The Bright Boys were seven first-term administration congressmen of the House of Representatives of the Philippines who were dubbed as such by Joseph Estrada during his term as President of the Philippines.
The 1998 Philippine general election ushered in a wave of neophyte congressmen into the House of Representatives, filling 140 seats of the 220-seat Lower House. [1] About a fifth of its members were under 40 years of age, roughly equivalent to Generation X. [2] This influx of young blood changed the way legislative business was undertaken and the image of the Filipino politician, most of whom were derided as trapos or "TRAditional POliticians". Incidentally, the Spanish word trapo means "rag", as in a dish rag.
The name "Bright Boys" was coined by Estrada during a social call on the then-President by the group. Rodolfo Albano III, the group's elder, commented that the six other young congressmen he was with were a smart clique. This led to Estrada calling them the "Bright Boys", as he thought they had a bright future in congress. [2] It was also an allusion to a similar clique in the opposition, the Spice Boys. [3]
The group consisted of:
The Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) is a conservative political party in the Philippines, founded in 1992 by then-presidential candidate Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.
The Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, formerly Partido ng Masang Pilipino, is a populist political party in the Philippines. It is the political party of former Philippine President Joseph E. Estrada. In the May 1998 presidential election, it aligned itself with other political parties to form the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino.
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The 1998 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 26th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 11, 1998 to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. The two main competing coalitions in the senatorial election were Lakas—National Union of Christian Democrats—United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines and the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino umbrella coalition composed of Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, Nationalist People's Coalition, and Partido Demokratiko Pilipino—Lakas ng Bayan. The two coalitions split the 12 contested seats 7–5 in favor of LAMMP.
The 1992 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 24th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 11, 1992. This was the first general election under the 1987 Philippine Constitution. An estimated 80,000 candidates ran for 17,000 posts, from the presidency all the way down to municipal councilors.
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Michael Tan Defensor is a Filipino politician who most recently served as the Party-list Representative for Anakalusugan from 2019 to 2022. He is also the CEO of Pax Libera Mining, Inc.
The Spice Boys were six neophyte and two-term congressmen of the House of Representatives of the Philippines openly critical of the administration during Joseph Estrada's term as President of the Philippines. The group's name is an allusion to the British girl-group, the Spice Girls. They also played a key role in Estrada's removal from office.
The 2010 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 30th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 10, 2010, to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. Together with those elected in 2007, they will comprise the 15th Congress. The senators elected in 2007 will serve until June 30, 2013, while the senators elected in this election will serve up to June 30, 2016. The 2010 presidential election, elections to the House of Representatives as well as local elections occurred on the same date. The Philippines uses plurality-at-large voting for seats in the Senate: the twelve candidates with the highest number of votes wins the twelve seats up for election.
The 2010 Philippine House of Representatives elections were held on May 10, 2010, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the Philippines to serve in the 15th Congress of the Philippines from June 30, 2010, to June 30, 2013. The Philippines uses parallel voting for seats in the House of Representatives; a voter has two votes: one for a representative from one's legislative district, and another for a sectoral representative via closed lists under the party-list system, with a 2% election threshold and 3-seat cap, when the parties with 2% of the national vote or more not meeting the 20% of the total seats, parties with less than 2% of the vote will get one seat each until the 20% requirement is met.
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The presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, also known as the Arroyo administration, spanned nine years from January 20, 2001, to June 30, 2010. She served the remainder of her predecessor Joseph Estrada's term after he was deposed, and she was elected to a full second term in 2004 which ended in 2010. Arroyo is the daughter of 9th president Diosdado Macapagal.
Elections for the House of Representatives of the Philippines were held on May 11, 1998. Held on the same day as the presidential election, the party of the incumbent president, Fidel V. Ramos' Lakas-NUCD-UMDP, won majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. For the first time since the People Power Revolution, a party won majority of the seats in the House; Lakas had a seat over the majority. This is also the first Philippine elections that included the party-list system.
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