On January 3, 1992, Ramos, Pangasinan Congressman Jose “Joe” Claveria de Venecia and Agusan del Norte Congressman Edelmiro Atega Amante Sr., launched the Partido Lakas ng Tao (Lakas) at the Club Filipino, Greenhills, San Juan. The Lakas merged with the National Union of Christian Democrats (NUCD), a successor of the PPP (Progressive Party of the Philippines in 1957 and Party for Philippine Progress in 1965), led by former Senator Raul S. Manglapus, to form Lakas – NUCD.
In the May 11, 1992 Presidential Elections, the following candidates secured the following respective votes: Ramos (Lakas) – 5,342,521/23.58 %; Miriam Defensor Santiago (People’s Reform Party {PRP}) – 4,468,173 (19.72); Eduardo “Danding” Murphy Cojuangco (Nationalist People’s Coalition {NPC}) – 4,116,376 (18.17 %; Mitra (LDP) – 3,316,661/14.64 %; Imelda Romualdez Marcos (KBL) – 2,338,294/10.32 %; Salonga (LP) – 2,302,124/10.15%; Salvador “Doy” Hidalgo Laurel (NP) – 770,046/3.40 %.
Out of 24 Senate seats, the following slates won the respective seats: LDP – 16; NPC – 5; Lakas – 2; LP-PDP – 1. Out of the 200 elective seats, the following slates won the respective seats and votes: LDP – 86/33.73 %; Lakas 41/21.20 %; NPC – 30/18.56 %; LP-PDP – 11/8.82 %; NP – 7/3.92 %; KBL – 3/2.35 %; Coalitions – 16/6.28 %; Independent – 6/5.04 %.
From February 25, 1986, until June 30, 1992, President Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco Aquino was the President and most popular leader of the Philippines. Her endorsement of candidates in the three elections of May 11, 1987, January 18, 1988, and May 11, 1992, spelled victory. If she had organized her own political party, most of the incumbent appointive and elective officials would be candidates and political organizers and volunteers would have joined her party.
However, Cory looked at herself as a mere transition leader from the era of dictatorship into the new era of democracy. She did not see in herself as the leader who would mold the future of the Philippines. Thus, she left the future in the hands of her chosen candidate to succeed her, FVR.
FVR may have been the most experienced administrator among the seven presidential candidates on May 11, 1992. He may have been short in political experience, but he was not short of allies and assistants with that experience. By the time of the May 8, 1995, elections, he had drawn the dominant party of 1992, the LDP, into his Lakas LDP alliance.
In the Senate, 9 out of 12 slots went to Ramos’s coalition slate while the opposition and independents got 3. The House of Representatives remained under the leadership of Speaker de Venecia. Out of 226 seats, 204 were elected, distributed among the following parties which got the respective share of the votes: Lakas – 100/40.56 %; NPC – 22/12.19 %; LDP – 17/10.83 %; LABAN – 25/10.40 %; Others – 33/13.72 %.
Unlike Cory, Ramos had a more organized vision and program for the future. He themed it around the Centennial that the Philippines was marking on June 12, 1998. However, by that date, LAMMP/Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) presidential candidate Joseph “Erap” Marcelo Ejercito Estrada had defeated by a landslide Lakas candidate Speaker de Venecia. Lakas NUCD UMDP Kampi Vice Presidential Candidate Gloria “GMA” Macapagal Arroyo had defeated Erap’s running mate Senate President Edgardo Javier Angara.
In the May 11, 1998, general elections, Lakas got 5 seats, while LDP got 7 seats in the Senate. In the HOR, the following parties got the following seats and respective percentage of the votes: Lakas – 111/49.01 %; LAMMP – 55/26.68 %; Liberal – 15/7.25 %; NPC – 9/4.08 %; Reporma – 4/3.95%; PROMDI – 4/2.49 %; Aksyon – 1/ 0.44 %; Ompia – 1/ 0.19 %; Others – 4/1.42 %; Independent – 2/3.42 %; Party Lists – 14.
In the May 11, 1987, Legislative Elections, the incumbent President, Cory Aquino, secured 22 out of 24 seats in the Senate and in the HOR, 107 seats went to parties identified with Cory, 5 went to parties in opposition. 78 went to Independents and others. However, the overwhelming number of these were also Cory followers and supporters. The 14 appointive seats were appointed by Cory.
In the May 11, 1992 and May 11, 1998, general elections, the winning Presidential Candidates, Ramos and Estrada, did not, initially, have the majority of the Senate seats nor have the majority of the HOR seats. The incumbent President, Ramos, secured the majority in both the Senate and HOR in the mid elections on May 8, 1995.
In 1992 and 1998, the Opposition Majorities, initially elected to the Senate and HOR very quickly melted, and their defectors transferred to pro Administration Coalitions and Parties. The same pattern did not apply to the May 2001 and May 2004 elections because Estrada had been deposed by January 20, 2001, by EDSA II/People Power II, and in May 2004, GMA was the first and up to now, the only incumbent President allowed to run for reelection under the 1987 Constitution.
Although an analysis of the 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2025 elections may show a partial return to the 1992 to 1998 pattern, this applied more to the HOR. At the Senate level, the 2007 and the 2025 mid elections showed the difficulty of the incumbent administration to win big and consolidate strangleholds in the upper chamber.
(To be continued)
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