Gubernatorial elections were held in the Philippines on May 10, 2010. All provinces elected their governors for three-year terms that would begin on June 30, 2010. Governors who were serving their third consecutive term were prohibited from seeking re-election, but were eligible to run for any other position.
Highly urbanized cities and independent component cities such as Zamboanga City, Angeles City and Cebu City, and including Metro Manila and the municipality of Pateros are outside the jurisdiction of any province and thus won't elect for governors of their mother provinces (Pampanga and Cebu, for Angeles and Cebu City). They, along with Metro Manila would elect mayors instead.
Background
Lakas-Kampi-CMD, the merged party of Lakas-CMD and KAMPI of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has a majority of the provincial governorships in the lead-up to the 2010 elections. The Liberal Party was a far second. However, with the resolution of pending disputed election results by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), the Liberals lost three more governorships. Attracting international attention is the election race for governor of Maguindanao where Esmael Mangudadatu was competing after a rival clan kidnapped and murdered 57 people including his wife, sisters, aides, and lawyers, plus several journalists.
Bulacan
On December 1, 2009, the COMELEC's Second Division ruled that Roberto Pagdanganan defeated Jonjon Mendoza in the 2007 elections, with Pagdanganan garnering 342,295 votes, 4,231 votes over Mendoza. Mendoza was a member of KAMPI prior to switching to the Liberals, and Pagdanganan was a member of Lakas-CMD before joining the Nacionalista Party. Mendoza and Pagdanganan won't contest the governorship; Pagdanganan is running for Congress as representative of Bulacan's 1st district, while Mendoza is running as representative from Bulacan's 3rd district, while her sister, former governor Josefina Dela Cruz will run as her brother's replacement.
Isabela
In Isabela, Grace Padaca of the Liberal Party defeated Benjamin "Ben" Dy of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) via a margin of 17,007 votes, with Padaca garnering 237,128 votes and Dy having 220,121 votes. Padaca was proclaimed winner on June 30, the day of inauguration of all local officials.
On December 8, 2009, the COMELEC Second Division ruled that Dy defeated Grace Padaca by a margin of 1,051 votes, with Dy garnering 199,435 over Padaca's 198,384. Padaca previously defeated Benjamin's brother Faustino Jr. in the 2004 election, ending the Dy's three-decade long rule in Isabela. This time, it's one of Ben's brothers, Faustino III also known as Bojie, who will contest Padaca in the 2010 gubernatorial election, with the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD party nominating him; while Ben on the other hand will vie for the mayorship of Cauayan instead.
Pampanga
Arroyo's home province of Pampanga had one of the most hotly contested gubernatorial elections in 2007, with three out of six candidates having a realistic chance of winning: then incumbent Mark Lapid (Lakas-CMD), board member Lilia Pineda (KAMPI) and Roman Catholic priest-on-leave Eddie Panlilio (Independent). Panlilio was proclaimed the winner, garnering 219,706 votes, with Pineda obtaining 218,559 and Lapid having 210,875 votes.
Pineda contested the result; meanwhile, Panlilio became a member of the Liberal Party late in 2009, supporting Noynoy Aquino's presidential campaign. On early February 2010, the COMELEC's Second Division ruled that Pineda won the 2007 election, obtaining 190,729 votes against Panlilio's 188,718.