A special election will be held in Batanes's at-large congressional district on November 28, 2026, to fill the district's vacant seat in the House of Representatives of the Philippines for the remainder of the 20th Congress.
The vacancy arose when Jun Gato, the incumbent, died due to cardiac arrest on September 21, 2026. This will be the latest special election held for a legislative seat in the province of Batanes since 1911, as well as the third to be held during the 20th Congress of the Philippines.
Background Jun Gato was first elected as representative under the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) in the 2019 House elections. Gato defeated former Secretary of Budget and Management and representative Florencio Abad by a close margin. Gato was narrowly re-elected for a second term in the 2022 election, defeating Abad's son, Luis. Gato was re-elected in the 2025 election for a third and final term by a wide margin, defeating Batanes governor Marilou Cayco. Gato died on September 21, 2026, at the age of 66 due to cardiac arrest.
District overview
Batanes's at-large district comprises the entire province of Batanes. According to official Commission on Elections (COMELEC) data from the 2025 midterm elections, the district had 13,655 registered voters.
Electoral system
The House of Representatives is elected via parallel voting system, with 80% of seats elected from congressional districts, and 20% from the party-list system. Each district sends one representative to the House of Representatives. An election to the seat is via first-past-the-post, in which the candidate with the most votes, whether or not one has a majority, wins the seat.
After the Hagedorn vs. House of Representatives decision by the Supreme Court in 2025, the COMELEC no longer has to wait for a congressional resolution to call for a special election. This was after the approval of Republic Act No. 7166, supposedly removed the condition of the chamber informing the commission of the vacancy, but the COMELEC still had always waited on the chamber's resolution before scheduling a special election.
Meanwhile, according to Republic Act No. 8295, should only one candidate file to run in the special election, the COMELEC will declare that candidate as the winner and will no longer hold the election.
2025 election result
References