Referendums in the Philippines

Referendums in the Philippines are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Referendums can either by national or local in scope. In the Philippines, "referendums" and "plebiscites" mean different things.

Referendum vs. plebiscite

According to the Initiative and Referendum Act, a referendum is "the power of the electorate to approve or reject a legislation through an election called for the purpose." A plebiscite, on the other hand, is "the electoral process by which an initiative on the Constitution is approved or rejected by the people."

The constitution also mandates a referendum for these instances:

• Adoption of a new name for the country, or a new national anthem or a new seal
• Allowing foreign military troops in the Philippines if Congress requires

The constitution requires a plebiscite for these:

• Creation, division, merger, abolishment or major boundary changes of a province, city, municipality or barangay (village).
• Creation of special metropolitan political subdivisions
• Creation of autonomous regions
• Approval of an amendment or revision to the constitution

The Initiative and Referendum Act allows for referendums on these cases:

• A petition of at least 10% of registered voters, with 3% within every legislative district for local initiatives
  • If there is only one legislative district in a province, city or municipality, it has to be 3% within each municipality in a province, or each barangay in a city
  • For barangay initiatives, it has to be at least 10% of registered voters
• A local legislative body can also submit to the electorate approval of any ordinance or resolution

The Initiative and Referendum Act allows for plebiscites on these cases:

• A petition of at least 12% of registered voters, with 3% within every legislative district, for amending the constitution

However, the Supreme Court declared the Initiative and Referendum Act procedures for amending the constitution as fatally defective, although it did not affect the operation of the law for other types of initiatives.

Administration

Referendums and plebiscites, just like other electoral exercises, are administered by the Commission on Elections.

National referendums

Spanish colonial period

In 1599, King Philip II of Spain ordered a referendum in several areas to confirm Spanish sovereignty in the islands. It was approved.

American colonial period

In 1935, the first national plebiscite was held, for the ratification of the 1935 constitution. This was seen as an independence referendum, and those in favor of adoption the constitution overwhelmingly outnumbered those who were opposed.

Two years later, a plebiscite asked women if they wanted suffrage for themselves. Unlike other referendums, 300,000 votes to the affirmative were needed; Filipino women turned out in droves, with more than 447,000 voting for suffrage.

Two years later, a plebiscite asked the people about economic adjustments. These were amendments to the Tydings–McDuffie Act. The people overwhelmingly approved the amendments.

In 1940, a plebiscite asked three questions to the people. These were amendments to the constitution that restored the bicameral Congress, allowed the re-election of the president, and created the Commission on Elections. The people approved all three, but not as overwhelmingly as the 1935 and 1939 plebiscites.

Third Republic

The Americans granted independence to the Philippines on July 4, 1946. Prior to that, Congress passed Commonwealth Act No. 733, the local version of the Bell Trade Act passed by the United States Congress, which include parity rights for both Filipino and American citizens to exploit Philippine natural resources. As this meant amending the constitution, a plebiscite was called after it was passed by the Philippine Congress by much difficulty. Turnout was low, but the measure was approved by the people by a 5:1 margin.

By 1967, there were moves to revise the constitution. Congress passed amendments to the constitution where it increased the number of congressmen, and allowed incumbent members of Congress to sit in the incoming constitutional convention. In a plebiscite held together with the 1967 Senate election, the people overwhelmingly rejected both questions. This was the only time the government lost. A constitutional convention was elected in 1970, and new constitution was put to a plebiscite in 1973.

Martial law and Fourth Republic

President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September 23, 1972. Martial law prevented Congress to convene. The constitutional convention presented to him the draft constitution by December 1972. Meanwhile, some senators have been organizing to convene on the supposed resumption of Congress by January 22, 1973. Marcos then created barangay or citizens' assemblies. These assemblies, instead of via secret ballot, voted via showing of hands on the new constitution, and whether to hold another plebiscite for approving the constitution, from January 10 to 15, 1973. The citizens' assemblies overwhelmingly approved the constitution, and voted not to hold another plebiscite.

Marcos had several more referendums, all being voted by citizens' assemblies, and won on overwhelming margins.

Fifth Republic

Marcos was overthrown after the People Power Revolution, where he was alleged to have cheated during the 1986 presidential election. Corazon Aquino, Marcos's opponent, became president, and did away with the 1973 constitution. She appointed a constitutional commission that drafted a new constitution. This was then approved by the people in a plebiscite in a margin of more than 3:1.

Local plebiscites

Local plebiscites have mostly been for the creation, inclusion to, or division of new autonomous regions, provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays. A group of cities and municipalities (most usually a legislative district) that aim to become provinces have provincehood plebiscites. Municipalities which aim to become cities have cityhood plebiscites, a cluster of barangays which aim to become municipalities have incorporation plebiscites, and a sitio, purok or neighborhood which aim to be come barangays have barangay creation plebiscites. There has also been a plebiscite for renaming a province, and for transferring a provincial capital from one municipality or city to another.

The constitution says that there are two autonomous regions: in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera. Three successful plebiscites in Mindanao have led to the creation of the present-day Bangsamoro via a 2019 plebiscite. In the Cordillera, two plebiscites have failed, the latest in 1998, and it is still treated as a regular administrative region.

This is a list of local plebiscites for the provincial and regional levels.

Date	Location	Proposition	Result
November 12, 1963	Samar	Division of Samar to create the provinces of Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar (renamed in 1969 as "Samar")	Approved by the electorate
November 14, 1967	Agusan	Division of Agusan to create the provinces of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur	Approved by the electorate
November 11, 1969	Nueva Vizcaya	Creation of the Sub-Province of Quirino from Nueva Vizcaya	Approved by the electorate
November 9, 1971	Siquijor	Creation of the Province of Siquijor from a sub-province of Negros Oriental	Approved by the electorate
		Selection of provincial capital	Siquijor was chosen by the electorate
November 9, 1971	Quirino	Creation of the Province of Quirino from a sub-province of Nueva Vizcaya	Approved by the electorate
April 17, 1977	Central Mindanao, Davao del Sur, Palawan, South Cotabato and Western Mindanao	Creation of autonomous regions in Mindanao	Two regions approved by the electorate, except in Davao del Sur, Palawan and South Cotabato where it was rejected
May 20, 1979	Aurora	Creation of the Province of Aurora from a sub-province of Quezon	Approved by the electorate
March 5, 1982	Lanao del Norte	Transfer of the provincial capital from Iligan to Tubod	Approved by the electorate
May 17, 1982	Central Mindanao and Western Mindanao	Merger of Lupong Tagapagpaganap of Regions IX and XII as one executive body
December 18, 1982	Maguindanao	Transfer of the provincial capital from Sultan Kudarat to Maganoy	Approved by the electorate
January 3, 1986	Part of Negros Occidental	Creation of the Province of Negros del Norte	Nullified by the Supreme Court after being approved by the electorate; declared that the province does not meet the requirements of the 1983 Local Government Code, and not including the rest of Negros Occidental in the plebiscite
November 19, 1989	Central Mindanao, Davao del Sur, Palawan, South Cotabato and Western Mindanao	Creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao	Approved by the electorate in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi; rejected elsewhere
January 30, 1990	Cordillera Administrative Region	Creation of the Cordillera Autonomous Region	Nullified by Supreme Court after being approved by the electorate in Ifugao and rejected elsewhere; declared creation of autonomous region with just one province as unconstitutional
May 11, 1992	Biliran	Creation of the Province of Biliran from a sub-province of Leyte	Approved by the electorate
	Guimaras	Creation of the Province of Guimaras from a sub-province of Iloilo	Approved by the electorate
May 8, 1995	Kalinga-Apayao	Division of Kalinga-Apayao to create the provinces of Kalinga and Apayao as sub-provinces of Kalinga-Apayao	Approved by the electorate
June 20, 1995	Isabela	Division of Isabela to create the provinces of Isabela del Norte and Isabela del Sur	Rejected by the electorate
March 8, 1998	Cordillera Administrative Region	Creation of the Cordillera Autonomous Region	Rejected by the electorate
March 8, 1998	Davao del Norte	Creation of the Province of Compostela Valley from Davao del Norte	Approved by the electorate
February 22, 2001	Zamboanga del Sur	Creation of the Province of Zamboanga Sibugay from Zamboanga del Sur	Approved by the electorate
August 14, 2001	Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao	Increased autonomy, expansion of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao	Approved by the electorate in every province
	Central Mindanao, Palawan, Southern Mindanao, Western Mindanao	Inclusion to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao	Approved by the electorate in Basilan and Marawi, rejected elsewhere
October 28, 2006	Maguindanao	Creation of the Province of Shariff Kabunsuan from Maguindanao	Nullified by the Supreme Court after being approved by the electorate; declared creation of legislative districts, and provinces by extension, by a body other than Congress as unconstitutional
December 5, 2006	Surigao del Norte	Creation of the Province of Dinagat Islands from Surigao del Norte	Approved by the electorate; originally nullified by the Supreme Court as the province didn't pass the minimum requirements for becoming a province, but the court reversed its original ruling
December 13, 2008	Quezon	Creation of the Province of Quezon del Sur from Quezon, and renaming the rest of Quezon as "Quezon del Norte"	Rejected by the electorate
October 28, 2013	Davao del Sur	Creation of the Province of Davao Occidental from Davao del Sur	Approved by the electorate
January 21 and February 6, 2019	Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao	Creation of the Bangsamoro	Approved by the electorate
	Basilan, Cotabato City, Lanao del Norte, 7 municipalities in Cotabato	Inclusion to the Bangsamoro	Approved by the electorate in Cotabato City and 63 barangays in Cotabato, rejected elsewhere
December 7, 2019	Compostela Valley	Renaming of the province to "Davao de Oro"	Approved by the electorate
March 13, 2021	Palawan	Division of Palawan to create the provinces of Palawan del Norte, Palawan del Sur, and Palawan Oriental	Rejected by the electorate
September 17, 2022	Maguindanao	Division of Maguindanao to create the provinces of Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur	Approved by the electorate

People's Initiative

Main article: People's Initiative

People's Initiative refers to either a mode for constitutional amendment provided by the 1987 Philippine Constitution or to the act of pushing an initiative (national or local) allowed by the Initiative and Referendum Act of 1987.

While there had been no national people's initiatives, there had been several attempts of one. In 2014, the People's Initiative against pork barrel had 10,000 signatures submitted to the Commission on Elections, but a referendum didn't push through. In 2020, it was theorized that it can be used to grant ABS-CBN a new franchise, but was seen by lawyer Emil Marañon "as legally problematic and practically impossible to hold."

Local initiatives are possible. The first initiative under the Initiative and Referendum Act was in Barangay Miragrosa, Quezon City stopping the continued influx of informal settlers and the sale of illegal drugs in 2011. The initiative passed, with 465 in favor and 384 against, out of 3,665 registered voters eligible to participate.