The 2010 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 30th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 10, 2010, to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. The winners in this election joined the winners of the 2007 election to form the 15th Congress of the Philippines. The senators elected in 2007 will serve until June 30, 2013, while the senators elected in this election will serve up to June 30, 2016. The 2010 presidential election, 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: the twelve candidates with the highest number of votes wins the twelve seats up for election.

In the election, ten senators that had previously served in the Senate, six of them incumbents, were re-elected. The two neophytes, Bongbong Marcos and TG Guingona, had their fathers previously serve in the Senate. The first nine candidates that were leading in the canvassing of votes by the Commission on Elections were proclaimed winners on May 15, while the last three were proclaimed on May 18.

After the election, no party won a majority of seats, although the Liberal Party had the most seats with five, although with the election of Benigno Aquino III as president, the Liberals will have 4 members in the Senate. The independents have five, while the Nacionalista Party and Lakas–CMD have four each. It is expected that Manuel Villar of the Nacionalistas and Francis Pangilinan from the Liberals be the top contenders to be Senate President; incumbent Juan Ponce Enrile (PMP) originally said he would not seek the office, but with the inability of either of the frontrunners to garner the required thirteen votes, he has presented himself as a compromise candidate to avoid deadlock.

On the convening of the 15th Congress on July 25, Enrile was successfully reelected as Senate President by 17 senators, with 3 senators voting for his opponent, Alan Peter Cayetano of the Nacionalistas. Three more senators did not attend, and one seat was vacated by Benigno Aquino III who was elected President.

Electoral system Philippine Senate elections are via pluraity block voting, with the entire country as an at-large "district". Each voter has 12 votes, and can vote for up to 12 candidates. Seats up were the seats last contested in 2004.

Retiring and term-limited incumbents Three senators are voluntarily retiring from the Senate at the end of their current term (two ran for president, and another for vice president; all lost), while two other senators are term-limited by the Constitution of the Philippines after serving two consecutive terms.

Rodolfo Biazon (Liberal) Term-limited in 2010, ran for House representative from Muntinlupa's at-large district and won. Dick Gordon (Bagumbayan–VNP) Ran for President and lost. Ran for senator in 2013 and lost; ran again in 2016 and won. Jamby Madrigal (Independent) Ran for President and lost. Ran for senator in 2013 and lost. Nene Pimentel (PDP–Laban) Term-limited in 2010. Pimentel subsequently retired from politics. Mar Roxas (Liberal) Ran for vice president and lost. Ran for president in 2016 and lost; ran for senator in 2019 and still lost.

Campaign The candidates had varied campaign strategies, but Liberal and Nacionalista candidates relied on TV advertisements for exposure. Celebrities also endorsed candidates, notably Kris Aquino for Tito Sotto and Sharon Cuneta for Neric Acosta. As a callback to the successful "VOT FOR D CHAMMP" and "MaS PARA SA KiDZ Mo" campaign slogan of the People Power Coalition and TEAM Unity during the 2001, and 2007. respectively. the Liberals used the "SLAMAT LORRRD" acronym to easily convey their senatorial line-up.

On April 18, ABS-CBN held the Harapan (Face-Off) senatorial debates at La Consolacion College – Manila. Adel Tamano scored the highest rating amongst the candidates who participated, followed by Neric Acosta and Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, while Francisco Tatad rated poorly.

Actors Bong Revilla (born Ramon Revilla Jr.), who changed his legal name to his screen name "Bong Revilla" prior to the campaign period, and Jinggoy Estrada, together with Miriam Defensor Santiago consistently topped the poll surveys from Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia. On the other hand, while all incumbent senators who are running appeared safe to retain their seats, it appeared that no party will win a majority of the 12 seats being contested.

Candidates On December 15, 2009, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) released the approved list of candidates for the Senate elections. On January 14, 2010, the COMELEC approved four more candidates for the Senate, reaching a total of 61.

These are the candidates that were listed on the ballot, with order determined by surname. The tickets are as advertised by the coalition; these are unrecognized by the COMELEC but is extensively used by the media. The COMELEC does list the political parties of the candidates on the ballot. One has twelve votes for senator, with one vote for every candidate. A voter can distribute one's vote to any ticket as one seems fit. One can vote less than the twelve candidates from any ticket (open list), although the coalitions encourage voters to vote "12–0" (if applicable). A voter who had voted for more than twelve candidates will have his ballot spoiled, invalidating the rest of that voter's votes in the senate election.

A candidate may be included in more than one ticket; a party, if it has not enough candidates to complete a 12-candidate ticket, can invite guest candidates from other parties. These guest candidates can choose to acknowledge their inclusion in other tickets and are not bound to follow the policies of the tickets that adopted them.

+Ang Kapatiran ticket # Name Party11. Rizalito David 21. Jo Imbong 50. Grace Riñoza-Plazo 52. Adrian Sison 55. Reginald Tamayo 56. Hector Tarrazona 59. Manny Valdahuesa

+Bangon Pilipinas ticket # Name Party 3. Zafrullah Alonto 22. Kata Inocencio 35. Adz Nikabulin 36. Ramoncito Ocampo 42. Imelda Papin 43. Zosimo Paredes 46. Reynaldo Princesa 58. Alex Tinsay 61. Israel Virgines

+Kilusang Bagong Lipunan ticket # Name Party 2. Shariff Ibraim Albani 16. Nanette Espinosa 29. Alma Lood 60. Hector Villanueva

+Lakas–Kampi–CMD ticket # Name Party 6. Silvestre Bello III 8. Bong Revilla 18. Ramon Guico Jr. 24. Raul Lambino 25. Rey Langit 27. Lito Lapid

+Liberal Party ticket # Name Party 1. Neric Acosta 5. Martin Bautista 7. Ruffy Biazon 14. Franklin Drilon 19. TG Guingona 20. Risa Hontiveros 23. Alex Lacson 26. Yasmin Lao 28. Danilo Lim 40. Serge Osmeña 48. Ralph Recto 51. Sonia Roco

+Nacionalista Party ticket# Name Party 10. Pia Cayetano 13. Miriam Defensor Santiago 32. Bongbong Marcos 33. Liza Maza 34. Ramon Mitra III 37. Satur Ocampo 38. Susan Ople 44. Gwen Pimentel 47. Ariel Querubin 49. Gilbert Remulla 54. Adel Tamano

+Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino ticket # Name Party 4. JV Bautista 12. Joey de Venecia 15. Juan Ponce Enrile 17. Jinggoy Estrada 30. Jun Lozada 31. Regalado Maambong 45. Rodolfo Plaza 57. Francisco Tatad

+Non-independents not on tickets # Name Party 9. Henry Caunan 39. Lito Osmeña 53. Tito Sotto

+Independents not in tickets # Name Party 41. Jovito Palparan

Opinion polls

Note: Tables only include confirmed candidates by the COMELEC. The following are results of surveys taken after candidates were confirmed by the COMELEC.

Poll source Date(s) administered Samplesize Margin oferror Candidates in the Top 12 TotalLakas-Kampi Liberal Nacionalista NPC PDP-Laban PRP PMP Ind. Election May 10, 2010 — — 2 3 2 1 0 1 2 1 12 SWS May 2–3, 2010 2,400 ±2% 2 3 2 1 0 1 2 1 12 Pulse Asia Apr. 23–25, 2010 1,800 ±2% 2 3 2 1 0 1 2 1 12 SWS Apr. 16–19, 2010 2,100 ±2% 1 2 3 1 0 1 2 1 12 SWS Mar. 19–22, 2010 2,100 ±2% 1 2 3 1 0 1 2 1 12 The Center Feb. 24–28, 2010 2,400 ±2% 2 3 2 1 0 1 2 1 12 SWS Feb. 24–28, 2010 2,100 ±2% 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 12 Pulse Asia Feb. 21–25, 2010 1,800 ±2% 2 3 2 1 0 1 2 1 12 Pulse Asia Jan. 22–26, 2010 1,800 ±2% 2 2 2 1 0 1 3 1 12 SWS Jan. 21–24, 2010 2,100 ±2% 1 3 2 1 0 1 3 1 12 Pulse Asia Dec. 8–10, 2009 1,800 ±2.0% 1 3 2 1 0 1 3 1 12 SWS Dec. 5–10, 2009 2,100 ±2.2% 2 3 2 1 0 1 2 1 12

Results Incumbents, former senators, and candidates whose other family members that had Senate experience performed well. All six incumbents who ran held their seats, four former senators also won, and the two neophyte senators, Bongbong Marcos and TG Guingona had their fathers (Ferdinand Marcos and Teofisto Guingona Jr., respectively) previously served at the Senate.

Among the six winning incumbents, three had family members that previously served in the Senate: Bong Revilla (son of Ramon Revilla Sr.), Jinggoy Estrada (son of Joseph Estrada) and Pia Cayetano (daughter of Rene Cayetano; her brother, Alan Peter Cayetano, won in 2007). The other winning incumbents are Miriam Defensor Santiago, Lito Lapid, and Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile.

The four former winning senators also had a family member with Senate experience: Ralph Recto (grandson of Claro M. Recto), Tito Sotto (grandson of Vicente Sotto) and Sergio Osmeña III (grandson of Sergio Osmeña and son of Sergio Osmeña Jr.). The other returning senator is Franklin Drilon.

Only one former senator ran and lost: Francisco Tatad; candidates with no prior Senate experience but had family members that previously served in the Senate but lost are Ruffy Biazon (son of outgoing Senator Rodolfo Biazon), Sonia Roco (wife of Raul Roco), Adel Tamano (son of Mamintal Tamano) and Susan Ople (daughter of Blas Ople).

The election of Benigno Aquino III as President of the Philippines in concurrent elections means that his Senate seat will be vacant until June 30, 2013.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1718 19 20 21 22 23 24 Senate bloc Majority bloc (16) Minority bloc (7)Before election ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡^ ‡ ‡Election resultNot up LP LKS-KAM NP Ind NPNot upAfter election * * * √ √ + √ √ ^Senate bloc Majority bloc (17) Minority bloc (3)Key: ‡ Seats up + Gained by a party from another party √ Held by the incumbent * Held by the same party with a new senator ^ Vacancy

Per candidate

Per coalition

Per party With the election of Benigno Aquino III as president, there were only 23 seats in the Senate's chamber for the 15th Congress of the Philippines. There were calls to let the 13th placed candidate, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, to be proclaimed in lieu of Aquino leaving the Senate but neither her campaign nor the Liberal Party petitioned the commission on the matter. Aquino's vacated seat won't be contested in a special election as special elections for Senate vacancies can only be scheduled on the next scheduled election; that seat would be up for the 2013 election.

Unofficial results Several organizations released unofficial tallies when the commission's first preliminary tally was yet to be released.

Seats won per party Party GMA ABS-CBN PPCRV-KBP COMELEC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1Total 12 12 12 12

Tally