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ABOUT THE MAY 14 ELECTIONS THE MAY 14 mid-term elections will cover a total of 17, 579 electoral seats. The Philippines has a bicameral legislature composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. At stake at the May 14 mid-term elections are 13 of the 24 Senate seats and all 209 seats of the Lower House. In the country, 80 percent of members of the House of Representatives are directly elected to three-year terms. The remaining 20 percent are elected under the party-list system, with 53 party-list representatives to be elected in the May 14 polls. Also at stake are the seats of all local officials, including provincial governors and vice governors, city mayors and vice mayors, municipal mayors and vice mayors, provincial board members (Sangguniang Panlalawigan), city councilors (Sangguniang Panglungsod), and municipal councilors (Sangguniang Bayan). In the Philippines, all representatives and local officials can only serve for three consecutive terms. Under the Constitution, no senator may serve for more than two consecutive terms. As always, the senatorial race is attracting the most attention, particularly since the Macapagal administration is seeking to wrest the majority in the Upper House. All 24 senators are elected to six-year terms. Half, however, are elected every three years, which is why only 12 senatorial seats would be up for grabs in the May 14 polls. A 13th slot, however, was created after former Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. assumed the vice presidency. The 13th winning senator, however, will not be elected to a normal six-year term but would only serve the remaining three years of Guingona's term until 2004. Of the 11 incumbent senators whose terms will only expire in 2004, five are perceived to be administration allies or anti-Estrada, namely Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Senators Loren Legarda-Leviste, Renato Cayetano, Robert Barbers and Rodolfo Biazon. The other six solons are known Estrada supporters, including Senators Vicente Sotto III, Blas Ople, John Osmeņa, Teresita Aquino-Oreta, Ramon Revilla and Robert Jaworski. The PPC is fielding a full slate of 13 senatorial candidates. Meanwhile, Puwersa has 11 senatorial candidates. Puwersa, however, has "adopted" two independent candidates, broadcast personality Noli de Castro and former Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado. Winning 8 of the 13 seats at stake would give the
administration a simple majority in the Senate of 13 solons, which is the
minimum ratio to pass a law. If the PPC senatorial slate wins 11 seats in
the May 14 polls, the pro-administration bloc in the Senate would hold a
two-thirds majority, which is the minimum ratio for important Senate
decisions such as treaty ratification and impeachment.
Taken from Inquirer Election 2001
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CCHOPE ELECTION
2001 
