Lakas–Laban Coalition
Lakas–Laban Coalition | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Fidel Ramos Ed Angara |
| Senate Leader | Ed Angara |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Dissolved | 1995 |
| Ideology | Big tent |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Coalition members | Lakas Laban PDP–Laban |
| Colors | Blue, and red |
The Lakas–Laban Coalition was the multi-party electoral alliance supported by the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos for the 1995 Philippine midterm legislative and local elections. It was a coalition of two major parties in the Philippines, the Lakas–NUCD–UMDP of President Ramos, and the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP, then known as Laban) led by Senate President Edgardo "Ed" Angara.[1][2]
History
[edit]In December 1994, Lakas and Laban forged a coalition, but before that many Laban House members jumped to Lakas which led by then-House Speaker Jose "Joe" de Venecia. De Venecia is noted for building the Rainbow Coalition, which is formed by the both parties, while Angara led the Laban-majority Senate as its President. The two formally coalesced a partnership coalition, combining their common names Lakas–Laban. The slate is composed of some incumbent senators who are placed from 13th to 24th (who won in 1992 and can only serve half of a regular term) like Raul Roco and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo[3] in the Laban side, while adding newbies like Health Secretary Dr. Juan Flavier, Justice Secretary Franklin Drilon,[4] and businessman Serge Osmeña, and the addition of Nene Pimentel from Laban's predecessor Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan. But the negotiations of the coalition forming doesn't seen easy as first, as in the two camps expected that the coalition will not be materialized or easily break-up. Angara said that he has agreement to settle issues with de Venecia.[5] Notably, Ramos bragged that their rival coalition party, the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) led by Senator Ernesto Maceda are willing to concede days before election to the coalition.[6]
After winning nine Senate seats in total, and 25 House seats under the banner, Lakas–Laban are falling out due to some of the coalition nominees' complaint of lack of support, on both financial or logistical from the machinery of the coalition, with some of them willing to bolt for the opposition. Some blame President Ramos, as they cited his broken promises, and Angara was warned that a post-election shake-up is inevitable, while many Ramos loyalist tagged de Venecia as power grabber, who they think has presidential ambition in the next presidential elections, and will probably get Ramos' backing. Also, local candidates backed by the coalition who are facing defeat, promised funds by their national bosses, but nothing received from them, and forced to find funding from other sources, and some of them leaned to opposition.[5]
Controversy
[edit]"Dagdag–Bawas" scam
[edit]With the vote counting happened in May 11, one of the Lakas–Laban candidates Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. stated that there are alleged senatorial candidates outside the unfinished tally's top twelve spots were beginning to rig votes by bribing people involved in the electoral process that time.[7] He also said that two of candidates in Lakas–Laban revealed to him that a vote-buying scam called "Oplan Dagdag–Bawas" (lit. 'Add–Subtract') was occurring in Mindanao, where canvassers are bribed to shave off votes meant for Pimentel and transfer them to other candidates.[8] Unfortunately, he admitted that he lacks evidence for that claim, while a Comelec Commissioner dismissed the allegation as false.[9]
By late 1995, the Senate Electoral Tribunal ordered to deduct more than 58,000 "unlawfully credited" votes for Juan Ponce Enrile in Bataan and Isabela from his tally, alongside 7,000 votes for Ramon Mitra.[10] By mid-1996, the Comelec Commissioner who dismissed the allegation, reversed his stance from the previous year and found that Comelec found evidence of widespread cheating during the election counting.[11] An executive director of Comelec later stated that the most recent election was the first time "dagdag-bawas" was committed on a massive scale.[12][13] Also, Senator Serge Osmeña discovered that there is 30,000 votes discrepancy for him in Pasig between the manual tally done by the Treasurer's Office and the certificates of canvass.[14] By the end of 1996, Bataan RTC ordered the arrest of Cenon Uy, an assistant regional director for Comelec in Central Luzon, for having allegedly tampered with election results in the region to favor the candidacy of Enrile,[15] though he would remain in office until late 2000 when a pending court case against him forced his resignation.[16]
On February 10, 2000, Antonio Llorente and Ligaya Salayon, who were respectively Pasig City prosecutor and member of the Pasig board of canvassers at the time of the election, was charged by the Supreme Court for violating election laws after they admitted their "honest mistake" of taking away votes from Pimentel and transferring them to Enrile.[17] Llorente eventually went on indefinite leave from his position as Justice Undersecretary in September due to the Supreme Court standing by its ruling.[18] On September 11, 2000, Arsenia Garcia, who was chair of the Alaminos, Pangasinan municipal canvassers during the election, was convicted of electoral fraud by a Regional Trial Court in Alaminos due to her discarding more than 5,000 votes that were in favor of Pimentel, and sentenced to six years in prison.[19]
Senatorial Slate
[edit]| Candidate | Party | Occupation | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | Senator from Pampanga and daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal | 
| |
| Rodolfo Biazon | former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from Metro Manila | 
| |
| Franklin Drilon | former Secretary of Justice from Iloilo |
| |
| Juan Ponce Enrile | Senator from Cagayan |
| |
| Marcelo Fernan | former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from Cebu |
| |
| Juan Flavier | former Secretary of Health from Metro Manila |
| |
| Ramon Magsaysay Jr. | businessman from Zambales and son of former President Ramon Magsaysay |
| |
| Ramon Mitra Jr. | former congressman from Palawan, former Speaker of the House of Representatives and 1992 Laban Presidential nominee (lost to Fidel Ramos) |
| |
| Serge Osmeña | businessman from Cebu and grandson of former President Sergio Osmeña |
| |
| Aquilino Pimentel Jr. | former Secretary of the Interior and Local Government and former mayor of Cagayan de Oro |
| |
| Raul Roco | Senator from Camarines Sur |
| |
| Francisco Tatad | Senator from Catanduanes |
|
Results
[edit]Legislative elections
[edit]| Congress of the Philippines | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House of Representatives | Senate | ||||
| Year | Seats won | Result | Year | Seats won | Result |
| 1995[n 1] | 25 / 204
|
Lakas plurarity | 1995 | 9 / 12
|
Lakas–Laban win 9/12 seats |
Nine out of 12 candidates won the possible 12 seats in the Senate. These include, in order of votes received:
- Gloria Macapagal Arroyo[3]
- Franklin Drilon[4]
- Juan Ponce Enrile
- Marcelo Fernan
- Juan Flavier
- Ramon Magsaysay Jr.[20]
- Serge Osmeña
- Raul Roco
- Francisco Tatad
Notes
[edit]- ^ Only who stood under the banner
See also
[edit]- Nationalist People's Coalition, Lakas–Laban Coalition's rival coalition in the 1995 midterm elections.
- Rainbow Coalition (Philippines), their House of Representatives counterpart
References
[edit]- ^ Porcalla, Delon (March 1, 2007). "Lakas revives merger with LDP". Philstar.com. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
- ^ Romero, Paolo (October 11, 2003). "Lakas-NPC alliance tried and tested — JDV". Philstar.com. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
- ^ a b "GMA agrees to chair Lakas". Philstar.com. May 16, 2002. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Ong, Ghio; Flores, Helen (April 28, 2010). "Comelec junks disqualification case vs Drilon". Philstar.com. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
- ^ a b "Broken Promises". Manila Standard. May 9, 1995. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
- ^ Maragay, Fei (May 5, 1995). "Maceda conceded defeat – Ramos". news.google.com. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
- ^ Villanueva, Marichu A. (May 12, 1995). "Pimentel denounces post-poll cheating". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 4. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Atadero, Arnold (May 14, 1995). "Prove raps, Comelec dares accusers". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 3. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Jacinto, Gerry G. (May 19, 1995). "Enrile bares cheating proof". Manila Standard. Standard Publications, Inc. p. 5. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ Maragay, Fel (December 9, 1995). "SWS survey unfair to economic managers". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 23B. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
- ^ Macaspac, Joem H. (May 16, 1996). "Comelec dared on fraud case". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 1. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ Laborte, Annie Rose A. (May 24, 1996). "There are Judases in Comelec – Borra". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 5. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ Maragay, Fel (May 25, 1996). "Erap's loaded remarks". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 19B. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ Macaspac, Joem H. (July 2, 1996). "Enrile challenges Pimentel to one-on-one poll contest". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 5. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ Laborte, Annie Rose A. (December 8, 1996). "Arrest of Comelec official in 'Dagdag-Bawas' hailed". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 5. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ "Pimentel commends Comelec for removing 1995 poll cheats". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. October 26, 2000. p. 3. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ Cueto, Donna S. (February 11, 2000). "2 poll execs face raps for 'honest mistake'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. p. 4. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Ubac, Michael Lim (September 28, 2000). "Justice usec goes on leave". Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. p. A2. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
- ^ Fuertes, Yolanda (September 13, 2001). "Court finds poll official guilty". Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. p. 1. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ "Magsaysay hopes to get Cebu's support like in 2001". Philstar.com. May 3, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2024.