1988 Philippine local elections

1988 Philippine local election

January 18, 1988

Elections for a new set of provincial and local city and municipal officials were held in the Philippines on January 18, 1988 under the new Constitution of the Philippines which was ratified in 1987.

Background

The local elections was the third nationwide electoral exercise held under the presidency of Corazon Aquino. In February 1987, a new constitution was ratified in a plebiscite. In May, an election for a new congress was held, which was dominated by allies of the president. Aquino said that the elections "will complete the cycle of restoration of democracy."

These were also the first since 1980, at that time the country, during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, was under martial law. Marcos had been ousted in the 1986 People Power Revolution.

Pre-election events

The campaign period started on December 1, 1987. A hundred thousand candidates sought 17,000 local positions. The administration's "people power" coalition, in an effort to control over regions controlled either by the radical left or right, had political alliances with candidates philosophically opposed to the president.

All security forces were placed on the alert, particularly to potential trouble areas. However, elections in eleven of the 73 provinces were suspended due to security reasons, and rescheduled until as late as February to give way for the implementation of special measures against fraud and violence.

Election day

Of the 57 million eligible voters, nearly half of them—27 million—were expected to participate in the elections. The Commission on Elections said about 80% of them did so in 62 provinces, which involved 103,000 precincts.

Unlike previous elections, no independent poll-watcher groups performed "quick counts"; final results would be made available until two days later as many precincts were situated in remote areas.

Candidates

Early, unofficial returns showed some candidates endorsed by the administration or her coalition leading in key positions; but same to several veteran politicians particularly in Metro Manila and the provinces. Analysts speculated that the results generally indicate a return to patronage politics.

In northern Luzon where former president Marcos was still being supported, pro-Marcos candidates were elected particularly in four provinces.

• In Ilocos Norte, Marcos' home province, his loyalists were leading the races in key positions. Rodolfo Fariñas, former Laoag mayor, led the governorship by a wide margin over Manuela Ablan, who was endorsed by the president. On the other hand, Rolando Abadilla, former head of Marcos' intelligence service, was endorsed by the ruling party and was later elected vice governor. He had been detained since July 1987 for his involvement in at least three coup attempts; from Fort Bonifacio, he was flown to Laoag to vote.
• Former Lt. Col. Rodolfo Aguinaldo, who had left the Philippine Constabulary and had been dismissed from the army after taking part in the serious August 1987 coup attempt, was elected governor of Cagayan.
• Pro-Marcos candidate Orlando Dulay, detained since 1987 for being the alleged mastermind of the murder of three pro-Aquino campaign workers during the 1986 election, was elected Governor of Quirino.
• Former Moro National Liberation Front guerrilla Gerry Salapuddin was elected governor of Basilan.
• Popular faith healer Jun Labo was elected city mayor of Baguio.
• Television comedian Tito Sotto was elected vice mayor of Quezon City.
• In Manila, administration mayoral candidate Gemiliano Lopez was leading.
• Abe King and Philip Cezar, professional basketball players for the Great Taste Coffee team, won seats on the councils of Pasay and San Juan, respectively.

Meanwhile, the president's relatives were losing in their respective races. In Quezon City, Mila Aquino-Albert, her sister-in-law, was third behind two veteran politicians, one being accused of graft. Vic Sumulong, her nephew, was also losing for the governorship in Rizal.

Related incidents

The six-week campaign and the elections were both marred by violence. In the entire campaign period, at least 87, including 39 candidates, were killed; mostly blamed by the military on the New People's Army. Meanwhile, military chief of staff, Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, reported more than 20 violent incidents which included "snatchings" of ballot box, "strafings" of polling places, and voter harassment. However, Ramos said the toll was lower than 905 in 1971 and 130 in 1980.

Two days prior to elections, a land mine explosion near Iligan, killed four people, including right-wing opposition mayoral and vice-mayoral candidates. On election day in Bacolod, an election worker was shot dead while trying to prevent stealing of ballot boxes. Three separate clashes with communist rebels resulted in the deaths of at least nine soldiers. In Cebu, on January 21, Thaddeus Durano, a defeated candidate in Danao, was shot and injured. Charges of attempted murder were filed against his elder brother, Jesus. Thaddeus accused his opponents, Jesus and their father, Ramon, both who had run the city for decades, of vote buying and fraud.

It was reported that for the first time in the communist insurgency, the election was used by the guerrillas to raise funds for arms purchases abroad and consolidated local power bases through kidnappings and selective support for hundreds of candidates. Hence, these contributed to the decrease of violence.

Guerrilla leaders confirmed accusations by Ramos that they had been charging candidates for "safe-conduct passes," allowing the latter to campaign without being harmed in guerrilla zones. The nationwide total reportedly reached $2 million; for instance, in the Bicol Region, more than $150,000 was collected from the candidates.

Aftermath

Before the proclamation of all the winners, Aquino, in her weekly program, said the election would help stabilize the country as voters were expected to be cooperative with candidates.

See also

• Commission on Elections
• Politics of the Philippines
• Philippine elections

External links

• Official website of the Commission on Elections