2022 Philippine presidential election

2022 Philippine presidential election

May 9, 2022
Opinion polls
Turnout	TBD
Reporting	66.10% as of 21:32 PhST
Candidate Leody de Guzman Panfilo Lacson Bongbong Marcos Party PLM Independent PFP Running mate Walden Bello Tito Sotto Sara Duterte   Candidate Isko Moreno Manny Pacquiao Leni Robredo Party Aksyon PROMDI Independent Running mate Willie Ong Lito Atienza Francis Pangilinan
A map showing which city and provincial certificates of canvass will be canvassed by Congress. General Santos and Mandaue will have its results canvassed separately from South Cotabato and Cebu respectively for the first time. Metro Manila is shown at the inset in the upper right.
Incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte PDP–Laban
2022 Philippine vice presidential election
May 9, 2022
Opinion polls
Candidate Lito Atienza Walden Bello Sara Duterte Party PROMDI PLM Lakas   Candidate Willie Ong Francis Pangilinan Tito Sotto Party Aksyon Liberal NPC
A map showing the provinces of the Philippines. The inset shows Metro Manila.
Incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo Liberal

The 2022 Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections were held on Monday, May 9, 2022, as part of the 2022 general election. This was the 17th direct presidential election and 16th vice presidential election in the Philippines since 1935, and the sixth sextennial presidential and vice presidential election since 1992.

Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte was ineligible for re-election as he is limited to a single term, while incumbent vice president Leni Robredo was eligible for re-election but chose to run for the presidency instead. Therefore, this election will determine the 17th president and the 15th vice president. The position of president and vice president are elected separately, the two winning candidates could thus come from different political parties.

Electoral system

Main article: Presidential elections in the Philippines

According to the Constitution of the Philippines of 1987, the election is held every six years after 1992, on the second Monday of May. The incumbent president is term-limited. The incumbent vice president may run for two consecutive terms. The first-past-the-post voting system is used to determine the winner: the candidate with the highest number of votes, whether or not one has a majority, wins the presidency.

The vice-presidential election is separate, is held on the same rules, and voters may split their ticket. If two or more candidates get the most votes for either position, Congress shall vote from among them which shall be president or vice president, as the case may be. Both winners will serve six-year terms commencing at noon on June 30, 2022, and ending on the same day, six years later.

Background

See also: 2016 Philippine presidential election and 2019 Philippine Senate election

The 2022 election will decide the successor of both President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo. In this photo, Duterte is inducting Robredo to head the HUDCC.

In the 2016 presidential and vice presidential elections, Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (transl. Philippine Democratic Party–People Power; PDP–Laban) won the presidency against four other candidates, while House representative from Camarines Sur Leni Robredo of the Liberal Party won against Senator Bongbong Marcos and four others in the vice presidential election that is the closest margin since 1965. Marcos put the result under protest in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.

On Marcos's electoral protest against Robredo, the Presidential Electoral Tribunal released in October 2019 the report on Marcos's pilot provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental, and showed that Robredo increased her lead by 15,742 votes. The tribunal voted to defer on deciding on the protest and instead proceeded with Marcos's plea to nullify the votes from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.

Those who dissented to the decision said that the protest should have been dismissed, as Marcos failed to recover votes from his 3 pilot provinces, citing the rules of the tribunal. They were overruled when the others said that Marcos's plea on the ARMM provinces should also be resolved.

In July 2016, Vice President Robredo was appointed to head the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), but later resigned in December 2016 after she was told to stop attending all cabinet meetings, amid her criticism of the administration's war on drugs. The president later told his allies to stop trying to impeach Robredo.

In the 17th Congress, the representative from Davao del Norte, Pantaleon Alvarez, was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in July 2016. Midway during the 17th Congress, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was the representative from Pampanga, ousted Alvarez from the speakership. The ouster was reportedly due to a dispute between Alvarez and Davao City mayor Sara Duterte, the president's daughter, when the latter branded the former as being from the opposition when she launched the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (transl. Alliance for Change; HNP), a regional political party in the Davao Region where both Davao del Norte and Davao City are a part of.

In the 2019 midterm Senate election, the opposition fielded the Otso Diretso (transl. Straight Eight) coalition, while the administration fielded their slate under the Hugpong ng Pagbabago banner. Hugpong won 9 of the 12 seats contested, while Otso Diretso won no seats. Cynthia Villar, wife of defeated 2010 presidential candidate Manuel Villar, topped the election, while 2013's Senate election topnotcher and 2016 defeated presidential candidate Grace Poe finished second. While Sara Duterte's Hugpong won in the Davao Region, they notably failed to unseat Alvarez, and PDP–Laban defeated Hugpong's candidate for governor of Davao del Norte, and won the province's both seats in the House of Representatives.

Administration-allied parties also won in the House of Representatives, but there was a dispute on who should be Speaker. President Duterte negotiated a term-sharing agreement with Alan Peter Cayetano and Lord Allan Velasco, with the former serving the first 15 months of the term, while Velasco will serve out the final 18 months. Meanwhile, Tito Sotto was re-elected as Senate President.

In November 2019, the president challenged Robredo to co-chair the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD), the office that oversees the war on drugs, along with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief, which she accepted. A week later, Duterte said that he will fire Robredo if she shares state secrets about the drug war. Several days later, Duterte said he cannot trust Robredo after she asked the government for a list of high-value targets in the drug war. Robredo replied that "He should tell me straight if he wants me out." A day later, Duterte fired Robredo as co-chair of the ICAD.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, the government was criticized by the opposition on its response to the pandemic. Robredo had a televised speech in August claiming that the government had no plans on how to resolve the pandemic and shared 10 recommendations on how to resolve it. Duterte himself, in a separate speech days later, asked Robredo not to "add fuel to the fire".

In June 2020, American boxing promoter Bob Arum said that Senator Manny Pacquiao confided to him that he will run for president in 2022. Pacquiao later denied talking about politics with Arum. On December 3, 2020, Pacquiao was elected as party president of PDP–Laban, of which President Duterte is the party chairman. On May 3, 2021, when Pacquiao was asked for plans of running for president, he replied "for now, let's not think about that."

In March 2021, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio launched "1Sambayan" (read as "isambayan", meaning "one nation"), a coalition that aimed to place one lone candidate against Duterte's endorsed successor. Carpio is aiming not to split the vote, pointing out that Duterte won over Mar Roxas and Grace Poe in 2016 as those who were against him were not united.

1Sambayan was considering one among Robredo, Moreno, Poe, and Senator Nancy Binay as candidates. Both Moreno and Pacquiao, with the former being one of 1Sambayan's choices, stated that they do not want to talk about politics during the pandemic. Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said that there was never an offer from 1Sambayan for him to run, but if Robredo won't seek the presidency in 2022, he'll entertain entering the presidential race.

A dispute within the PDP–Laban began on March 12, 2021 when Senator Pacquiao began to criticize President Duterte and the government regarding the dispute in the South China Sea, alleged corruption in the government agencies under the Duterte administration, the government handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the endorsement of the candidates for the 2022 presidential election, leading to the creation of two factions within the party.

On March 23, 2021, Senate President Tito Sotto stated that he and Panfilo Lacson were being pushed to form a tandem. Sotto said both of them are yet to be convinced on this, and when asked if he'd run for higher office in 2022, he said that he hadn't made a decision yet. Lacson later declined the offer from 1Sambayan in a letter to Justice Carpio, in which he cited his principal sponsorship of the Anti-Terrorism Law as "inconsistent and incongruent" to the goals of the coalition.

On June 12, 2021, 1Sambayan announced their six initial nominees who will go through the coalition's selection process for a presidential and vice-presidential tandem. The nominees (who members of the coalition may vote for as their candidate for either post) include: senator Poe, vice president Robredo, former senator Trillanes, human rights lawyer and former senatorial candidate Chel Diokno, incumbent house deputy speaker Vilma Santos-Recto, and CIBAC representative and house deputy speaker Eddie Villanueva. Moreno and Binay declined 1Sambayan's offer to run under their coalition. Soon after, Senator Poe and Representative Santos also withdrew their names from contention. At the same time, Vice President Robredo, former Senator Trillanes, and Representative Villanueva expressed their support for unity in 2022 under 1Sambayan.

Lacson and Sotto formally announced their candidacies on July, with their campaign to be launched in August. Lacson was later sworn in as a member of the Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma (transl. Party for Democratic Reforms), the party of former secretary of Defense Renato de Villa who lost the 1998 presidential election. On September 8, Lacson and Sotto formally launched their tandem via social media, in a taped production in an undisclosed studio. The tandem filed their candidacies on October 6.

Isko Moreno, who had returned to the political limelight after being elected as the mayor of Manila, was reportedly to take his oath as a member of Aksyon Demokratiko (transl. Democratic Action), the party founded by Senator Raul Roco. This was after he resigned from the National Unity Party. However, this did not happen as an unexpectedly large number of people turned up on vaccination sites, particularly in Manila. Moreno was subsequently elected party president a week later. He later announced his presidential bid on September 22 with Dr. Willie Ong as his running mate. They filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) on October 4.

On September 30, 2021, 1Sambayan nominated Robredo as their standard bearer. On October 7, Robredo accepted the nomination and announced she will run for president. She later filed her certificate of candidacy on the same day as an independent. Robredo explained that she is running as an independent to show that she is open to making alliances. After Vice President Robredo announced her presidential candidacy, several sources from the Liberal Party indicated that Senator Francis Pangilinan would be her running mate for her presidential bid. Pangilinan filed his candidacy for vice president a day after Robredo.

By January 2020, Bongbong Marcos confirmed that he is running "for a national position" in 2022, although he did not specify which position. On September 21, 2021, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP; transl. Federal Party of the Philippines) nominated Marcos to run for president. During the national convention of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL; transl. New Society Movement) in Binangonan, the party founded by his father, he was nominated as the party's candidate for president. Marcos, who remained a member of the Nacionalista Party, thanked KBL for the nomination, but said that he will announce his plans "when the time comes." On October 5, Marcos announced his presidential candidacy. Marcos then resigned from the Nacionalistas and was sworn in at the PFP chairman. Marcos ultimately filed his presidential candidacy under the PFP on October 6.

Davao City mayor Sara Duterte, despite being a frontrunner in early opinion polls, did not file a candidacy for a national position; she instead ran for re-election in the Davao mayoral race. She earlier stated on July 9, 2021, that she is open to running for president. During the final day for the filing of candidacies, mayor Duterte did not show up; instead, Ronald dela Rosa filed his candidacy for president. dela Rosa has stated that he is open to being substituted by Duterte. Dela Rosa was running alongside Go, who earlier filed his candidacy for the vice presidency on October 2, despite calls from the PDP-Laban Cusi wing for him to run for president. At the end of the period for the filing of COCs, a total of 97 individuals manifested their intention to run for president, while 29 did so for vice president.

On November 9, Duterte withdrew from the mayoral race in Davao. On November 11, she resigned from Hugpong ng Pagbabago and subsequently joined Lakas–CMD on the same day. She filed her candidacy for the vice presidential post on November 13, 2021, substituting Lyle Fernando Uy. Partido Federal ng Pilipinas adopted Duterte as their vice presidential candidate. Dela Rosa and Go both withdrew their candidacies on the same day. A few days later, Go launched his campaign for the presidential post. Go explained that he withdrew his bid to run for vice president, to avoid complicating Sara Duterte's vice presidential campaign. President Duterte was reported to be his running mate and was to file his candidacy on November 15, but filed for senator instead.

Upon filing his candidacy on November 15 via substitution, presidential aspirant and former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson Antonio Parlade Jr. accused fellow presidential aspirant Senator Bong Go of controlling Duterte's decisions. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana dismissed Parlade's claim, calling it baseless.

On November 18, 2021, President Duterte claimed that an unnamed presidential aspirant from a well-known family was using cocaine and added that the aspirant is a "weak leader" and "not a very strong leader, except for his name, the father." The next day, presidential aspirants reacted on Duterte's statement. Leni Robredo and Leody de Guzman said that the government should file charges against the candidate allegedly using cocaine. Isko Moreno and Panfilo Lacson denied that the statement alluded to them. A report speculated that his statement was alluded to Bongbong Marcos, but Marcos' camp dismissed Duterte's claims. Lacson and Sotto, Marcos and Duterte, and Moreno and Ong all subsequently took drug tests and tested negative, while Pacquiao presented a negative drug test from the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Robredo, Go, and de Guzman expressed their willingness to undergo a drug test.

On November 30, 2021, Go announced his intention to withdraw his candidacy for the presidency, without any substitute. He earlier expressed his doubts about his presidential run on November 25. The COMELEC stated that Go has to personally file his statement of withdrawal. He officially withdrew on December 14.

On January 17, 2022, the commission's second division dismissed the petition cancelling Marcos's candidacy. The petitioners cited Marcos's conviction on violating the National Internal Revenue Code when he didn't file income tax returns in the early 1980s when he was governor of Ilocos Norte, which allegedly carried the punishment of perpetual disqualification from public office. The commission ruled that when the crime was committed, it didn't carry the punishment cited by the petitioners, so Marcos did not misrepresent certificate of candidacy where he stated that he was not convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. Marcos has a separate disqualification case in the first division; its release of the decision was delayed when several of its staffers tested positive for COVID-19.

On January 22, 2022, The Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews premiered on GMA. Moreno, Robredo, Lacson, and Pacquiao participated in the interview, while Marcos refused to take part; his camp stated that Soho is "biased" against him. GMA later responded to the allegation and refuted his camp's statement. In a separate interview in One PH, Marcos equated bias with being "anti-Marcos," adding that it was useless as he was not going to answer issues about his father's presidency.

On January 23, 2022, as part of its efforts against online disinformation, Twitter suspended more than 300 accounts. Rappler has alleged that the accounts were linked to Marcos, although his camp has denied the claims.

Candidates

Main article: Candidates in the 2022 Philippine presidential election

The Commission on Elections released the official list of candidates on January 25, 2022, although it was finalized nine days before. Some candidates can still be disqualified but still appear on the ballot; candidates can still be disqualified until their proclamation. This is ordered by the surname of the presidential candidate.

Presidential candidate				Vice presidential candidate				Campaign
Candidate name and party			Most recent political position	Candidate name and party			Most recent political position
		Ernesto Abella Independent	Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs for Strategic Communications and Research (2017–2021)	none
		Leody de Guzman PLM	No prior public office			Walden Bello PLM	House representative for Akbayan (2007–2015)	Details
		Norberto Gonzales PDSP	Secretary of National Defense (2009–2010)	none
		Panfilo Lacson Independent	Senator (Incumbent since 2016)			Tito Sotto NPC	Senate President (Incumbent since 2019)	File:Panfilo Lacson 2022 campaign logo.png Details
		Faisal Mangondato Katipunan	No prior public office			Carlos Serapio Katipunan	Councilman of Catanghalan, Obando, Bulacan
		Bongbong Marcos PFP	Senator (2010–2016)			Sara Duterte Lakas	Mayor of Davao City (Incumbent since 2016)	Details
		Jose Montemayor Jr. DPP	No prior public office			Rizalito David DPP	No prior public office
		Isko Moreno Aksyon	Mayor of Manila (Incumbent since 2019)			Willie Ong Aksyon	No prior public office	Details
		Manny Pacquiao PROMDI	Senator (Incumbent since 2016)			Lito Atienza PROMDI	House representative for Buhay (Incumbent since 2013)	Details
		Leni Robredo Independent	Vice President (Incumbent since 2016)			Francis Pangilinan Liberal	Senator (Incumbent since 2016)	Details
none						Manny SD Lopez WPP	No prior public office

Ernesto Abella (Independent)

Ernesto Abella said he was running since "ordinary people were being set aside", and that he was running as an independent since the ruling PDP–Laban did not choose him as their standard bearer. He later said that he was confident of not being declared as a nuisance candidate.

His platform is centered on three main pillars: "a fair society, a government that is felt by the people, and a strong nation." He plans to push for more public participation in government affairs. He also plans to prioritize job creation and the agricultural sector in the country.

Leody de Guzman (PLM)

Main article: Leody de Guzman 2022 presidential campaign

Leody de Guzman, chairman of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, a progressive labor group, ran for senator in 2019 and lost. De Guzman is running for president this time under the Partido Lakas ng Masa.

According to his running mate, their vision for the country is democratic socialism. He is running on a platform based on labor and social issues. Some of his advocacies include repealing the TRAIN and CREATE taxation laws as well as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, pushing for the increase of minimum wage, implementing a universal basic income, and legalizing divorce and same-sex marriage, among others.

Walden Bello (PLM)

The Laban ng Masa (transl. Struggle of the Masses) coalition launched a campaign to collect 300,000 signatures to urge activist and former party-list lawmaker Walden Bello to run for president in the 2022 elections. In a statement, Laban ng Masa said it wants to "push for an ambitious platform that focuses on the poor, prioritizes the neglected, and fights for the rights of ordinary Filipinos." Bello's group sought talks with Vice President Robredo's backers for three months but were ignored. This caused them to support Leody de Guzman's presidential candidacy, instead.

Later in October 20, Bello decided to run for the vice presidency, substituting Raquel Castillo who was supposed to be de Guzman's running mate.

Norberto Gonzales (PDSP)

Former secretary of National Defense Norberto Gonzales said that his campaign is "new and more politically mature approach to winning the nation's heart and its consent to govern." He filed his candidacy on October 6, 2021, under the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas. His platform is focused on making significant changes in the country's government, such as making all regions of the Philippines autonomous and shifting from a presidential system to a parliamentary system.

Panfilo Lacson (Independent)

Main article: Panfilo Lacson 2022 presidential campaign

In July 2021, Senate President Tito Sotto confirmed that Panfilo Lacson will run for president in a tandem with him. On September 8, the duo announced their candidacies for the upcoming election. He filed his candidacy under the Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma. On 24 March 2022, Lacson resigned from Partido Reporma and became an independent candidate after the said party switched its endorsement to Robredo.

If elected, he plans to restore trust in the government, with a platform that revolves around addressing corruption. He plans to initiate an anti-corruption drive, reform the national budget, and digitalize government services.

Tito Sotto (NPC)

In July 2021, Tito Sotto announced that he will be Lacson's eventual running mate in the presidential race; this was followed by an official campaign announcement on September 8, 2021.

Faisal Mangondato (Katipunan)

Magondato, who ran for senator in 2019 and lost, filed to run for president on October 4 under the Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi. He plans to push for federalism in the Philippines, planning to make a provisional government for three years to complete the shift.

Carlos Serapio (Katipunan)

Serapio, Magondato's running mate, said that he will push for federalism in the Philippines if he wins.

Bongbong Marcos (PFP)

Main article: Bongbong Marcos 2022 presidential campaign

On October 5, 2021, Marcos announced his presidential candidacy. Initially nominated by four parties, Marcos chose to run under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas. He resigned from the Nacionalistas and was sworn in at the PFP chairman on the same day. Marcos ultimately filed his presidential candidacy under the PFP on October 6.

Marcos faces seven petitions against his bid. The electoral commission dismissed the petition declaring him a nuisance candidate on early December. They also dismissed another petition which claims Marcos Jr. died decades ago and an impostor took his place. The consolidated disqualification case against him was dismissed on February 10, 2022, although one of the petitioners have filed a motion for reconsideration. The last petition against his candidacy was dismissed on April 20, 2022.

His platform is centered on uniting the country, emphasizing the need for unity to recover from the pandemic. If elected, he plans to prioritize job creation, infrastructure development, modernization of the agricultural and industrial sectors, improving healthcare, and support for small and medium-sized enterprises. He also promises to continue President Duterte's policies.

Sara Duterte (Lakas)

On July 9, 2021, Davao City mayor Sara Duterte said that she is open to run for president. However, there was no final decision yet. On September 9, 2021, she said that she is not running for president since her father, President Duterte was running for vice president, and they agreed that only one of them will run on a national position. On November 11, she resigned from Hugpong ng Pagbabago and later joined Lakas–CMD on the same day. She filed her candidacy on November 13, 2021, substituting Lyle Fernando Uy. Partido Federal ng Pilipinas adopted Duterte as their vice presidential candidate as Bongbong Marcos' running mate. Lakas and Duterte then announced that they are supporting Marcos' presidential bid; PDP–Laban first turned down her appeal for support.

Jose Montemayor Jr. (DPP)

Cardiologist Jose Montemayor Jr. filed his candidacy on October 1, 2021, under the Democratic Party of the Philippines. He vows to eliminate COVID-19, corruption, and criminality once he becomes president.

Rizalito David (DPP)

David filed his candidacy on October 8. David was most notable for losing a quo warranto petition against Grace Poe in the 2016 election.

Isko Moreno (Aksyon)

Main article: Isko Moreno 2022 presidential campaign

At the start of 2021, pollster Pulse Asia published an opinion poll showing Isko Moreno in second place for president, and statistically tied for first with President Duterte in the vice presidential race. The 1Sambayan convenors group then included Moreno as one of the people they are choosing to run for president. Moreno begged off, as he was concentrating on his mayoral duties. By June, Moreno informed them that they are declining their offer. On September, Moreno was named president of Aksyon Demokratiko, the party founded by the late Raul Roco. Moreno announced his candidacy on September 22; his running mate will be Dr. Willie Ong.

Some of Moreno proposed policies include maintaining the Duterte administration's "Build! Build! Build! Program", additional public housing, development of agriculture, tourism and creative industries, strengthening of policies in healthcare and education, maintaining peaceful international relations, and ending divisive politics in favor of an "open governance" rooted in "competence" over "connections".

Willie Ong (Aksyon)

Ong will be the running mate of Moreno; their ticket was officially announced on September 22, 2021.

Manny Pacquiao (PROMDI)

Main article: Manny Pacquiao 2022 presidential campaign

On September 19, Pacquiao accepted the nomination of the PDP-Laban faction led by senator Koko Pimentel. On October 1, 2021, Pacquiao filed his certificate of candidacy for the presidency under PROMDI, the party founded by the late Cebu governor Lito Osmeña.

His platform is centered around the impoverished. If elected, he plans to initiate housing programs for the poor, eliminating corruption, economic development, and healthcare reform.

Lito Atienza (PROMDI)

Buhay Party-List representative Lito Atienza was chosen by Pacquiao as his vice presidential running mate.

Leni Robredo (Independent)

Main article: Leni Robredo 2022 presidential campaign

On September 30, 2021, the 1Sambayan coalition (the coalition of the opposition), nominated Robredo as their standard bearer. According to Armin Luistro, one of the conveyor of 1Sambayan, Robredo accepted the nomination and will file her candidacy on October 5. Robredo's spokesman clarified that she hasn't accepted a decision yet, but will make a decision on this before October 8. On October 7, Robredo accepted the nomination and announced she will run for president. She later filed her certificate of candidacy on the same day as an independent. Robredo explained that she is running as an independent to show that she is open to making alliances.

Her platform is focused on good governance and transparency. She plans to prioritize healthcare and the economy. Some of her proposals include improving the quality of education in the country, developing the country's industries, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, providing stable employment, strengthening the country's healthcare system, and implementing more anti-corruption measures.

Francis Pangilinan (Liberal)

In June 2021, Pangilinan announced that he was seeking reelection to the Senate. After Vice President Robredo announced her presidential candidacy, several sources from the Liberal Party indicated that the senator would be her running mate for her presidential bid. Pangilinan filed his candidacy for vice president a day after Robredo.

He is promising food security to all if elected as vice president.

Standalone vice presidential candidate

Manny Lopez (WPP)

Manny SD Lopez said that if elected vice president, he'd prefer to head the Department of Foreign Affairs or the Department of Trade and Industry.

Debates and forums

Main article: 2022 Philippine presidential debates

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) confirmed that they will organize debates for both candidates running for president and vice-president. Unlike the debates in the 2016 elections, three presidential debates, three vice-presidential debates will be held. Candidates will be following safety protocols stated by Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) with no audience participation due to the risks of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

A few weeks later, the commission said that in addition to the three debates each per position, they will hold a primary debate, as a teaser of sorts for the upcoming debates per position. They will also organize the debates themselves, a deviation from 2016 where they let the media organizations organize it. By January 2022, the commission said they might forego with the teaser debates, as the number of candidates have been reduced to a more manageable number.

The commission, under the law, cannot mandate candidates to join debates though the commission does expect candidates to attend debates that the commission themselves organize, as it presents them with massive exposure, and that it is not counted on the limits of the airtime that they are allowed to advertise on broadcast networks.

The presidential debate organized by Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) was noted for the non attendance of several candidates. Manny Pacquiao declined to participate due to the indictment of Apollo Quiboloy, leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ which is affiliated with SMNI, allegedly for sex trafficking by the United States federal government. Panfilo Lacson on his part declined due to Quiboloy having already openly endorsed the candidacy of Bongbong Marcos while Leni Robredo and Isko Moreno cited scheduling conflicts and prior commitments for their non-attendance.

This comes at the heels of Marcos declining an invitation of CNN Philippines for their presidential debate, citing prior commitments. Marcos had earlier declined joining the forum organized by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (the broadcasters association) for the same reason.

SMNI also planned to hold a vice presidential debate on February 22, 2022. The debate was later cancelled to make way for a second presidential debate. Prior to its cancellation, two candidates, Sotto and Pangilinan, declined to participate.

Legend

P  Participated  A  Absent  NI  Not invited

Opinion polling

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2022 Philippine presidential election

Opinion polling, commonly known as "surveys" in the Philippines, is conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS), Pulse Asia, OCTA Research, and other third-party pollsters.

The tables below the latest five polls that were administered.

For president

Fieldwork date(s)	Pollster	Sample size	MoE	Abella Ind.	De Guzman PLM	Gonzales PDSP	Lacson Ind.	Mangondato Katipunan	Marcos PFP	Montemayor DPP	Moreno Aksyon	Pacquiao PROMDI	Robredo Ind.	Others	Und./ None	Ref.
May 9	Election results	56,097,722	N/A	0.21	0.17	0.17	1.66	0.56	58.77	0.11	3.59	6.81	27.94	N/A
Exit poll	Publicus Asia	29,024		—	—	—	3	—	58	—	6	7	25	1	—	—
May 2–5	Publicus Asia	1,500	±3.0%	1	2	1	4	—	54	—	8	2	22	0	6 / 0	—
Apr 22–30	Mobilis–TruthWatch	2,400	±2%	—	—	—	2	—	55	—	3	5	32	1	—	—
Apr 22–25	OCTA	2,400	±2%	—	0.2	0.2	2	1	58	—	8	5	25	—	0.1 / 0.04	0.3
Apr 19–21	Publicus Asia	1,500	±3.0%	1	2	0	4	—	57	—	6	2	21	0	6 / 0	—
Apr 16–21	Pulse Asia	2,400	±2.0%	1	0.3	0.1	2	1	56	0.1	4	7	23	—	— / 1	5

For vice president

Fieldwork date(s)	Pollster	Sample size	MoE	Atienza PROMDI	Bello PLM	David DPP	Duterte Lakas	Lopez WPP	Ong Aksyon	Pangilinan LP	Serapio Katipunan	Sotto NPC	Others	Und./ None	Ref.
May 9	Election results	56,097,722	N/A	0.52	0.19	0.11	61.53	0.31	3.59	17.82	0.17	15.76	N/A
Exit poll	Publicus Asia	29,024		—	—	—	67	—	4	16	—	11	2	—	—
May 2–5	Publicus Asia	1,500	±3.0%	1	1	—	59	—	9	16	—	9	0	4 / 1	—
Apr 22–30	Mobilis–TruthWatch	2,400	±2%	1	—	—	55	—	4	13	—	24	3	—	—
Apr 22–25	OCTA	2,400	±2.0%	1	0.03	—	56	0.1	4	16	0.001	22	—	0.5 / 0.7	0.1
Apr 19–21	Publicus Asia	1,500	±3.0%	1	1	—	59	—	8	15	—	9	—	6 / 1	—
Apr 16–21	Pulse Asia	2,400	±2.0%	0.5	0.4	0.1	55	1	3	16	0.3	18	—	— / 1	5

Campaign

"Vote-rich provinces," or provinces and Metro Manila as a whole that have more than one million voters. Nationally elected candidates and parties typically campaign in these areas to reduce costs.

Candidates began their campaign-related activities such as motorcades, gatherings and caravans as early as late 2021, even before the mandated start of the campaign period by the COMELEC.

Ticket	Colors	Campaign manager	Slogan		Details
			Original Tagalog	English translation
Abella			"Bagong Pilipino, Bagong Pilipinas"	"New Filipinos, New Philippines"
de Guzman/Bello	Red	Sonny Melencio	"Manggagawa Naman!"	"Workers' turn!"	Details
Gonzales	Blue and red		"Puso, Giting at Dangal ng Pilipino"	"Heart, Courage and Honor of the Filipino"
Lacson/Sotto	Blue	Ronaldo Puno	"Aayusin ang Gobyerno, Aayusin ang Buhay Mo"	"[We'll] fix the government, fix your life"	Details
Marcos/Duterte	Red and green	Benjamin Abalos Jr.	"Sama-sama tayong babangon muli."	"Together, we shall rise again."	Details
Montemayor/David			"Sa gabay ng Diyos, ang Bansa ay aayos"	"With God's guidance, the nation will be orderly."
Moreno/Ong	White and blue	Lito Banayo	"Tunay Na Solusyon, Mabilis Umaksyon!"	"Real solution, quick to take action!"	Details
Pacquiao/Atienza	Blue	Salvador Zamora II	"Panalo ang Mahirap, Panalo ang Pilipino!"	"The poor win, the Filipino wins!"	Details
Robredo/Pangilinan	Pink and green	Bam Aquino	"Gobyernong Tapat, Angat Buhay Lahat"	"[With an] honest government, a better life for all"	Details

Issues

The election will be held amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely damaged the country's economy. According to Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the succeeding administration will face four main issues: debt management, inflation caused by global shortages, pandemic-induced inequalities, and climate change. Other key issues include the continuance of President Rodrigo Duterte's policies and the country's relationship with both China and the United States.

Former senator Bongbong Marcos, despite not being endorsed and even having been criticized by the president, promises broad continuity of his policies, vowing to promote foreign investment and continue infrastructure development alongside some of Duterte's controversial programs. He has placed his platform mainly on ushering unity among Filipinos. Being the son and namesake of former president Ferdinand Marcos, Marcos' candidacy faces stiff opposition from various groups due to his father's regime's human rights abuses and widespread corruption.

Incumbent vice president Leni Robredo is considered to be Marcos' rival, having won by a narrow margin against him in the 2016 vice presidential election. Robredo, a critic of Duterte's policies, is offering a platform based on good governance and transparency. She is leaning on her experience as a human rights lawyer and development worker.

Meanwhile, Manila mayor Isko Moreno has positioned himself as a centrist alternative to both Marcos and Robredo, promising to make an "inclusive and open government" including many viewpoints. He is leaning on his experience as mayor, vowing to duplicate in the country what he has done in Manila. Senator Manny Pacquiao is running on an anti-corruption platform and positioning himself as the candidate of the masses, pledging to initiate programs for the poor if he is elected.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, who is banking on his long tenure as a government official, is campaigning based on a law and order platform similar to Duterte's in 2016; his messaging is centered around restoring trust in the government.

Start of campaign period for national positions

• 
  Bongbong Marcos campaigning in Makati
• 
  Isko Moreno and Willie Ong campaigning in Navotas
• 
  Leni Robredo and Francis Pangilinan campaigning at the Quezon Memorial Circle
• 
  Manny Pacquiao campaigning in Marikina City
• 
  Panfilo Lacson and Tito Sotto at a town hall meeting in Pasig

Presidential tickets held their proclamation rallies on February 8, 2022, the start of the campaign period for national positions. Prior to that, the ticket of Faisal Mangondato and Carlos Serapio had their prayer proclamation during the prior weekend in Baguio. The Marcos and Duterte tandem started their campaign at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan. Robredo and Pangilinan held their rally in Plaza Quezon, Naga, Robredo's hometown, on February 8.

Isko Moreno and Willie Ong kicked off their campaign at the Kartilya ng Katipunan just outside Manila City Hall. The Lacson and Sotto tandem held their proclamation rally at the Imus Grandstand in Imus, Cavite, Lacson's hometown. Pacquiao and Atienza commenced their campaign at the Oval Plaza in General Santos, where Pacquiao grew up. The de Guzman and Bello tandem launched their campaign at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City.

Ernesto Abella had his proclamation rally in Dasmariñas, Cavite, while the Montemayor and David ticket started their campaign in Pasay. President Duterte, on his Talk to the People TV show, notably did not endorse a candidate going into the campaign period, saying that "at this time, I am saying that I am not supporting anybody."

While most tickets had their proclamation rallies in the respective hometowns of the presidential candidate, the Marcos campaign explained that they chose the Philippine Arena so as to seat their thousands of supporters, of which 25,000 tickets were made available. Meanwhile, Lito Atienza failed to make it to General Santos as he suffered an injury prior to the event. Prior to their rally, the Partido Lakas ng Masa failed to secure a permit from the Commission on Elections to hold it at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani. De Guzman said that there were missing documentation that caused them not to be given one. A rally without a permit is grounds for disqualifying a candidate.

Aside from the listed presidential tickets, other tandems have been pushed. Representative Joey Salceda has pushed for a "Leni–Sara" (ROSA) tandem, him endorsing Robredo in their campaign in Albay, while endorsing Duterte the next day. In Mindanao, an "Isko–Sara" (ISSA) tandem was promoted when Moreno had a campaign rally in there, where his running mate Willie Ong skipped. The Moreno campaign defended Ong's absence, saying that the ISSA tarpaulins would have brought him into an awkward situation.

By mid-March, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) confirmed reports that Aksyon Demokratiko, Moreno's political party, asked if they had demanded the estate of Ferdinand Marcos, Bongbong's father and former president, to pay the ₱203 billion-peso (US$3.8 billion) tax liabilities. Marcos's camp had earlier said that the case is under litigation, with the younger Marcos himself stating that "There’s a lot of fake news involved there." The Presidential Commission on Good Government, the agency tasked with recovering the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses, denied that the case in under litigation, saying that the judgment was "as early as 1997, the judgment on the tax case had become final and executory." In the first PiliPinas Debates 2022, Moreno, Robredo, Lacson and de Guzman called on the heirs of the elder Marcos, including the younger Marcos who did not attend the debate, to pay the estate and income taxes owed to the state.

On March 24, 2022, amid reports of Partido Reporma and its key officials rescinding their endorsement of Lacson and endorsing another candidate, Lacson resigned as Partido Reporma chairman. He will no longer be the party's standard bearer, thus making him an independent candidate, although Reporma will still be his party in the ballots and will be used to determine the dominant party if he wins. The party's president, Pantaleon Alvarez, later announced that they will be endorsing Robredo for president. Sotto remains as Reporma's vice presidential candidate.

Sources inside the party stated that Lacson already knew about the switch weeks prior, but was permitted to resign as a way to save face. Lacson later claimed that Alvarez' withdrawal of support stemmed from his inability to provide ₱800 million in additional funding for Reporma's local candidates, which Alvarez denies. Some Reporma officials, including founder and chairman emeritus, Renato de Villa, have maintained their support for Lacson.

Start of campaign period for local positions

On March 31, Lito Atienza, who has not been able to campaign after figuring in an accident, said that he was seriously considering withdrawing to push for Pacquiao–Sotto tandem to defeat the Marcos–Duterte ticket. To this end, he urged Panfilo Lacson to withdraw so that he will withdraw too. Lacson rebuffed the offer, saying that Atienza should learn some manners. Atienza said he felt insulted by Lacson's reply to his suggestion. A week later, Atienza publicly apologized to Lacson, saying he did not expect Lacson's reaction to his suggestion to be that way. Lacson then accepted Atienza's apology.

On April 9, Lacson revealed that the camp of vice president Robredo had asked him to withdraw in favor of a Robredo–Sotto tandem. He also claimed that Moreno and Pacquiao were given similar offers to withdraw in favor of Robredo. He later revealed the person who had asked him to withdraw was former Quezon City mayor Jun Simon. Robredo's camp denied the claims, stating that no moves were made by their camp and that Simon was unauthorized to represent her campaign.

On April 16, three presidential candidates, Gonzales, Lacson, and Moreno, held a press conference affirming that they will not withdraw their candidacies despite several calls for them to back down in favor of another candidate. The three candidates, as well as Pacquiao, also signed a joint statement declaring their intention to continue their candidacies. According to Lacson, they held the press conference to remind voters that the election was not a two-way race between Marcos and Robredo. They criticized an unnamed group for allegedly offering money in exchange for their withdrawal and for stripping them of their support groups, although Moreno mentioned the "pink" and "yellow" as perpetrators, both of which are associated with Robredo.

Moreno chastised Robredo for breaking her promise not to run and called her untrustworthy after purportedly "fooling" them during unification talks. Lacson also questioned Robredo's character after some of her campaign staff were allegedly amenable to dropping her running mate, Pangilinan, in exchange for more votes in some provinces. Moreno later called for her to withdraw instead, asserting that Robredo only ran to defeat Marcos, not for the country. Robredo's camp later released a statement questioning the purpose of the press conference, calling the event unnecessary "theatrics," and rejected Moreno's call for her to withdraw from the race. The camp asked, "Who benefits from such theatrics?", adding they were thankful "that the alignments have been made even clearer."

DPP's Rizalito David, who had earlier endorsed his rival vice presidential candidate Sotto for that position, endorsed in COMELEC's PiliPinas Forum 2022, in front of his presidential running mate Jose Montemayor Jr., Robredo for president, calling frontrunners Marcos and Duterte as "clear and present danger" to the country. David did not withdraw from the election.

Miting de avance

Marcos

Robredo

Moreno

De Guzman

class=notpageimage|

Miting de avances in Metro Manila.

Marcos

Marcos

Robredo

Pacquiao

Pacquiao

Lacson

class=notpageimage|

Miting de avances outside Metro Manila.

The "miting de avance" is the final political rally of the candidates, usually held on the last day of the campaign period or two days before election day. Some candidates have opted to hold multiple mitings de avance.

Marcos' miting de avance was held in front of Solaire in Bay City in Pasay on May 7. Prior to that, he held two mitings de avance, one in Guimbal, Iloilo on May 3, and another on May 5 in Tagum, Davao del Norte. In total, the Marcos campaign held three mitings de avance, one for each island group of the country. Meanwhile, Robredo capped her campaign at her miting de avance on Ayala Avenue and Makati Avenue near the Manila Peninsula in Makati on May 7, preceded by a miting de avance at Magsaysay Avenue in Naga on May 6.

Moreno held his miting de avance in Tondo, Manila. Pacquiao held two mitings de avance, one in Cebu City on May 6 and another in General Santos on May 7. The Lacson campaign held their miting de avance in Carmona, Cavite on May 6. They originally planned to hold a miting de avance in Plaza Miranda on May 7, but cancelled it due to time constraints.

De Guzman held his miting de avance on May 4 at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

Results

Starting in 2010 with automated elections, preliminary results have been known overnight. However, official results will be canvassed by the Congress of the Philippines in late May. They are also required to declare a winner 30 days after the election, pursuant to the constitution.

For president

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Bongbong Marcos	Partido Federal ng Pilipinas	31,629,783	58.77
	Leni Robredo	Independent	15,035,773	27.94
	Manny Pacquiao	PROMDI	3,663,113	6.81
	Isko Moreno	Aksyon Demokratiko	1,933,909	3.59
	Panfilo Lacson	Independent	892,375	1.66
	Faisal Mangondato	Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi	301,629	0.56
	Ernesto Abella	Independent	114,627	0.21
	Leody de Guzman	Partido Lakas ng Masa	93,027	0.17
	Norberto Gonzales	Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas	90,656	0.17
	Jose Montemayor Jr.	Democratic Party of the Philippines	60,592	0.11
Total			53,815,484	100.00
Valid votes			53,815,484	96.05
Invalid/blank votes			2,213,371	3.95
Total votes			56,028,855	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			67,523,697	82.98
Source: Congress (vote totals); COMELEC (election day turnout, absentee turnout)

For vice president

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Sara Duterte	Lakas–CMD	32,208,417	61.53
	Francis Pangilinan	Liberal Party	9,329,207	17.82
	Tito Sotto	Nationalist People's Coalition	8,251,267	15.76
	Willie Ong	Aksyon Demokratiko	1,878,531	3.59
	Lito Atienza	PROMDI	270,381	0.52
	Manny SD Lopez	Labor Party Philippines	159,670	0.31
	Walden Bello	Partido Lakas ng Masa	100,827	0.19
	Carlos Serapio	Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi	90,989	0.17
	Rizalito David	Democratic Party of the Philippines	56,711	0.11
Total			52,346,000	100.00
Valid votes			52,346,000	93.43
Invalid/blank votes			3,682,855	6.57
Total votes			56,028,855	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			67,523,697	82.98
Source: Congress (vote totals); COMELEC (election day turnout, absentee turnout)