Local elections were held in Baguio on Monday, May 9, 2022, as a part of the 2022 Philippine general election. Voters will elect candidates for the local elective posts in the city: the mayor, vice mayor, the congressman, and the twelve councilors.
Incumbent Mayor Benjamin Magalong won his re-election bid for the mayoralty race, beating former mayor Mauricio Domogan and former vice mayor Edison Bilog. Incumbent representative Mark Go, also won his bid for a third term. In the vice mayoral race, incumbent Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan also won his re-election bid, defeating incumbent Councilor and ABC President Michael Lawana, Councilor Joel Alangsab and Councilor Elaine Sembrano.[2][3]
There were a total of 139,461 people who voted out of the 168,218 registered voters in the city.[4]
Background
Retired police general Benjamin Magalong won the mayoralty race in 2019,[5] and is seeking re-election for a second term in office.[6] Former mayor Mauricio Domogan, who ran for representative and lost to incumbent representative Mark Go, is seeking a political comeback and is running again for mayor.[7][8]
During the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, Magalong's government was highly praised for its efforts to contain the virus, and was even cited as a model city by the national government.[9] Cities and municipalities around the country invited Magalong where he would share his government's best practices and case analysis approach towards combating the pandemic.[10] In July 2020, President Duterte appointed Magalong as the country's contract tracing czar, tasked with training and intensifying the skillset of contact tracers as well as improve contract tracing systems in the county.[11]
Electoral System
Local elections are held every three years, on the second Monday of May coinciding with the elections for the national positions. An individual may only be elected to an office for a maximum of three consecutive terms.
Mayoral and Vice Mayoral Elections
The first-past-the-post voting system is used to determine the mayor wherein the candidate with the most votes, whether or not one has a majority, wins the mayoralty.
The vice mayoral election is held separately but does observe the same rules. Voters are given the option to vote for candidates from different parties.
House of Representatives Elections
The city is a lone district and elects a representative through the first-past-the-post voting system wherein the candidate with the most votes, whether or not one has a majority, wins the seat.
City Council Elections
In the City Council, the city is represented by 12 councilors elected every three years. The twelve candidates with the most votes will be elected.
Retiring and term-limited incumbents
City Councilors
Joel Alangsab - running for Vice Mayor
Elaine Sembrano - running for Vice Mayor
Francisco Roberto Ortega VI - not term limited but not running for re-election
Tickets
As the mayor, vice mayor and the members of the city council are elected on the same ballot, mayoral candidates may present or endorse a slate of city council candidates. These slates usually run with their respective mayoral and vice mayoral candidates along with the other members of their slate. A group of candidates independent of any mayoral or vice mayoral candidate may also form a slate consisting of themselves.
The 12 of 14 members of the Baguio City Council are elected at-large via multiple non-transferable vote, where each voter has 12 votes, and can vote up to 12 candidates. The 12 candidates with the highest number of votes are elected.[12][3]
The other 2 members are elected in indirect elections from the results of barangay elections.
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