1978 Philippine parliamentary election

A parliamentary election was held in the Philippines on April 7, 1978 for the election of the 165 regional representatives to the Interim Batasang Pambansa (the nation's first parliament). The elections were participated in by the leading opposition party, the Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN), which had twenty-one candidates for the Metro Manila area while the leading candidate was the jailed opposition leader Ninoy Aquino, and the Marcos regime's party known as the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), which was led by the then-First Lady Imelda Marcos. Ninoy was allowed to run by his fellow partymates under the Liberal Party, who boycotted the election and was not allowed to campaign, and so his family campaigned for him. The night before the election on April 6, 1978, a noise barrage was organized by the supporters of (LABAN) which occurred up to dawn.

1978 Philippine parliamentary election
April 7 and 27, 1978
179 (of the 189) seats in the Interim Batasang Pambansa
95 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
PB
MA
Leader Ferdinand Marcos Hilario Davide, Jr. Reuben Canoy
Party KBL Pusyon Bisaya Mindanao Alliance
Leader's seat none Region VII Region X
Last election new party new party new party
Seats won 150 13 1
Seat change 150 13 1
Popular vote 155,866,553 9,495,416 6,685,224
Percentage 74.97% 4.57% 3.22%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
KB
Leader Ernesto Roldan Benigno Aquino, Jr.
Party Independent / Konsensiya ng BayanA LABAN
Leader's seat Region XII Region IV-A (lost)
Last election new party new party
Seats won 1 0
Seat change 1
Popular vote 7,633,851 21,541,600
Percentage 3.67% 10.36%
Prime Minister-designate

Ferdinand Marcos
KBL

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These elections were followed by the sectoral election on April 27, which elected additional 14 representatives. Another 10 representatives were appointed, bringing up the total number of representatives to 189.

Background

The Philippines had been under martial law since 1972, with incumbent president Ferdinand Marcos ruling by decree. Prior to this, the Constitution of the Philippines was being drafted by the Constitutional Convention, whose delegates were elected in 1970. The Constitutional Convention approved the final draft of the constitution, which consisted of the abolition of the Philippine Congress and its replacement with an interim National Assembly consisting of the President, the Vice-President, the President of the Constitutional Convention, and members of the Senate and the House of Representatives in November 1972 and was later ratified on January 17, 1973 through so-called "citizens' assemblies". The Constitution was amended twice, on July 27–28, 1973 and February 27–28, 1975. The Constitution was amended once again on October 16–17, 1976 with the passage of "Amendment No. 6", which changed the name of the Interim National Assembly into the "Interim Batasang Pambansa", more commonly as the "Batasan".

Campaign

Lakas ng Bayan
Main article: Lakas ng Bayan

In 1978, from his prison cell, Aquino was allowed to take part in the elections. Although his friends, former Senators Gerry Roxas and Jovito Salonga, preferred to boycott the elections, Aquino urged his supporters to field 21 candidates in Metro Manila. Thus, his political party, dubbed Lakas ng Bayan ("People's Power"), was born. The party's acronym was "LABAN" ("fight" in Tagalog). He was entitled to one television interview on GTV's Face the Nation (hosted by Ronnie Nathanielsz), and proved to a startled and impressed populace that imprisonment had neither dulled his rapier-like tongue nor dampened his fighting spirit. Foreign correspondents and diplomats asked what would happen to the LABAN ticket. People agreed with him that his party would win overwhelmingly in an honest election. On April 6, 1978, supporters of the Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN), the opposition party headed by former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. who was still in jail and twenty other candidates contesting the Region IV-A (Metro Manila) seats, came out in protest by asking bystanders and cars to make noise in support the opposition.

Kilusang Bagong Lipunan

President Marcos created the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (New Society Movement) as his political vehicle for the elections.

Results

The top bar represents seats won, while the bottom bar represents the proportion of votes received.

↓
District Other
150 13 1 1
14 10
74.97% 10.36%
KBL LABAN [1] [2] [3] [4]
.
[5] [6]
1 Pusyon Bisaya: 4.57%
2 Mindanao Alliance: 3.22%
3 Independents: 3.67%
4 No seats won: 3.22%
5 Sectoral seats: unknown votes
6 Appointed seats

District elections
 Summary of the April 7, 1978 Interim Batasang Pambansa election results
Party Popular vote Seats won
Total%SwingTotal%+/−
KBL (New Society Movement) 155,866,553 74.97% 74.97% 150 90.90% 150
LABAN (People's Power) 21,541,600 10.36% 10.36% 0 0.00%
Pusyon Bisaya (Visayan Coalition) 9,495,416 4.57% 4.57% 13 7.88% 13
Mindanao Alliance 6,685,224 3.22% 3.22% 1 0.61% 1
Bicol Saro (One Bicol) 2,105,599 1.01% 1.01% 0 0.00%
Young Philippines 1,471,381 0.71% 0.66% 0 0.00%
Concerned Citizens' Aggrupation 1,374,549 0.66% 0.66% 0 0.00%
Nacionalista 688,130 0.33% 58.60% 0 0.00% 88
Emancipated Scientists 392,819 0.19% 0.19% 0 0.00%
Partido ng Bagong Pilipino (Party of the New Filipino) 140,365 0.07% 0.07% 0 0.00%
Democratic 112,140 0.05% 0.05% 0 0.00%
Philippine Labor 94,287 0.05% 0.05% 0 0.00%
Confederation of Ilocano Associations 81,594 0.04% 0.04% 0 0.00%
Consumers 69,216 0.03% 0.03% 0 0.00%
Citizens Union Progress 44,893 0.02% 0.02% 0 0.00%
Youth Democratic Movement 40,571 0.02% 0.02% 0 0.00%
Sovereign Citizens 18,814 0.01% 0.01% 0 0.00%
Partido Sambayanang Pilipino (Party of the Filipino Society) 15,050 0.01% 0.01% 0 0.00%
Lapiang Bagong Silang (Party for New Hope) 11,457 0.01% 0.01% 0 0.00%
Bagong Anyo ng Buhay (New Form of Life) 11,190 0.01% 0.01% 0 0.00%
Independent 7,633,851 3.67% 1.40% 1A 0.61% 1
Total 207,894,699100%165100% 55
Valid votes207,894,699
Total turnout18,356,84985.52%
Registered voters21,464,213100%
Note:^ An independent candidate won under the banner of Konsensiya ng Bayan (People's Conscience).
No separate tally was made for the independent candidates who ran under Konsensiya ng Bayan.[1][2]
Sources: Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann; Graham Hassall; Soliman M. Santos.
Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume II: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific.
& Julio Teehankee. "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). quezon.ph.

Sectoral election
Main article: 1978 Philippine parliamentary sectoral election
gollark: I hear they're pretty good as cheap low-power boxes.
gollark: And mostly get away with just running power from a USB port.
gollark: You can use a USB drive now.
gollark: You don't need much for blinky lights.
gollark: Or so.

See also

References
  1. Supreme Court of the Philippines (February 8, 1979). "G.R. No. L-49705-09". The LAWPHiL Project. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  2. Olivia C. Caoili (2006). "The Philippine Legislature: The Martial Law Period" (PDF). UP sa Halalan. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.

Further reading
  • Philippine Commission on Elections — Records and Statistics Division
  • Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library
  • Pobre, Cesar P. Philippine Legislature 100 Years. ISBN 971-92245-0-9.
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