The 2007 Philippine Senate election was the 29th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 14, 2007, to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. The winners in this election joined the winners of the 2004 election to form the 14th Congress of the Philippines. 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.

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, a detainee, Antonio Trillanes was elected unprecedently as a senator while being withheld for mutiny and rebellion charges. Almost all of the incumbents running for reelection won except for Ralph Recto who was at fourteenth place.

An electoral protest of GO's Koko Pimentel, the 13th placed candidate, against TEAM Unity's Migz Zubiri, the 12th place candidate, resulted in Zubiri's resignation in the Senate, and the Senate Electoral Tribunal's decision to replace Pimentel with Zubiri. This led to GO winning 8 seats, the biggest win by the opposition in the Senate election history since 1951, notwithstanding 2 other opposition candidates won, and only 2 administration candidates won.

Electoral system Philippine Senate elections are via plurality 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 2001.

Background

COMELEC issues

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) faced 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, Tessie 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. Tessie 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 In a case identical to the Aquino issue, representative Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig-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 treated as 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 was the administration-backed coalition composed mostly of supporters and erstwhile critics of then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. TEAM Unity sought 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. This coalition is composed by different major political parties including Lakas—Christian Muslim Democrats, Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino, Nationalist People's Coalition, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, and Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas. The coalition's campaign team was headed by veteran political strategist Reli German as campaign manager, together with Tourism Secretary Ace Durano as spokesperson and Ike Rodriguez as campaign director. TEAM Unity held their proclamation rally at the Cebu Coliseum on February 17, 2007.

Genuine Opposition

Genuine Opposition (GO) was the main opposition-backed coalition of the parties' senatorial line-up for the elections, which was in opposition to President Arroyo. It was originally called the "United Opposition" (UNO), created by opposition stalwart and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay in June 2005 to unite all politicians who sought to impeach President 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.

Endorsements Iglesia ni Cristo, a religion typically known for being courted for its block voting, endorsed 6 TEAM Unity (TU) members (Ralph Recto, Joker Arroyo, Ed Angara, Mike Defensor, Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri, and Tito Sotto), Five Genuine Opposition (GO) senatorial bets (Loren Legarda, Manny Villar, Panfilo Lacson, Chiz Escudero, and Noynoy Aquino III), with one independent (Kiko Pangilinan). Bayan Muna endorsed Legarda, Escudero, Cayetano, Pimentel, Roco, Coseteng, and Villar from GO; Arroyo and Recto of TU; and independent Pangilinan.

Campaign Candidates made use of different campaign platforms to win. Prospero Pichay Jr., Manny 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 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.

Administration coalition +TEAM Unity ticketEdgardo Angara Joker Arroyo Mike Defensor Jamalul Kiram III Vicente Magsaysay Cesar Montano Tessie Aquino-Oreta Prospero Pichay Jr. Ralph Recto Chavit Singson Tito Sotto Juan Miguel Zubiri

Primary opposition coalition +Genuine Opposition ticketBenigno Aquino III Alan Peter Cayetano Nikki Coseteng Francis Escudero Panfilo Lacson Loren Legarda John Henry Osmeña Koko Pimentel Sonia Roco Antonio Trillanes Manny Villar

Other tickets +Ang Kapatiran ticketMartin Bautista Adrian Sison Zosimo Jesus Paredes II

+Kilusang Bagong Lipunan ticketMelchor Chavez Joselito Pepito Cayetano Ruben Enciso Antonio Estrella Oliver Lozano Eduardo Orpilla Victor Wood +Other candidatesFelix Cantal Richard Gomez Gregorio Honasan Kiko Pangilinan

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.

Franklin Drilon (Liberal), term-limited in 2007, ran in 2010 and won Loi Ejercito (PMP), retiring from politics Juan Flavier (Lakas), retiring from politics Alfredo Lim (PMP), ran for Mayor of Manila and won Ramon Magsaysay Jr. (Lakas), term-limited in 2007, ran in 2013 and lost Serge Osmeña (PDP–Laban), term-limited in 2007 and campaigned for the Genuine Opposition, ran in 2010 and won

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 SWS Pulse Asia SWS Pulse Asia SWS SWSDate(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, 2007Sample size 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200Margin 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), 31%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%