007.

On March 11, 2007 the Old COMELEC Building in Intramuros, Manila was burned by a blazing fire ruining several ballot boxes and pending election protests. The Genuine Opposition considered the fire as political act which ended in burning of several election protests and contested ballot boxes. Investigators found out that instead of arson, it was the generator of the building which caused and since the building was built with tar and wood it would easily razed by fire. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is facing scrutiny because of the fire that hit its old building on March 11 resulting in speculations of conspiracies to cheat on the May 14 elections . The COMELEC was also lambasted for publishing on the internet the names, addresses and details of registered voters.

The Aquino issue

Three people with the name Aquino filed their candidacies (Benigno Aquino III, Teresa Aquino-Oreta and Theodore Aquino), and there was confusion as to who is credited with a vote if someone wrote only "Aquino" on the ballot. Since Theodore Aquino was disqualified because he had dual citizenship and former Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta has the last name Oreta, COMELEC ruled that all votes with only the name Aquino would go to Tarlac Rep. Benigno Aquino III. All three Aquinos are related to each other.

The Cayetano issue

The matter was the same as the Aquino issue. Representative Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig City-Pateros) found out that a certain Joselito Cayetano belonging to the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) filed his candidacy with the nickname "Peter" which was really "Jojo". Alan therefore filed a disqualification case (SPA 07-019) against Jojo. Jojo was declared a nuisance candidate by the COMELEC resolution on March 27, 2007.

Jojo then filed for a motion for reconsideration which was eventually rejected on May 11, 2007 but COMELEC did not remove his name from the Official List of Senatorial Candidates and ruled on May 12, 2007 that all votes with only the name "CAYETANO" will be stray votes (discarded) and therefore not counted to either the candidates until Supreme Court resolved the matter. The COMELEC said that Jojo could file a motion for reconsideration at the Supreme Court within five days.

Coalitions and party groupings

TEAM Unity

TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) Unity is the administration-backed coalition composed mostly of supporters and erstwhile critics of current Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. TEAM Unity seeks to take several Senate seats in order to ensure the passage of President Arroyo's legislative programs and also to protect her from any impeachment attempts by the political opposition after the midterm elections. Team Unity is composed by different major political parties in the country such as the Lakas – Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), and the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP). The campaign team of TEAM Unity is headed by veteran political strategist Reli German (campaign manager), Tourism Secretary Ace Durano (spokesperson) and Ike Rodriguez (campaign director). TEAM Unity had their proclamation rally at the Cebu Coliseum last February 17, 2007.

Genuine Opposition

Genuine Opposition (GO) is the main opposition-backed coalition of the parties' senatorial line-up for the elections, which is in opposition to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It was originally called the "United Opposition" (UNO), created by opposition stalwart and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay on June 2005 to unite all politicians who wanted to impeach President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. UNO then reorganized itself and changed its name to Grand and Broad Coalition (GBC), with the UNO party under that coalition. On February 15, 2007 the group changed its name again to Genuine Opposition after a meeting with Senate President Manny Villar in his office in Las Piñas City.

Campaign

Candidates made use of different campaign platforms to win. Prospero Pichay Jr., Manuel Villar, Mike Defensor, and Loren Legarda had been very visible in TV ads. Francis Pangilinan preferred to run as an independent and decided not to participate in sorties and campaign of the Genuine Opposition, even though he was initially drafted as a guest candidate. Teresa Aquino-Oreta had raised different reactions in her TV ad campaign asking the people’s forgiveness being the “dancing queen” during the impeachment of deposed President Joseph Estrada. Some candidates like Francis Escudero, Vicente Magsaysay, Francis Pangilinan, Joker Arroyo, Antonio Trillanes and Koko Pimentel made use of the internet by joining networks sites like Friendster; making or updating Wikipedia entries, establishing blogs and websites and airing the commercials on YouTube.

Candidates

Administration coalition TEAM Unity ticket Name Party Edgardo Angara LDP Joker Arroyo KAMPI Mike Defensor Lakas Jamalul Kiram III PDSP Vicente Magsaysay Lakas Cesar Montano Lakas Teresa Aquino-Oreta NPC Prospero Pichay Jr. Lakas Ralph Recto Lakas Chavit Singson Lakas Tito Sotto NPC Juan Miguel Zubiri Lakas

Dominant opposition coalition Genuine Opposition ticket Name Party Benigno Aquino III Liberal Alan Peter Cayetano Nacionalista Nikki Coseteng Independent Francis Escudero NPC Panfilo Lacson UNO Loren Legarda NPC John Henry Osmeña UNO Koko Pimentel PDP–Laban Sonia Roco Aksyon Antonio Trillanes UNO Manuel Villar Nacionalista

Other tickets Ang Kapatiran ticket Name Party Martin Bautista Ang Kapatiran Adrian Sison Ang Kapatiran Zosimo Jesus Paredes II Ang Kapatiran Kilusang Bagong Lipunan ticket Name Party Melchor Chavez KBL Joselito Pepito Cayetano KBL Ruben Enciso KBL Antonio Estrella KBL Oliver Lozano KBL Eduardo Orpilla KBL Victor Wood KBL

Independent Name Party Felix Cantal PGRP Richard Gomez Independent Gregorio Honasan Independent Francis Pangilinan Liberal

Retiring and term-limited incumbents

At this point in time, two Senators are voluntarily retiring from the Senate at the end of their current term. As well four Senators are term-limited by the Constitution of the Philippines after serving two consecutive terms. There was one vacancy left in the outgoing Senate as Noli de Castro (Independent) was elected as Vice-President in 2004.

Lakas-CMD incumbents

• Juan Flavier: Term-limited in 2007.
• Ramon Magsaysay Jr.: Term-limited in 2007.

Liberal Party incumbent

• Franklin Drilon: Term-limited in 2007, return in 2010.

Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino incumbents

• Loi Ejercito: Retiring from the Senate.
• Alfredo Lim: Ran and won for Mayor of Manila.

Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan incumbent

• Sergio Osmeña III: Term-limited in 2007, campaigned for the Genuine Opposition, return in 2010.

Opinion polls

Opinion polling (locally known as "surveys") is carried out by two major polling firms: Social Weather Stations (SWS), and Pulse Asia, with a handful of minor polling firms. A typical poll asks a voter to name twelve persons one would vote for in the senate election.

Winning candidates

Pollster		Pulse Asia[2]	SWS[3]	Pulse Asia[4]	SWS[3]	Pulse Asia[5]	SWS[3]	SWS[3]
Date(s) administered		January 25–28, 2007	February 22–27, 2007	February 26–March 5, 2007	March 15–18, 2007	April 3–5, 2007	April 14–17, 2007	May 2–4, 2007
Sample size		1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200
Margin of error		±3.0%	±3.0%	±3.0%	±3.0%	±3.0%	±3.0%	±3.0%
Candidates (Party; ticket)	1	Legarda (NPC; GO), 46.6%	Pangilinan (LP; Ind), 57%	Legarda (NPC; GO), 56.8%	Legarda (NPC; GO), 58%	Legarda (NPC; GO), 56.8%	Legarda (NPC; GO), 58%	Legarda (NPC; GO), 59%
	2	Lacson (UNO; GO), 34.6%    Pangilinan (LP; Ind), 34.6%	Legarda (NPC; GO), 54%	Lacson (UNO; GO), 41.1%	Villar (NP; GO), 57%	Escudero (NPC; GO), 47.2%	Villar (NP; GO), 45%	Villar (NP; GO), 46%
	3		Villar (NP; GO), 52%	Pangilinan (LP; Ind), 39.4%	Pangilinan (LP; Ind), 48%	Villar (NP; GO), 47.0%	Escudero (NPC; GO), 41%    Lacson (UNO; GO), 41%	Escudero (NPC; GO), 43%
	4	Cayetano (NP; GO), 31.7%	Cayetano (NP; GO), 43%	Escudero (NPC; GO), 35.5%	Lacson (UNO; GO), 42%	Lacson (UNO; GO), 43.9%		Pangilinan (LP; Ind), 41%
	5	Sotto (NPC; TU), 28.8%	Lacson (UNO; GO), 42%	Recto (Lakas; TU), 35.2%	Escudero (NPC; GO), 40%	Pangilinan (LP; Ind), 38.8%	Pangilinan (LP; Ind), 39%	Lacson (UNO; GO), 39%
	6	Villar (NP; GO), 26.4%	Recto (Lakas; TU), 37%	Villar (NP; GO), 35.0%	Cayetano (NP; GO), 39%	Cayetano (NP; GO), 38.2%	Recto (Lakas; TU), 36%	Recto (Lakas; TU), 36%    Aquino (LP; GO), 36%
	7	Recto (Lakas; TU), 26.0%	Escudero (NPC; GO), 36%	Arroyo (KAMPI; TU), 34.5%	Recto (Lakas; TU), 37%	Honasan (Ind; Ind), 35.7%	Angara (LDP; TU), 35%
	8	Arroyo (KAMPI; TU), 25.8%	Sotto (NPC; TU), 31%	Aquino (LP; GO), 34.2%	Angara (LDP; TU), 32%	Aquino (LP; GO), 35.5%	Arroyo (KAMPI; TU), 32%	Cayetano (NP; GO), 34%
	9	Ejercito (PMP; GO), 25.7%	Aquino (LP; GO), 30%    Osmeña (UNO; GO), 30%	Angara (LDP; TU), 32.1%	Honasan (Ind; Ind), 29%	Recto (Lakas; TU), 35.4%	Cayetano (NP; GO), 31%	Honasan (Ind; Ind), 32%    Zubiri (Lakas; TU), 32%
	10	Pimentel (PDP Laban; GO), 24.4%		Cayetano (NP; GO), 30.9%	Aquino (LP; GO), 28%    Arroyo (KAMPI; TU), 28%	Angara (LDP; TU), 35.2%	Sotto (NPC; TU), 30%
	11	Angara (LDP; TU), 24.0%	Arroyo (KAMPI; TU), 29%	Honasan (Ind; Ind), 27.3%		Arroyo (KAMPI; TU), 33.4%	Honasan (Ind; Ind), 28%    Aquino (LP; GO), 28%    Pimentel (PDP Laban; GO), 28%	Arroyo (KAMPI; TU), 31%    Angara (LDP; TU), 35%
	12	Honasan (Ind; Ind), 23.3%	Honasan (Ind; Ind), 28%	Sotto (NPC; TU), 25.4%	Sotto (NPC; TU), 26%    Osmeña (UNO; GO), 26%	Zubiri (Lakas; TU), 32.0%
	13	Escudero (NPC; GO), 23.2%	Pimentel (PDP Laban; GO), 27%    Angara (LDP; TU), 27%	Pimentel (PDP Laban; GO), 23.1%		Pimentel (PDP Laban; GO), 30.1%		Sotto (NPC; TU), 26%
	14	Aquino (LP; GO), 22.5%	Magsaysay (Lakas; TU), 22.4%	Pimentel (PDP Laban; GO), 25%	Sotto (NPC; TU), 29.2%	Zubiri (Lakas; TU), 25%	Pimentel (PDP Laban; GO), 25%
15	Osmeña (UNO; GO), 17.9%	Defensor (Lakas; TU), 21%	Roco (Aksyon; GO), 22.4%	Defensor (Lakas; TU), 21%	Roco (Aksyon; GO), 23%	Roco (Aksyon; GO), 27.1%	Defensor (Lakas; TU), 24%    Trillanes (UNO; GO), 24%
None Refused Undecided		12.2%	14%	10%	10.6%	8.8%	12%	13%

Composition

Candidates who were not make it to the top 12, but were within the margin of error from the 12th-placed candidate, are denoted by figures inside the parenthesis.

Pollster	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Parties										Coalitions
				KAMPI	Lakas	LDP	LP	NP	NPC	PDP Laban	UNO	Ind		GO	Ind	TEAM Unity
SWS[3]	May 2–4, 2007	1,200	±3.0%	1	2	1	2	2	2	1	1	1		6	2	4
SWS[3]	Apr 14–17, 2007	1,200	±3.0%	1	1(+1)	1	2	2	3	1	1	1		6(+1)	2	4(+1)
Pulse Asia[4]	Apr 3–5, 2007	1,200	±3.0%	1	2	1	2	2	3	0(+1)	2	1		7(+1)	2	4
SWS[3]	Mar 15–18, 2007	1,200	±3.0%	1	1	1	2	2	3	0(+1)	1(+1)	1		6(+1)	2	5
Pulse Asia[4]	Feb 26–Mar 5, 2007	1,200	±3.0%	1	1(+1)	1	2	2	3	0(+1)	1	1		6(+2)	2	4(+1)
SWS[3]	Feb 22–27, 2007	1,200	±3.0%	1	1	0(+1)	2	2	3	0(+1)	2	1		6(+1)	2	4(+1)
Pulse Asia[2]	Jan 25–28, 2007	1,200	±3.0%	1	1	1	1(+1)	2	2(+1)	1	1	1		5(+2)	2	4

Results

Per candidate

 Summary of the May 14, 2007 Philippine Senate election results

Rank	Candidate	Coalition	Party		Votes	%
1.	Loren Legarda	Genuine Opposition		NPC	18,501,734	62.7%
2.	Francis Escudero	Genuine Opposition		NPC	18,265,307	61.9%
3.	Panfilo Lacson	Genuine Opposition		UNO	15,509,188	52.6%
4.	Manuel Villar	Genuine Opposition		Nacionalista	15,338,412	52.0%
5.	Francis Pangilinan	Independent		Liberal	14,534,678	49.3%
6.	Benigno Aquino III	Genuine Opposition		Liberal	14,309,349	48.5%
7.	Edgardo Angara	TEAM Unity		LDP	12,657,769	42.9%
8.	Joker Arroyo	TEAM Unity		KAMPI	11,803,107	40.0%
9.	Alan Peter Cayetano	Genuine Opposition		Nacionalista	11,787,679	40.0%
10.	Gregorio Honasan	Independent		Independent	11,605,531	39.3%
11.	Antonio Trillanes	Genuine Opposition		UNO	11,189,671	37.9%
12.	Koko Pimentel	Genuine Opposition		PDP–Laban	10,898,786	37.3%
13.	Juan Miguel Zubiri^1	TEAM Unity		Lakas	10,640,620	37.2%
14.	Ralph Recto	TEAM Unity		Lakas	10,721,252	36.3%
15.	Mike Defensor	TEAM Unity		Lakas	9,938,995	33.7%
16.	Prospero Pichay Jr.	TEAM Unity		Lakas	9,798,622	33.2%
17.	Sonia Roco	Genuine Opposition		Aksyon	8,457,748	28.7%
18.	Cesar Montano	TEAM Unity		Lakas	7,800,451	26.4%
19.	Tito Sotto	TEAM Unity		NPC	7,638,361	25.9%
20.	John Henry Osmeña	Genuine Opposition		UNO	7,267,048	24.6%
21.	Vicente Magsaysay	TEAM Unity		Lakas	6,357,905	21.4%
22.	Nikki Coseteng	Genuine Opposition		Independent	5,274,682	17.9%
23.	Teresa Aquino-Oreta	TEAM Unity		NPC	4,362,065	14.8%
24.	Chavit Singson	TEAM Unity		Lakas	4,353,644	14.8%
25.	Richard Gomez	Independent		Independent	2,725,664	9.2%
26.	Jamalul Kiram III	TEAM Unity		PDSP	2,488,994	8.4%
27.	Melchor Chavez	Not affiliated		KBL	843,702	2.9%
28.	Martin Bautista	Not affiliated		Ang Kapatiran	761,165	2.6%
29.	Zosimo Jesus Paredes II	Not affiliated		Ang Kapatiran	713,817	2.4%
30.	Joselito Pepito Cayetano	Not affiliated		KBL	510,366	1.7%
31.	Adrian Sison	Not affiliated		Ang Kapatiran	402,331	1.4%
32.	Oliver Lozano	Not affiliated		KBL	305,647	1.0%
33.	Antonio Estrella	Not affiliated		KBL	285,488	1.0%
34.	Victor Wood	Not affiliated		KBL	283,036	1.0%
35.	Felix Cantal	Not affiliated		PGRP	123,608	0.4%
36.	Eduardo Orpilla	Not affiliated		KBL	107,532	0.4%
37.	Ruben Enciso	Not affiliated		KBL	100,523	0.3%
Total turnout					29,498,660	65.51%
Total votes					269,108,854	N/A
Registered voters					45,029,443	100.0%
Note: 37 candidates ran for senator.			Source: COMELEC.gov.ph website

^1 replaced by Koko Pimentel as a result of an election protest.

Per coalition

Coalition		Total votes	%	Seats won	%
	GO || 136,883,341 || 50.9% || 8 || 66.7%
	TEAM Unity || 98,923,052 || 36.8% || 2 || 16.7%
	Others	33,302,461	12.4%	2	16.7%
Totals		269,108,854	100.0%	12	100.0%

Per party

Party		Popular vote			Breakdown				Seats
		Total	%	Swing	Entered	Up	Not up	Won	End 13th	14th	%	+/−
	Lakas || 59,973,862 || 22.3% || 9.5% || 7 || 3 || 3 || 1 || 6 || 4 || 16.7% || 2
	NPC || 48,766,327 || 18.1% || 18.1% || 4 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 8.3% || 2
	UNO || 33,965,338 || 12.6% || 12.6% || 3 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 8.3% || 1
	Liberal || 28,843,415 || 10.7% || 1.1% || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 4 || 4 || 16.7% ||
	Nacionalista || 27,125,724 || 10.1% || 10.1% || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 12.5% || 1
	LDP || 12,657,538 || 4.7% || 4.7% || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 8.3% ||
	KAMPI || 11,802,870 || 4.4% || 4.4% || 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 4.2% ||
	PDP–Laban || 10,984,807 || 4.1% || 4.1% || 1 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 4.2% ||
	Aksyon || 8,457,710 || 3.1% || 0.5% || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0% ||
	PDSP || 2,488,553 || 0.9% || 0.9% || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0% ||
	KBL || 2,436,193 || 0.9% || 0.7% || 7 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0% ||
	Ang Kapatiran || 1,877,293 || 0.7% || 0.7%|| 3 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0% ||
	PGRP || 123,602 || 0.0% || 0.0%|| 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0% ||
	PMP || 0 || 0.0% || 2.2% || 0 || 1 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 2 || 8.3% || 2
	PRP || 0 || 0.0% || 4.8% || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 4.2% ||
	Independents || 19,605,622 || 7.3% || 0.5% || 3 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 4.2% ||
Totals		269,109,091	100.0%	--	37	11	12	12	23	23	95.8%

|}

Unofficial tallies

Party/coalition	Revised by SET	COMELEC	NAMFREL	Pulse Asia	ABS-CBN[6]	GMA[7]
GO	8	7	8	8	8	7
TEAM Unity	2	3	2	2	2	4
Independents	2	2	2	2	2	1
Others	0	0	0	0	0	0

ABS-CBN/Pulse Asia

Numbers in percentages. Conducted by ABS-CBN and Pulse Asia.

Name	Pulse Asia
Legarda, Loren	58.5
Escudero, Francis	53.3
Villar, Manuel Jr.,	49.8
Lacson, Panfilo	46.4
Pangilinan, Francis	44.6
Aquino, Benigno Simeon III	42.6
Angara, Edgardo	41.1
Arroyo, Joker	36.8
Trillanes, Antonio IV	35.4
Zubiri, Juan Miguel	34.9
Honasan, Gregorio	34.6
Recto, Ralph	34.3
Cayetano, Alan Peter	31.0
Pichay, Prospero Jr.	30.4
Pimentel, Aquilino III	28.5
Roco, Sonia	28.4
Defensor, Michael	28.2
Sotto, Vicente III	26.2
Montano, Cesar	24.0
Osmeña, John Henry	21.6
Magsaysay, Vicente	19.9
Coseteng, Anna Dominique	14.8
Oreta, Teresa	11.6
Singson, Luis	11.6
Gomez, Richard	8.9
Kiram, Jamalul III	6.6
Chavez, Melchor	3.0
Cayetano, Joselito	2.9
Bautista, Martin	2.6
Sison, Adrian	1.7
Paredes, Zosimo Jesus II	1.6
Lozano, Oliver	1.4
Wood, Victor	1.4
Estrella, Antonio	1.1
Cantal, Felix	0.7
Enciso, Ruben	0.7
Orpilla, Eduardo	0.3

|}

NASSA/NAMFREL quick count

Partial and Unofficial - 197,084 of 224,748 precincts or 87.69% of total precincts. June 2, 2007 11:41 p.m. Batch 43.

	Name[8]	Party[8]	NAMFREL[9]
	Legarda, Loren	NPC	15,200,169
	Escudero, Francis	NPC	14,926,697
	Lacson, Panfilo	UNO	12,880,049
	Villar, Manuel Jr.	NP	12,537,728
	Aquino, Benigno Simeon III	LP	11,965,505
	Pangilinan, Francis	LP	11,930,557
	Angara, Edgardo	LDP	10,403,534
	Cayetano, Alan Peter	NP	9,691,262
	Honasan, Gregorio	Independent	9,636,150
	Arroyo, Joker	KAMPI	9,618,637
	Trillanes, Antonio IV	UNO	9,248,609
	Pimentel, Aquilino III	PDP-Laban	8,985,408
	Zubiri, Juan Miguel	Lakas-CMD	8,811,731
	Recto, Ralph	Lakas-CMD	8,599,532
	Defensor, Michael	Lakas-CMD[10]	8,075,073
	Pichay, Prospero Jr.	Lakas-CMD	7,938,313
	Roco, Sonia	AD	7,027,063
	Montano, Cesar	Lakas-CMD	6,444,301
	Osmeña, John Henry	UNO	6,095,478
	Sotto, Vicente III	NPC	6,082,898
	Magsaysay, Vicente	Lakas-CMD	5,269,394
	Coseteng, Anna Dominique	Independent	4,408,406
	Oreta, Teresa	NPC	3,481,280
	Singson, Luis	Lakas-CMD	3,468,039
	Gomez, Richard	Independent	2,308,620
	Kiram, Jamalul III	PDSP	1,956,612
	Chavez, Melchor	KBL	753,434
	Paredes, Zosimo II	AK	716,544
	Bautista, Martin	AK	689,272
	Cayetano, Joselito	KBL	560,281
	Sison, Adrian	AK	420,080
	Lozano, Oliver	KBL	366,146
	Estrella, Antonio	KBL	344,670
	Wood, Victor	KBL	310,079
	Orpilla, Eduardo	KBL	211,986
	Enciso, Ruben	KBL	184,401
	Cantal, Felix	PGRP	165,116

Source: NAMFRELPHILIPPINES.org website

|}

Aftermath

Although the Genuine Opposition gained control of the Senate after the elections, they were divided on who was to be next Senate President. As such, Senate President Manuel Villar (Nacionalista) formed a bloc in the Senate to contest the Senate presidency. Facing him was the minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. backed by several fellow opposition senators. On July 26, 2007, Villar defeated Pimentel was elected to Senate by a vote of 15–7 with Villar and Pimentel voting for each other. Senator Antonio Trillanes was not allowed to attend the Senate session.[11]

This is how the election for the Senate presidency went:[11]

Voted for Villar	Voted for Pimentel	Not voting	Vacancy
Manuel Villar Edgardo Angara (LDP) Joker Arroyo (Kampi) Alan Peter Cayetano Pia Cayetano Miriam Defensor Santiago (PRP) Juan Ponce Enrile (PMP) Francis Escudero (NPC) Jinggoy Estrada (PMP) Richard J. Gordon (Independent) Gregorio Honasan (Independent) Lito Lapid (Lakas-CMD) Francis Pangilinan (Liberal) Bong Revilla (Lakas-CMD) Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas-CMD)	Aquilino Pimentel Jr. Benigno Aquino III (Liberal) Rodolfo Biazon (Liberal) Panfilo Lacson (UNO) Loren Legarda (NPC) Jamby Madrigal (UNO) Mar Roxas (Liberal)	Antonio Trillanes (UNO; detained) *	Seat vacated by Alfredo Lim (PMP; Elected Mayor of Manila)
Votes needed to win: 13

Pimentel vs. Zubiri electoral protest

The 12th Senate seat was contested between TEAM Unity's Juan Miguel Zubiri and GO's Koko Pimentel Zubiri was proclaimed In July 2007 with a margin of about 20,000 votes,[12] but Pimentel filed an electoral protest to the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), which the tribunal accepted, alleging there was massive electoral fraud in Maguindanao.[13] After the revision of votes on Pimentel's protest on July 2009, he released a statement that he now leads Zubiri by 96,000 votes;[14] Zubiri countered that his counter-protest that alleges similar fraud in Mega Manila has him leading by around 132,000 votes in areas affected by his counter protest.[14]

On July 2011, suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy Ampatuan and Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol alleged that there was indeed fraud in the ARMM in favor of TEAM Unity.[15] On August 3, 2011, Zubiri resigned, maintaining that he had no hand in alleged electoral fraud in the ARMM.[16] He withdrew his counter-protest,[17] which led to the SET to proclaim Pimentel as the winner on August 11, 2011.[18] Pimentel took his oath at Mati, Davao Oriental, where he had the highest rank among the provinces, finishing in second place.[19]

Pimentel sued former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, COMELEC chairman Benjamin Abalos, Maguinadanao elections supervisor Lintang Bedol and others for electoral sabotage on August 17, 2011 at the Department of Justice (DOJ).[20] A joint DOJ-COMELEC panel began investigations on Pimentel's suit by November 3.[21] On November 18, 2011, the commission voted to file charges against Arroyo and others at the Pasay Regional Trial Court, which later ordered Arroyo, Abalos and Bedol arrested later in the day.[22]

References

1. "Comelec okays 37 senatorial bets - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos". Archived from the original on 2007-04-03. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
2. "Pulse Asia's January 2007 Pre-election Survey Media Release on Filipinos' Senatorial Preferences". Pulse Asia. Pulse Asia. 2007. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
3. "AT THE SENATE HOMESTRETCH: GO 6, IND. 2, TU 4". Social Weather Stations. Social Weather Stations. 2007-05-10. Archived from the original on 2012-04-07. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
4. "Pulse Asia's March 2007 Ulat ng Bayan Survey Media Release on Filipinos' Senatorial Preferences". Pulse Asia. Pulse Asia. 2007. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
5. "Pulse Asia's April 3 - 5, 2007 Pre-election Survey Media Release on Filipinos' Senatorial Preferences". Pulse Asia. Pulse Asia. 2007. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
6. "ABS-CBN Interactive - HALALAN 2007". Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
7. "Eleksyon 2007 - INQUIRER.net". Archived from the original on 2010-05-15. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
8. "Certified List of Candidates for Senators". Archived from the original on 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
9. Archived 2010-05-15 at the Wayback Machine Inquirer has the National Quick count of the NAMFREL
10. He resigned from the Liberal Party in early February 2006.
11. Uy, Veronica (2007-07-23). "(UPDATE 3) Villar elected Senate President". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2012-10-01. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
12. "Zubiri: SC ruling on Pimentel bid seals case". abs-cbnNEWS.com. 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
13. "Zubiri: SC ruling on Pimentel bid seals case". abs-cbnNEWS.com. 2008-03-14. Archived from the original on 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
14. Ubac, Michael Lim (2009-07-23). "I'm ahead in recount, Koko Pimentel claims". INQUIRER.net. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
15. Jumilla, Lynda (2011-07-13). "Hope comes alive for Koko Pimentel". abs-cbnNEWS.com. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
16. Ager, Maila (2011-08-03). "Zubiri resigns amid poll fraud scandal". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
17. "Zubiri to withdraw counter-protest vs Koko Pimentel". GMA News Online. 2011-08-03. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
18. Calonzo, Andreo C. (2011-08-11). "Pimentel proclaimed 12th winning senator in '07 polls". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
19. Merueñas, Mark (2011-08-12). "Koko Pimentel takes oath as senator". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
20. Philip C. Tubeza (2011-10-18). "Sen. Pimentel files election fraud raps vs Arroyo couple et al". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
21. Dennis Carcamo (2011-11-03). "Joint DOJ-Comelec panel starts poll sabotage hearings". Philippine Star. Archived from the original on 2012-09-15.
22. Matikas Santos (2011-11-18). "Warrant of arrest served on Arroyo". Philippine Daily Inquirer.

External links

• Official website of the Commission on Elections
• Official website of National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)
• Official website of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV)
• VForce - 1 Million Volunteers for Clean Elections (VForce)

Media websites

• Halalan 2007 - Election coverage by ABS-CBN
• Eleksyon 2007- Election coverage by GMA Network
• Eleksyon 2007 - Election coverage by the Philippine Daily Inquirer