The 2013 Philippine House of Representatives elections were the 33rd lower house elections in the Philippines, and 23rd as House of Representatives. They were held on May 13, 2013, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the Philippines that would serve in the 16th Congress of the Philippines from June 30, 2013, to June 30, 2016.
The Philippines uses parallel voting for the House of Representatives: first past the post on 234 single member districts, and via closed party lists on a 2% election threshold computed via a modified Hare quota (3-seat cap and no remainders) on 58 seats, with parties with less than 1% of the first preference vote winning one seat each if 20% of the party-list seats are not filled up. Major parties are not allowed to participate in the party-list election.
While the concurrent Senate election features the two major coalitions in Team PNoy and the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), the constituent parties of the coalitions contested the lower house election separately, and in some districts, candidates from the same coalition in the Senate are contesting a single seat. Campaigns for the House of Representatives are done on a district-by-district basis; there is no national campaign conducted by the parties. No matter the election result, the party of the president usually controls the House of Representatives, via a grand coalition of almost all parties. Only the ruling Liberal Party can win a majority, as it is the only party to put up candidates in a majority of seats.
After the release of preliminary results, the Liberal Party emerged as the largest party in the chamber. Its coalition partners also held most of their seats. Incumbent Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr., was easily reelected as the Speaker of the 16th Congress.
Electoral system The election for seats in the House of Representatives is done via parallel voting. A voter has two votes: one for their local district and another via the party-list system. A candidate is not allowed to stand for both ballots, and parties participating in the district elections would have to ask for permission from the Commission on Elections, with major parties not allowed to participate in the party-list election.
Election via the districts Each district sends one representative to the House of Representatives, with the winner with the highest number of votes winning that district's seat. The representatives from the districts comprise at most 80% of the seats.
Election via the party-list system In the party-list system, the parties contesting the election represent a sector, or several sectors, or an ethnic group. In determining the winners, the entire country is treated as one "district". Each party that surpasses the 2% election threshold automatically wins one seat; they can win an additional number of seats in proportion to the number of votes they received, but they can't have more than three seats. The representatives elected via the party-list system, also known as "sectoral representatives", should comprise at least 20% of the seats. However, since the winners from the parties that surpass the 2% threshold had not reached the 20% quota ever since the party-list system was instituted, the parties that received less than 1% of the first preference vote are given one seat each until the 20% quota has been filled up.
Campaigning The parties contesting the district elections campaign at the district level; there is no national-level campaigning. While no party has been able to win a majority of seats in the House of Representatives since the 1987 elections, the party of the incumbent president had usually controlled the chamber in the phenomenon known locally as the "Padrino System" or patronage politics, with other parties aligning themselves with the president's policies in exchange for pork barrel and future political favors.
While the parties contesting the Senate election grouped themselves into two major electoral alliances (Team PNoy and the United Nationalist Alliance), the constituent parties of those alliances separately contested the elections to the House of Representatives. However, as stated above, the parties will again coalesce once the 16th Congress of the Philippines convenes.
Redistricting Reapportioning (redistricting) the number of seats is either via national reapportionment, three years after the release of every census, or via piecemeal redistricting for every province or city. National reapportionment has not happened since the 1987 constitution took effect, and aside from piecemeal redistricting, the apportionment was based on the ordinance from the constitution, which was in turn based on the 1980 census.
Five new districts were created by Congress, with Bukidnon, Cotabato, Palawan and Quezon City receiving additional representatives in the upcoming Congress.
Changes from the outgoing Congress Division of Quezon City's 2nd district into three districts The barangays surrounding the Batasang Pambansa retain the 2nd district designation. The Novaliches area is becoming the 5th district. The Balintawak and Tandang Sora areas are becoming the 6th district. Enacted into law as Republic Act No. 10170. Reapportionment of Cotabato from two districts to three Cotabato's western municipalities are retained as the 1st district. The eastern municipalities and Kidapawan are retained as the 2nd district. The central municipalities become the 3rd district. Enacted into law as Republic Act No. 10177. Reapportionment of Bukidnon from three districts to four Kalilangan and Pangantucan from the 1st district, and Valencia from the 2nd district became the 4th district. The rest of the two other districts are left intact. Enacted into law as Republic Act No. 10184. Division of Palawan's 2nd district into two districts Aborlan and Puerto Princesa become the 3rd district. The rest of the 2nd district is left intact. Enacted into law as Republic Act No. 10171.
Summary of changes As there were 234 districts, and there should be one party-list seat for every 4 districts, this means there are 59 party-list seats, and 293 total seats. CategoryTotalCongressional districts in the outgoing Congress229New districts from redistricting laws from previous Congress0New districts from redistricting laws from outgoing Congress5Congressional districts in the next Congress234Party-list seats for the next Congress59Total seats for the next Congress293
Marginal seats These are seats where the winning margin was 3% or less, politicians may choose to run under a different political party as compared to 2010. This excludes districts where the nearest losing candidate or that candidate's party is not contesting the election, or districts that were redistricted.
District 2010 Winner Political party on 2010 election day Currentpolitical party 2013 opponent Political party 2010 margin 2013 resultBiliran Rogelio Espina Glenn Chong 0.45% Liberal holdCamarines Sur–5th Salvio Fortuno Emmanuel Alfelor 0.62% Liberal holdBatanes Dina Abad Carlo Oliver Diasnes 1.06% Liberal holdMountain Province Maximo Dalog Jupiter Dominguez 1.54% Liberal holdSurigao del Norte–2nd Guillermo Romarate, Jr. Robert Ace Barbers 1.64% Liberal holdManila–6th Sandy Ocampo Benny M. Abante 1.81% Liberal holdZamboanga Sibugay–2nd Romeo Jalosjos, Jr. Dulce Ann Hofer 1.85% Liberal gain from NacionalistaIsabela–2nd Ana Cristina Go Edgar Uy 1.93% Nacionalista holdCagayan de Oro–1st Jose Benjamin Benaldo Rolando Uy 2.03% Liberal gain from NacionalistaBataan–1st Herminia Roman Enrique T. Garcia 2.53% Liberal holdNorthern Samar–2nd Emil Ong Ramp Nielsen Uy 2.67% NUP holdBatangas–3rd Nelson Collantes Victoria Hernandez-Reyes 2.78% Liberal holdCotabato–2nd Nancy Catamco Bernardo Piñol, Jr. 2.88% Redistricted; Liberal holdZamboanga del Norte–2nd Rosendo Labadlabad Rolando Yebes 2.93% Liberal hold
Retiring and term-limited incumbents
These are the incumbents who are not running for a seat in the House of Representatives, and are not term limited:
Lakas–CMD Lapu-Lapu City: Arturo Radaza Lanao del Norte–2nd: Fatima Aliah Dimaporo Masbate–1st: Antonio Kho Ran and lost in the Masbate gubernatorial election. Pampanga–1st: Carmelo Lazatin Ran and lost in the Angeles mayoral election. Zamboanga del Norte–3rd: Cesar Jalosjos Ran and lost in the Zamboanga del Norte gubernatorial election. Liberal Party Aklan-Lone: Florencio Miraflores Ran and Won in the Aklan gubernatorial election. Cavite–3rd: Erineo Maliksi Ran and lost in the Cavite gubernatorial election. Cebu City–1st: Rachel del Mar Cebu City–2nd: Tomas Osmeña Ran and lost in the Cebu City mayoral election. Negros Oriental–1st: Jocelyn Limkaichong Ran and lost in the Negros Oriental gubernatorial election. Pangasinan–3rd: Rachel Arenas Parañaque–1st: Edwin Olivarez Ran and won in the Parañaque mayoral election. Quezon–2nd: Irvin Alcala Ran and lost in the Quezon gubernatorial election. Taguig–2nd: Sigfrido Tinga Zamboanga City–1st: Maria Isabelle Climaco Salazar Ran and won in the Zamboanga City mayoral election. Nacionalista Party Davao del Sur–1st: Marc Douglas Cagas IV Ran and lost in the Davao del Sur gubernatorial election. Ilocos Sur–1st: Ryan Singson Ran and won in the Ilocos Sur gubernatorial election. Misamis Oriental–2nd: Yevgeny Vincente Emano Ran and won in the Misamis Oriental gubernatorial election. Zamboanga Sibugay–1st: Jonathan Yambao
National Unity Party Camarines Norte–1st: Renato Unico, Jr. Ran and lost in the Camarines Norte gubernatorial election. Cavite–6th: Antonio Ferrer Ran and won in the General Trias mayoral election. Cebu–3rd: Pablo John Garcia Ran and lost in the Cebu gubernatorial election. Nationalist People's Coalition Cagayan–1st: Juan Ponce Enrile, Jr. Ran and lost in the Senate election. Cebu–6th: Ramon Durano VI Ran and won in the Danao vice mayoral election. Isabela–1st: Rodolfo Albano, Jr. Nueva Ecija–1st: Josefina Joson Ran and lost in the Nueva Ecija gubernatorial election. South Cotabato–2nd: Daisy Avance-Fuentes Valenzuela–1st: Rexlon Gatchalian Ran and won in the Valenzuela mayoral election. United Nationalist Alliance San Juan: JV Ejercito Ran and won in the Senate election.
Defeated incumbents District Party Incumbent Winner Party NotesBacolod Anthony Golez, Jr. Evelio Leonardia Golez is an NPC member running as an independent.Baguio Bernardo Vergara Nicasio Aliping Batangas–1st Tomas Apacible Eileen Ermita-Buhain Apacible defeated Ermita-Buhain's father Eduardo in the 2010 general election.Bukidnon–1st Jesus Emmanuel Paras Maria Lourdes Acosta Paras defeated Acosta's mother Socorro in the 2010 general election.Cagayan de Oro–1st Jose Benjamin Benaldo Rolando Uy Benaldo beat Uy's son Rainier in the 2010 general election.Caloocan–2nd Mitzi Cajayon Edgar Erice Cebu–2nd Pablo P. Garcia Wilfredo Caminero Garcia is one of the deputy speakers.Iloilo–2nd Augusto Syjuco, Jr. Arcadio Gorriceta Laguna–3rd Maria Evita Agaro Sol Aragones Lanao del Sur–1st Hussein Pangandaman Ansaruddin Adiong Marinduque Lord Allan Jay Velasco Regina Ongsiako Reyes Velasco beat Reyes' brother Edmundo in the 2010 general election.Misamis Occidental–2nd Loreto Leo Ocampos Henry Oaminal Northern Samar–1st Raul Daza Harlin Abayon Daza is one of the deputy speakers. It was the closest House race with a margin of victory of 52 votes.Pampanga–3rd Aurelio Gonzales, Jr. Oscar Rodriguez Sulu–2nd Nur Ana Sahidulla Maryam Arbison Tarlac–3rd Jeci Lapus Noel Villanueva Zambales–2nd Jun Omar Ebdane Cheryl Delloso-Montalla Ebdane beat Delloso-Montalla in the 2012 special election.Zamboanga Sibugay–2nd Romeo Jalosjos, Jr. Dulce Ann Hofer Jalosjos defeated Hofer's brother George in the 2010 general election.
Open seat gains
Liberal Party Albay–1st Agusan del Norte–1st Caloocan–1st Camarines Sur–3rd Cavite–1st (vacant seat originally held by the Liberals) Cavite-7th Dinagat Islands (vacant seat originally held by Lakas)* Maguindanao–2nd Occidental Mindoro