Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino

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Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino
President	Bellaflor Angara-Castillo
Chairman	Sonny Angara
Secretary-General	Arthur Angara
Founder	Jose "Peping" Cojuangco, Jr. Ramon Villarosa Mitra Jr.
Founded	September 16, 1988
Split from	PDP–Laban
Headquarters	3-B Osmena Bldg., 1991 A. Mabini St., Malate, Manila
Ideology	Fiscal conservatism Conservative liberalism Big tent
Political position	Center-right[1]
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International
Colors	Blue,   dark blue, and   Yellow
Seats in the Senate	1 / 24
Seats in the House of Representatives	2 / 304
Provincial governorships	0 / 81
Provincial vice governorships	0 / 81
Provincial board members	4 / 1,023
Website
www.edangara.com
Politics of Philippines Political parties Elections

The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (lit. 'Fight of Democratic Filipinos') is a political party in the Philippines founded on September 16, 1988.

There are no results available of the last 2004 election for the House of Representatives, but according to the website of the House, the party held 7 out of 235 seats (State of the Parties, June 2005). The party is divided into two factions. The faction led by Edgardo Angara contested in the 2004 elections as a member party of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (Coalition of United Filipinos).

In the May 14, 2007 elections, the party won 3 seats in the House of Representatives.^[2]

History[]

In the mid-1980s, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP, founded 1982), Lakas ng Bayan and the Lakas ng Bansa parties became members of the United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO) coalition that supported the candidacy of Corazon Aquino and Salvador Laurel as president and vice president, respectively in the 1986 snap election.^[3] By 1986, the PDP had merged with the Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN, founded 1978) party of the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., to form PDP–Laban.^[3]

In the 1987 legislative elections, UNIDO, under the name "Lakas ng Bayan", became the dominant party in both houses of Congress, electing Representative Ramon Mitra, Jr. of Palawan as Speaker of the House of Representatives. UNIDO would be dissolved soon after. On September 16, 1988, PDP–Laban was split into two factions: the Pimentel Wing of Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. and the Cojuangco Wing of Jose "Peping" Cojuangco, Jr.. The Cojuangco Wing and the Lakas ng Bansa party of Speaker Mitra merged in 1988 to form the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino party while the Pimentel Wing remained as the PDP–Laban party. In the 1991 LDP National Convention, the party nominated Speaker Mitra as its nominee for President of the Philippines, while runner-up former Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos bolted the party and formed Partido Lakas ng Tao, and won the presidency in the 1992 presidential election.

In 1994, LDP formed a major coalition with Lakas-NUCD-UMDP of President Ramos (dubbed as the "Lakas-Laban Coalition") for the 1995 midterm legislative elections, winning a majority of all seats in both houses of Congress.

In 1997, the party supported the candidacy of then-Vice President Joseph Estrada for the presidency, merging with two other parties to form the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino (lit. 'Fight of the Patriotic Filipino Masses') party.

Recent events[]

In the 2004 elections, the party was critically divided by two factions between its party president Senator Edgardo Angara, who supported the candidacy of party outsider actor Fernando Poe Jr., and party secretary general Makati representative Agapito Aquino, who supported Senator Panfilo Lacson's candidacy for president.

It was planned that the LDP would form the core of the main opposition coalition, the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP). However, members of the party disagreed on which person to support for president. Panfilo Lacson, a member of the party, advanced his candidacy for president but was not considered by Edgardo Angara, the president of the party. Angara supported Fernando Poe, Jr. Together with the party's secretary-general Agapito "Butz" Aquino, Lacson gathered the support of some members of the party and went ahead with his candidacy. The LDP was subsequently polarized between those supporting Angara and Poe, and those for Lacson and Aquino.

By then, Poe and Lacson have both filed their certificates of candidacies. According to the rules of candidacy, every presidential candidate must have a political party to back him or her. With the obvious split within the ranks of the LDP, and with no signs that the two factions would come to an agreement, the COMELEC decided to informally split the party into the Aquino and the Angara wings. Lacson then ran under the LDP – Aquino Wing, and Poe under the LDP – Angara Wing, which would later become the KNP.

During the campaign period, there had been numerous unification talks between the two factions. The opposition saw the need to become united under one banner to boost their chances of winning the presidential election against the organized political machinery of Arroyo. The plans of unification did not materialize due to the stubbornness of both Poe and Lacson. Lacson wanted Poe to concede to him and run as his vice-presidential candidate while the supporters of Poe wanted Lacson to back-out from his candidacy and instead support Poe, citing his low performance in the surveys.

Notable members[]

• Ramon V. Mitra, Jr. – former House Speaker and Party's Standard-bearer during the 1992 elections.
• Fidel V. Ramos – former president, lost the party's nomination to the House Speaker Ramon Mitra and formed his own party, Lakas ng Tao, now named Lakas-Kampi-CMD.
• Jose "Peping" Cojuangco, Jr. – one of the original founders, left the party in 1997 together with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to form Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi). Now he's the current secretary-general of PDP–Laban.
• Neptali Gonzales – former Senate President.
• Edgardo Angara – present party president, former Senate President and four-term senator; the longest-serving senator in the post-EDSA Congress
• Jamby Madrigal – former senator, LDP member from 2001 to 2007 before joining PDP–Laban
• Blas Ople – former senator, Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
• Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – former President of the Philippines. She quit the party in early 1997 to form her own political party, Kampi.
• Vicente Sotto III – senator, LDP member from 1992 to 1997 and left together with Arroyo to form Kampi. However, during the Estrada administration he returned to the party before and left again in 2007 to join the Nationalist People's Coalition.
• Teresa Aquino-Oreta – former senator, LDP member from 1988 to 2007 before joining Nationalist People's Coalition.
• Rodolfo Biazon – Congressman, former senator, erstwhile party stalwart before joining the Liberal Party of the Philippines in the 2004 elections.
• Freddie Webb - Congressman from Parañaque's Lone District and a Senator for one term.
• Teofisto Guingona, Jr. – former vice-president, used to be with LDP before he was appointed as Justice Secretary during the Ramos Administration.
• Panfilo Lacson – senator
• Sonny Angara – senator (2013–present) and Congressman of Aurora Province's Lone District (2004–2013)
• Bellaflor Angara-Castillo – Governor of Aurora Province.
• Maria Clara Lobregat – 3-term Congresswoman and Mayor of Zamboanga City
• Celso Lobregat – 2 term Congressman and Mayor of Zamboanga City
• Jose E. Calingasan – Congressmen, 4th District of Batangas, most outstanding Congressmen in the History of Batangas, also a former Philippine ambassador
• Arthur Angara – Baler Mayor (1992–2001; 2004–2013)
• Rommel Angara - Vice Governor of Aurora (2013–2019) and Congressman of Aurora Province's Lone District (2019–present)

Current party officials[]

• National President: Bellaflor Angara-Castillo
• Chairman: Sonny Angara
• Secretary-General: Representative: Arthur Angara

Electoral performance[]

President[]

*Butz Aquino wing only; the rest of the party supported Fernando Poe, Jr. who also lost.

Vice President[]

Senate[]

*in coalition with Lakas-NUCD-UMDP
**part of the LAMMP coalition

House of Representatives[]

*does not include candidates who ran as under a LDP ticket along with another party.

References[]