1995 Philippine Senate election

1995 Philippine Senate election

←  1992 May 8, 1995 1998  →
12 (of the 24) seats in the Senate 13 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Edgardo Angara Ernesto Maceda Party LDP NPC Alliance Lakas–Laban NPC Seats won 9 3 Popular vote 123,678,255 56,015,645 Percentage 67.7% 30.7%
Senate President before election Edgardo Angara LDP Elected Senate President Edgardo Angara LDP

The 1995 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 25th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 8, 1995, to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. Filipinos protected the ballot boxes with their lives and campaigned against traditional politicians who used bribery, flying voters, violence, election rigging, stealing of ballot boxes, etc. The Philippine National Police (PNP) listed five people dead and listed more than 200 hotspots before and 300 hotspots during the election.

The two largest parties, Lakas-NUCD and the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), contested the senate election under the Lakas-Laban Coalition and won nine out of the 12 seats contested. The opposition-led coalition was composed of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) which had an alliance with the People's Reform Party (PRP), though they contested the election separately.

This was also the first time that the electorate voted for twelve candidates under the plurality-at-large voting to the Senate; previously, the electorate voted for two candidates each per senatorial districts (1916–1934), via closed party-lists (the "block voting" system in use from 1941 to 1949), and eight senators via plurality-at-large voting with the country as one "at-large" district from 1951 to 1971. This was also the first midterm election for the 1987 constitution, and the first since 1971, as the date the elected candidates take office falls at the midway point of President Fidel V. Ramos' six-year term.

Candidates

Administration coalition Lakas–Laban Coalition Candidate Party Gloria Macapagal Arroyo LDP Rodolfo Biazon LDP Franklin Drilon Lakas Juan Ponce Enrile Independent Marcelo Fernan LDP Juan Flavier Lakas Ramon Magsaysay Jr. Lakas Ramon Mitra Jr. LDP Serge Osmeña Lakas Aquilino Pimentel Jr. PDP–Laban Raul Roco LDP Francisco Tatad LDP

Opposition coalition Nationalist People's Coalition Candidate Party Rosemarie Arenas NPC Gaudencio Beduya NPC Nikki Coseteng NPC Amanda T. Cruz NPC Ramon Fernandez NPC Gregorio Honasan Independent Bongbong Marcos KBL Adelisa A. Raymundo NPC Manuel C. Roxas NPC Miriam Defensor Santiago PRP Almarin C. Tillah NPC Arturo Tolentino NPC

Note: Party affiliation based on Certificate of Candidacy.

Retiring and term limited incumbents

This was the first Senate election where there were term-limited incumbents.

1. Butz Aquino (LDP), term limited, ran for representative from Makati's 2nd district and won
2. Joey Lina (LDP), term limited, ran for governor of Laguna and won
3. John Henry Osmeña (NPC), term limited, ran for representative from Cebu's 3rd district and won; ran for senator in 1998 and won
4. Nina Rasul (Lakas)
5. Wigberto Tañada (Liberal), term limited, ran for representative from Quezon's 4th district and won; ran for senator in 2001 and lost

Mid-term vacancies

1. Teofisto Guingona Jr. (LDP), appointed Executive Secretary on July 6, 1993

Controversies

"Dagdag-Bawas" scam

As the counting of votes was ongoing on May 11, former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. alleged that some senatorial candidates currently outside the unfinished tally's top twelve spots were beginning to rig votes by bribing people involved in the electoral process. ^[1] Pimentel also shared that two of his fellow Lakas-Laban senatorial candidates revealed to him that a vote-buying scam called "Oplan Dagdag-Bawas" (lit. 'Add-Subtract') was occurring in Mindanao, where canvassers are bribed to shave off votes meant for Pimentel and transfer them to other candidates. ^[2] Pimentel later admitted that he lacks evidence for his claim, while a Comelec commissioner named Regalado Maambong dismissed the allegation as false. ^[3] After the election, Pimentel established the Foundation for Clean Elections, Inc. in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila to help prevent fraud in the country's elections. ^[4]

By late 1995, the Senate Electoral Tribunal ordered to deduct more than 58,000 "unlawfully credited" votes for Juan Ponce Enrile in Bataan and Isabela from his tally, alongside 10,000 votes for Gringo Honasan and 7,000 votes for Ramon Mitra. ^[5]

In May 1996, Maambong reversed his stance from the previous year and revealed that Comelec has found evidence of widespread cheating during the election. ^[6] Resureccion Borra, then executive director of Comelec, later stated that the 1995 election was the first time "dagdag-bawas" was committed on a massive scale, and announced that they will attempt to prosecute canvassers in the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Bataan, and Lanao del Sur. ^{[7] [8]} In July 1996, Senator Serge Osmeña revealed that he discovered a 30,000 vote discrepancy for him in Pasig City between the manual tally done by the Treasurer's Office and the certificates of canvass. ^[9] By December, a regional trial court in Bataan ordered for the arrest of Cenon Uy, an assistant regional director for Comelec in Central Luzon, for having allegedly tampered with election results in the region to favor the candidacy of Enrile, ^[10] though he would remain in office until late 2000 when a pending court case against him forced his resignation. ^[11]

On February 10, 2000, Antonio Llorente and Ligaya Salayon, who were respectively Pasig City prosecutor and member of the Pasig board of canvassers at the time of the election, was charged by the Supreme Court for violating election laws after they admitted their "honest mistake" of taking away votes from Pimentel and transferring them to Enrile. ^[12] Llorente eventually went on indefinite leave from his position as Justice Undersecretary in September due to the Supreme Court standing by its ruling. ^[13]

On September 11, 2000, Arsenia Garcia, who was chair of the Alaminos, Pangasinan municipal canvassers during the election, was convicted of electoral fraud by a Regional Trial Court in Alaminos due to her discarding more than 5,000 votes that were in favor of Pimentel, and sentenced to six years in prison. ^[14]

Results

The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) and the Lakas–NUCD won four each, while the Nacionalista Party, the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), People's Reform Party (PRP), and an independent won one seat each.

Three incumbent LDP senators won: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Raul Roco, and Francisco Tatad (originally elected as an NPC member). Nikki Coseteng was the sole NPC senator to successfully defend her seat.

Neophyte senators were Lakas's Franklin Drilon, Juan Flavier, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., and Serge Osmeña, LDP's Marcelo Fernan, Miriam Defensor Santiago of the PRP, and independent Gregorio Honasan.

Returning was Juan Ponce Enrile, who last served in the Senate in 1992.

Incumbents defeated were LDP's Rodolfo Biazon and NPC's Arturo Tolentino.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	24	18
Before election												‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡^	‡	‡	‡	‡
Election result	Not up											PRP	Lakas-Laban Coalition									NPC		Not up
After election												+	+	+	+	*	*	√	√	√	+	√	+
Senate bloc	Majority bloc																					Minority bloc

Key:

• ‡ Seats up
• + Gained by a party from another party
• √ Held by the incumbent
• * Held by the same party with a new senator
• ^ Vacancy

Per candidate

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	15,745,741	61.18
	Raul Roco	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	12,509,736	48.61
	Ramon Magsaysay Jr.	Lakas–NUCD (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	11,862,458	46.09
	Franklin Drilon	Lakas–NUCD (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	11,032,476	42.87
	Juan Flavier	Lakas–NUCD (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	10,748,528	41.76
	Miriam Defensor Santiago	People's Reform Party (Nationalist People's Coalition)	9,497,231	36.90
	Serge Osmeña	Lakas–NUCD (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	9,390,935	36.49
	Francisco Tatad	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	9,146,951	35.54
	Gregorio Honasan	Independent (Nationalist People's Coalition)	8,968,616	34.85
	Marcelo Fernan	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	8,762,235	34.05
	Juan Ponce Enrile	Independent (Nationalist People's Coalition)	8,701,191	33.81
	Nikki Coseteng	Nationalist People's Coalition	8,700,278	33.81
	Ramon Mitra Jr.	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	8,650,618	33.61
	Rodolfo Biazon	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	8,587,338	33.37
	Aquilino Pimentel Jr.	PDP–Laban (Lakas–Laban Coalition)	8,522,148	33.11
	Bongbong Marcos	Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (Nationalist People's Coalition)	8,168,768	31.74
	Arturo Tolentino	Nationalist People's Coalition	7,726,006	30.02
	Ramon Fernandez	Nationalist People's Coalition	3,572,604	13.88
	Rosemarie Arenas	Nationalist People's Coalition	3,178,837	12.35
	Manuel C. Roxas	Nationalist People's Coalition	2,455,764	9.54
	Herman T. Laurel	People's Reform Party	1,395,015	5.42
	Almarin C. Tillah	Nationalist People's Coalition	1,165,164	4.53
	Amanda T. Cruz	Nationalist People's Coalition	1,008,180	3.92
	Gaudencio Beduya	Nationalist People's Coalition	829,082	3.22
	Adelisa Raymundo	Nationalist People's Coalition	745,115	2.90
	Ibrahim Amerel	Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas	482,328	1.87
	Vicente N. Biego	Bicol Saro	417,901	1.62
	Felino C. Polintan Jr.	Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas	393,712	1.53
	Brigido Simon [lower-alpha 1]	People's Reform Party	152,161	0.59
	Misa	Bicol Saro	109,711	0.43
Total			182,626,828	100.00
Total votes			25,736,505	–
Registered voters/turnout			36,415,154	70.68

1. Withdrew but remained on the ballot

Per coalition

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats
	Lakas-Laban Coalition		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino	63,402,619	34.72	4
			Lakas–NUCD	43,034,397	23.56	4
			PDP–Laban	8,522,148	4.67	0
			Independent	8,701,191	4.76	1
		Total		123,660,355	67.71	9
	Nationalist People's Coalition		Nationalist People's Coalition	29,381,030	16.09	1
			People's Reform Party	9,497,231	5.20	1
			Kilusang Bagong Lipunan	8,168,768	4.47	0
			Independent	8,968,616	4.91	1
		Total		56,015,645	30.67	3
	People's Reform Party			1,547,176	0.85	0
	Bicol Saro			527,612	0.29	0
	Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas			482,328	0.26	0
	Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas			393,712	0.22	0
Total				182,626,828	100.00	12
Total votes				25,736,505	–
Registered voters/turnout				36,415,154	70.68
Source: "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). quezon.ph. Retrieved 2010-12-10.

Vote share Lakas-Laban   67.71% NPC   30.67% Others   1.62%

Senate seats Lakas-Laban   75.00% NPC   25.00% Others   0%

Per party

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Up	Before	Won	After	+/−
	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino	63,402,619	34.72	−10.28	6	16	4	14	−2
	Lakas–NUCD	43,034,397	23.56	+5.96	1	2	4	5	+3
	Nationalist People's Coalition	29,381,030	16.09	−1.62	4	5	1	2	−3
	People's Reform Party	11,044,407	6.05	−3.83	0	0	1	1	New
	PDP–Laban	8,522,148	4.67	New	0	0	0	0	0
	Kilusang Bagong Lipunan	8,168,768	4.47	−0.12	0	0	0	0	0
	Bicol Saro	527,612	0.29	New	0	0	0	0	0
	Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas	482,328	0.26	New	0	0	0	0	0
	Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas	393,712	0.22	New	0	0	0	0	–
	Independent	17,669,807	9.68	+9.53	0	0	2	2	New
	Liberal Party				1	1	0	0	−1
Total		182,626,828	100.00	–	12	24	12	24	0
Total votes		25,736,505	–
Registered voters/turnout		36,415,154	70.68
Source: "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). quezon.ph. Retrieved 2010-12-10.

Vote share LDP   34.72% Lakas   23.56% NPC   16.09% PRP   6.05% Independent   9.73% Others   5.92%

Senate seats won LDP   33.33% Lakas   33.33% NPC   8.33% PRP   8.33% Independent   16.66% Others   0.00%

See also

• Commission on Elections
• Politics of the Philippines
• Philippine elections
• 10th Congress of the Philippines

References

1. Villanueva, Marichu A. (May 12, 1995). "Pimentel denounces post-poll cheating". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 4. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
2. Atadero, Arnold (May 14, 1995). "Prove raps, Comelec dares accusers". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 3. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
3. Jacinto, Gerry G. (May 19, 1995). "Enrile bares cheating proof". Manila Standard . Standard Publications, Inc. p. 5. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
4. "'Firing Line' special on electoral reforms". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. December 4, 1995. p. 30B. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
5. Maragay, Fel (December 9, 1995). "SWS survey unfair to economic managers". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 23B. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
6. Macaspac, Joem H. (May 16, 1996). "Comelec dared on fraud case". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 1. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
7. Laborte, Annie Rose A. (May 24, 1996). "There are Judases in Comelec – Borra". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 5. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
8. Maragay, Fel (May 25, 1996). "Erap's loaded remarks". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 19B. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
9. Macaspac, Joem H. (July 2, 1996). "Enrile challenges Pimentel to one-on-one poll contest". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 5. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
10. Laborte, Annie Rose A. (December 8, 1996). "Arrest of Comelec official in 'Dagdag-Bawas' hailed". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 5. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
11. "Pimentel commends Comelec for removing 1995 poll cheats". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. October 26, 2000. p. 3. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
12. Cueto, Donna S. (February 11, 2000). "2 poll execs face raps for 'honest mistake'". Philippine Daily Inquirer . The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. p. 4. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
13. Ubac, Michael Lim (September 28, 2000). "Justice usec goes on leave". Philippine Daily Inquirer . The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. p. A2. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
14. Fuertes, Yolanda (September 13, 2001). "Court finds poll official guilty". Philippine Daily Inquirer . The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. p. 1. Retrieved August 11, 2022.

External links

• Official website of the Commission on Elections
• Official website of the House of Representatives