18,100 national, local seats up for grabs in the 2022 Philippine elections

Politicians from across the country will vie for 18,100 elective seats in the 2022 national and local polls, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The total seats as of August 2021 were 18,180, but in October 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the law postponing the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao elections to 2025, thus reducing the number of total seats by 80.

Based on Comelec Resolution No. 10713 released on August 11, these include 77 national posts: 1 president, 1 vice president, 12 senators, and 63 party-list representatives.

The rest are local seats:

253 legislative district representatives
81 governors
81 vice governors
782 provincial board members
146 city mayors
146 city vice mayors
1650 city councilors
1,488 municipal mayors
1,488 municipal vice mayors
11,908 municipal councilors
40 Bangamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao party representatives
32 BARMM parliamentary district representatives
8 BARMM reserved seats and sectoral representatives

Most notably, the number of legislative district seats up for grabs rose to 253 in 2022 from 243 in 2019. That’s due to multiple redistricting laws passed in the 17th Congress and 18th Congress.

These new districts are in Bulacan (2), Caloocan (1), Rizal (2), Bataan (1), and Southern Leyte (1). Santa Rosa City in Laguna, Mandaue City in Cebu, and General Santos City in South Cotabato are also classified as new congressional districts.

The Comelec, however, has said it has yet to determine the allocation of the seats in the BARMM parliamentary elections due to the unavailability of the following: