The 2016 Philippine House of Representatives elections were the 34th lower house elections in the Philippines. They were held on May 9, 2016, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the Philippines. The winning candidates were to comprise the House's contingent in the 17th Congress of the Philippines that would serve from June 30, 2016, to June 30, 2019.

Quick Facts Party, % ...

2016 Philippine House of Representatives elections

← 2013 May 9, 2016 (2016-05-09) 2019 →

All 297 seats to the House of Representatives of the Philippines 149 seats needed for a majority

Congressional district elections

Party % Seats +/– Liberal 41.72 115 +6 NPC 17.04 42 0 NUP 9.67 23 −1 Nacionalista 9.42 24 +6 UNA 6.62 11 +3 PDP–Laban 1.90 3 +3 Lakas 1.54 4 −10 Asenso Manileño 0.50 2 +2 Kusog Baryohanon 0.46 1 +1 Partido Tinig ng Masa 0.39 1 +1 PCM 0.38 1 +1 Bukidnon Paglaum 0.35 1 0 Lingap Lugud 0.34 1 +1 LDP 0.30 2 0 AR 0.23 1 +1 KABAKA 0.19 1 0 Independent 5.83 4 −2 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Party-list election

Party % Seats +/– Ako Bicol 5.14 3 +1 Gabriela 4.22 2 0 1-Pacman 4.05 2 +2 ACT Teachers 3.65 2 +1 Senior Citizens 3.05 2 0 KABAYAN 2.60 2 +2 Agri-Agra 2.58 2 +1 PBA 2.41 2 +2 Buhay 2.35 2 −1 Abono 2.26 2 0 Anak Mindanao 2.18 2 +1 Coop-NATCCO 2.07 2 0 Akbayan 1.88 1 −1 Bayan Muna 1.87 1 −1 AGAP 1.83 1 −1 An Waray 1.82 1 −1 CIBAC 1.72 1 −1 AAMBIS-Owa 1.53 1 0 Kalinga 1.53 1 0 A TEACHER 1.47 1 −1 YACAP 1.46 1 0 DIWA 1.44 1 0 TUCP 1.44 1 0 Abang Lingkod 1.44 1 0 LPGMA 1.44 1 0 ALONA 1.34 1 +1 SAGIP 1.23 1 0 Butil 1.22 1 0 ACTS-OFW 1.16 1 +1 Anakpawis 1.13 1 +1 Ang Kabuhayan 1.08 1 +1 ANGKLA 1.04 1 0 Ang Mata'y Alagaan 1.02 1 +1 1-CARE 1.02 1 −1 ANAC-IP 0.98 1 0 ABS 0.93 1 0 Kabataan 0.93 1 0 Bagong Henerasyon 0.92 1 +1 AASENSO 0.91 1 +1 SBP 0.87 1 +1 Magdalo 0.86 1 −1 Una ang Edukasyon 0.86 1 +1 Manila Teachers 0.83 1 +1 Kusug Tausug 0.76 1 +1 Aangat Tayo 0.75 1 +1 Agbiag 0.74 1 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Election results; map refers to results from congressional districts, with Metro Manila at the inset, while the boxes to the right represent party-list seats. Speaker before Speaker after Feliciano Belmonte Jr. Liberal Pantaleon Alvarez PDP–Laban

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The House of Representatives elections were part of the 2016 general election where elections for President, Vice President, Senators, and all local officials, including those from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, were also held.

The Philippines uses parallel voting in its lower house elections. There are 297 seats in the House; 238 of these are district representatives, and 59 are party-list representatives. The law mandates that there should be one party-list representative for every four district representatives. District representatives are elected under the plurality voting system from single-member districts. Party-list representatives are elected via the nationwide vote with a 2% "soft" election threshold, with a 3-seat cap. The party in the party-list election with the most votes usually wins three seats, the other parties with more than 2% of the vote two seats, and the parties with less than 2% of the vote winning a seat each if the 20% quota is not met.

The election for seats in the House of Representatives is done via parallel voting. A voter has two votes: one for one's local district, and another via the party-list system. A candidate is not allowed to stand for both ballots, and parties participating in the district elections would have to ask for permission on the Commission on Elections, with major parties not allowed to participate, in the party-list election.

Reapportioning (redistricting) the number of seats is either via national reapportionment after the release of every census, or via piecemeal redistricting for every province or city. National reapportionment has not happened since the 1987 constitution took effect, and aside from piecemeal redistricting, the apportionment was based on the ordinance from the constitution, which was in turn based from the 1980 census.

These are currently 5 new districts that shall be contested in 2016:

• Davao Occidental

  No seat was added as the part of the old 2nd district of Davao del Sur shall be absorbed by its lone district, while the remainder became the province of Davao Occidental

• Biñan, alternatively the fifth district of Laguna
• Legislative districts of Batangas
  • Batangas City district designated as its fifth district
  • Lipa district designated as its sixth district
• Cebu–7th

These are House (HB) and Senate (SB) Bills that pertains to redistricting:

There are 69 open seats in the House from incumbents that are term-limited and were not running.

President Benigno Aquino III's Liberal Party emerged with the party having the plurality of seats in the House of Representatives, winning more than a hundred seats. Meanwhile, in the presidential election, Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) emerged with an insurmountable lead over the Liberals' Mar Roxas.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist People's Coalition finished second in number of seats won, followed by the Nacionalista Party, National Unity Party, United Nationalist Alliance, Lakas–CMD, PDP–Laban, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino and Aksyon Demokratiko. Several local parties also won seats, along with a handful of independents.

While PDP–Laban just won three seats, several members of the Liberal Party immediately abandoned that party in favor of PDP–Laban. PDP–Laban also signed coalition agreements with all major parties, including the Liberal Party, ensuring that they would have the numbers once the 17th Congress of the Philippines opens in late July.

After proclamations were held for district representatives, three people were seen to have a chance in becoming speaker. These include PDP–Laban's Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte, National Unity Party (NUP)'s Karlo Nograles of Davao City, and incumbent speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. of Quezon City.^[9]

Duterte chose PDP–Laban's Alvarez, a returning congressman, over Nograles as his preferred candidate for the speakership. Nograles gave way to Alvarez, to secure a "super majority" in Congress, while keeping the minority bloc to about 20 members.^[10]

Alvarez and defeated senatorial candidate Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, chairman of the Lakas–CMD, signed an agreement formalizing their parties' alliance. The Nacionalista Party (NP) also joined the alliance with the PDP–Laban; Duterte's running mate, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, although ran as an independent, is a member of the Nacionalista Party. The Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) have also contacted Alvarez about the speakership election, while Alvarez described a coalition with the NUP as a "done deal".^[11]

The incumbent speaker, the Liberals' Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. of Quezon City expects the support of at least 120 members of the Liberal Party and allies from other parties. Meanwhile, Alvarez hosted a luncheon at the Midas Hotel and Casino on May 18 where 59 representatives attended. Alvarez said that his "Coalition for Change" includes representatives from the PDP–Laban, the NP, NPC, NUP, Lakas, various party-lists, and even from the Liberal Party.^[12]

Days after the Alvarez luncheon, Belmonte conceded the speakership race, saying that Alvarez had the numbers. Alvarez visited Belmonte's home in Quezon City to pave way for a smooth transition of power in the lower house. This was after the NPC affirmed its support for PDP–Laban.^[13] Meanwhile, outgoing Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said that there are some Liberal representatives who won't jump ship to PDP–Laban, but would still vote for Alvarez for the speakership, with the Liberals signing the same coalition agreement with the NPC, which the latter also signed with PDP–Laban.^[14]

Danilo Suarez of Quezon, who ran under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) emerged as Belmonte's primary opponent for the minority leader position. Suarez says he has the support of some 17 lawmakers from UNA, Lakas–CMD, and party-list representatives allied with the former.^[15] While this is happening, the NUP and Lakas announced a coalition that would support Duterte in the lower house, and backed the election of Alvarez for the speakership.^[16]

Alvarez spent the remainder of May consolidating the pro-Duterte forces in the House of Representatives. Belmonte seemed content to lead the opposition in the lower house, rather than joining the majority bloc, saying that "we must have a minority. That's needed."^[17] At least 23 representatives abandoned the Liberal Party for PDP–Laban.^[18] Meanwhile, the NUP signed a coalition agreement with PDP–Laban, joining the Coalition for Change.^[19]