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12 (of the 24) seats to the Senate 13 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Parties that won a plurality of votes in each province. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.[1]
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.[2]