2001_Philippine_Senate_election
The 2001 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 27th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 14, 2001, to elect 12 of the 24 seats and one mid-term vacancy in the Senate. Independent candidate Noli de Castro, a journalist and former television anchor, was announced as the topnotcher. This became the first synchronized national and local elections held after the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada in January due to a military-backed civilian uprising, popularly known as EDSA II.
The two competing coalitions in this election were the anti-Estrada People Power Coalition and the pro-Estrada Puwersa ng Masa coalition. The PPC was composed of Lakas—National Union of Christian Democrats—United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines, Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma—Lapiang Manggagawa, Aksyon Demokratiko, Probinsya Muna Development Initiative, Liberal Party and Partido Demokratiko Pilipino—Lakas ng Bayan, while the Puwersa ng Masa included Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino and Partido ng Masang Pilipino along with pro-Estrada independent candidates. Twelve seats were supposed to be contested but with the appointment of Teofisto Guingona Jr. as Vice President, the Commission on Elections ruled that the thirteenth-placer candidate would serve the remainder of Guingona's term.
The PPC won eight seats, the Puwersa ng Masa won four, and Noli de Castro as an independent won one; PPC's Ralph Recto edged out Puwersa ng Masa's Gregorio Honasan for the twelfth place and Honasan was elected to serve the remainder of Guingona's term. On February 20, 2007, the Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled that Honasan did lose the election but declared the special election constitutional for the remaining three-year term of Teofisto Guingona Jr.
