Liberal Party (Philippines)

Liberal Party Partido Liberal ng Pilipinas
Chairman	Benigno Aquino III
President	Mar Roxas
Secretary-General	Joseph Emilio Abaya
Founded	January 19, 1946 (1946-01-19)
Split from	Nacionalista Party
Merged into	Lakas ng Bayan (1978-87)
Headquarters	Expo Centro, Araneta Center, EDSA Cubao, Quezon City,
Youth wing	Kabataang Liberal (Young Liberals)
Ideology	Liberalism, Social liberalism
International affiliation	Liberal International Alliance of Democrats, Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats
Official colors	Yellow and Blue
Seats in the Senate	4 / 24
Seats in the House of Representatives	73 / 286
Provincial governorships	20 / 80
Provincial vice governorships	16 / 80
Provincial boards	158 / 756
Website
Official Website of the Liberal Party of the Philippines
Politics of Philippines Political parties Elections

The Liberal Party of the Philippines (Filipino: Partido Liberal ng Pilipinas) is a liberal party in the Philippines, founded by then senators Senate President Manuel Roxas, Senate President Pro-Tempore Elpidio Quirino, and former 9th Senatorial District Senator Jose Avelino, on November 24, 1945 by a breakaway Liberal group from the Nacionalista Party. It is the current ruling party after the election victory of Benigno Aquino III as the President of the Philippines. The Liberals control the House of Representatives, while it is part of a coalition agreement in the Senate.

As such it is the second-oldest political party in the Philippines in terms of establishment, and the oldest active political party in the Philippines. The party has been led by people like Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino, Diosdado Macapagal and Benigno Aquino, Jr.

History

Liberal Party logo, 1946-2012

The Liberal Party (LP) was founded on 19 January 1946 by Manuel Roxas, the first President of the Third Philippine Republic. It was formed by Pres. Roxas from what was once the “Liberal Wing” of the old Nacionalista Party. Two more Presidents of the Philippines elected into office came from the LP: Elpidio Quirino and the redoubtable Diosdado Macapagal. Two other presidents came from the ranks of the LP, being former members of the Party that choose to follow a different path and joined the Nacionalistas: Ramon Magsaysay, and Ferdinand Marcos.

During the days leading to Martial Rule, Marcos would find his old party as a potent roadblock to his quest for one-man rule. Led by Ninoy Aquino, Gerry Roxas and Jovito Salonga, the LP would time and again hound the would-be dictator on issues like Human Rights and the curtailment of Freedoms. Not even the declaration of Martial Law silenced the LP, and it continued to fight the dictatorship despite the costs. Many of its leaders and members would be prosecuted and even killed during this time.

In recent times, the LP was instrumental in ending more than half-a-century of US Military presence in the Philippines with its campaign in the Senate of 1991 to reject a new RP-US Bases Treaty. This ironically cost the Party dearly, losing for it the Elections of 1992. In 2000, it again showed its mettle by standing against the corruption of the Joseph Estrada Administration, actively supporting the Resign-Impeach-Oust initiatives that led to People Power II.

The Liberal Party regained new influence after its nomination of then-Senator Benigno Aquino III, the son of former President Cory Aquino, after the latter's death and the massive outpouring of sympathy for the Aquino family. Even as the party earlier nominated Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas for president, Roxas chose to be give way to Aquino and run for vice president instead. The party then, during the fierce campaign battle that followed, was able to field new members from then-ruling party Lakas Kampi CMD, in order to become the largest minority party in Congress.

Current party officials

• Titular Head & Party Chairman: H.E. President Benigno S. Aquino III (Tarlac) (2011-Present)
• Chairman Emeritus: Former Senate President Jovito Salonga (Rizal) (1982-present)
• Vice Chair: Senator Franklin Drilon (Iloilo) (2011-present)
• Vice Chair: House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. (Quezon City) (2011-Present)
• President: Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas II (Capiz) (2007-present)
• Executive Vice President: Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo (Camarines Sur) (2007-Present)
• Vice President for Policy: Representative Henedina R. Abad (Batanes) (2011-present)
• Treasurer: Governor Alfonso Umali, Jr. (Oriental Mindoro) (2011-present)
• Secretary-General: Representative Joseph Emilio A. Abaya (Cavite) (2007-present)
• Director-General: Ma. Gladys Sta. Rita (2011-present)

Presidents

Term in Office	Name
January 19, 1946 - April 15, 1948	President Manuel Roxas
January 19, 1946 - May 8, 1949	Senate President Jose Avelino
April 17, 1948 - December 30, 1950	President Elpidio Quirino
1950 - 1957	House Speaker Eugenio Perez
1957 - 1961	President Diosdado Macapagal
1961-April 21, 1964	Senate President Ferdinand Marcos
December 30, 1961 - December 30, 1965	President Diosdado Macapagal
May 1964 - 1969	House Speaker Cornelio T. Villareal
May 10, 1969 - April 19, 1982	Senator Gerardo M. Roxas
April 20, 1982 - June 1, 1993	Senate President Jovito Salonga
June 2, 1993 – Oct. 17, 1994	Senator Wigberto Tañada
Oct. 18, 1994 - Sept. 19, 1999	Speaker Pro Tempore Raul A. Daza
Sept. 20, 1999 - August 9, 2004	Representative Florencio Abad
August 9, 2004 - 2008	Senate President Franklin Drilon
2008 - present	Secretary of Transportation & Communications Manuel Roxas II

Electoral performance

President

Election	Candidate	Number of votes for Liberal	Share of votes	Outcome of election
1946	Manuel Roxas	1,333,392	54.94%	Won
1949	Elpidio Quirino	1,803,808	50.93%	Won
1953	Elpidio Quirino	1,313,991	31.08%	Lost
1957	Jose Yulo	1,386,829	27.62%	Lost
1961	Diosdado Macapagal	3,554,840	55.00%	Won
1965	Diosdado Macapagal	3,187,752	42.88%	Lost
1969	Sergio Osmeña, Jr.	3,143,122	38.51%	Lost
1981				Boycotted
1986				Supported Corazon Aquino who became president
1992	Jovito Salonga	2,302,123	10.16%	Lost
1998	Alfredo Lim	2,344,362	8.71%	Lost
2004				Supported Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who won
2010	Benigno Aquino III	15,208,678	42.08%	Won

Vice president

Election	Candidate	Number of votes for Liberal	Share of votes	Outcome of election
1946	Elpidio Quirino	1,161,725	52.36%	Won
1949	Fernando Lopez	1,341,284	52.19%	Won
1953	Jose Yulo	1,483,802	37.10%	Lost
1957	Diosdado Macapagal	2,189,197	46.55%	Won
1961	Emmanuel Pelaez	2,394,400	37.57%	Won
1965	Gerardo Roxas	3,504,826	48.12%	Lost
1969	Genaro Magsaysay	2,968,526	37.54%	Lost
1981				Boycotted
1986	Eva Estrada-Kalaw (Kalaw wing)*	662,185	3.31%	Lost
1992				Supported Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. who lost
1998	Sergio Osmeña III	2,351,462	9.20%	Lost
2004				Supported Noli de Castro who won
2010	Mar Roxas	13,918,490	39.58%	Lost

*Main wing supported Salvador Laurel who became vice president

Senate

Election	Number of votes for Liberal	Share of votes	Seats won	Seats after	Outcome of election
1946	8,626,965	47.7%	8	9	Coalition
1947	12,241,929	54.5%	7	15	Won
1949	12,782,449	52.5%	8	18	Won
1951	8,764,190	39.9%	0	12	Won
1953	8,861,244	36.0%	0	7	Lost
1955	7,395,988	28.9%	0	0	Lost
1957	8,934,218	31.8%	2	2	Lost
1959	10,850,799	31.7%	2	4	Lost
1961	14,988,931	37.9%	4	8	Lost
1963	22,794,310	49.8%	4	10	Lost
1965	23,158,197	46.9%	2	10	Lost
1967	18,127,926	37.1%	1	7	Lost
1969	21,060,474	39.1%	2	5	Lost
1971	33,469,677	57.4%	5	8	Lost
1987					Won under the LABAN coalition
1992*	19,158,013	6.9%	1	1	Lost
1995					Did not participate
1998	5,429,123	2.6%	0	0	Lost
2001	19,131,732	7.9%	1	1	Independent-led coalition
2004	30,008,158	12.0%	2	4	Liberal Party-led coalition
2007	28,843,415	10.7%	2	4	Nacionalista Party-led coalition
2010	78,227,817	26.34%	3	4	PMP-led coalition

*in coalition with PDP-Laban

House of Representatives

Election	Number of votes for Liberal	Share of votes	Seats	Outcome of election
1946	1,129,971	47.06%	49	Won
1949	1,834,173	53.00%	66	Won
1953	1,624,571	39.81%	59	Lost
1957	1,453,527	30.16%	19	Lost
1961	2,167,641	33.71%	29	Won
1965	3,721,460	51.32%	61	Won
1969	2,641,786	41.76%	18	Lost
1978				Lost under the LABAN coalition
1984				Lost under the LABAN coalition
1987*	2,101,575	10.5%	16	Lakas ng Bansa-led coalition
1992**	1,644,568	8.8%	11	Lakas-NUCD-UMDP-led coalition
1995*	358,245	1.9%	5	Lakas-NUCD-UMDP-led coalition
1998*	1,773,124	7.3%	15	Lost
2001			19	Lakas-NUCD-UMDP-led coalition
2004			29	Lakas-CMD-led coalition
2007			23	Lakas-CMD-led coalition
2010	6,923,162	20.19%	45	Liberal Party-led coalition

*does not include candidates who ran as under a Liberal Party ticket along with another party.
**in coalition with PDP-Laban

Most notable members

Elected Philippine President

• Manuel Roxas (5th President of the Philippines; one of the co-founders)
• Elpidio Quirino (6th President of the Philippines)
• Diosdado Macapagal (9th President of the Philippines)
• Ferdinand Marcos (10th President of the Philippines; defected from the Liberal Party to the rival Nacionalista Party in 1965 after failing to get the nomination)
• Benigno Aquino III (15th President of the Philippines)

Others

• Gerardo Roxas, Sr. (Senator; Liberal Party leader during Marcos dictationship)
• Cesar Climaco (Mayor of Zamboanga City, vocal critic and opponent of Martial Law)
• Benigno Aquino, Jr. (Senator of the Philippines)
• Eva Estrada-Kalaw (Senator of the Philippines)
• Eddie Ilarde (Senator of the Philippines)
• Ramon Mitra, Jr. (16th Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives)
• Narciso Ramos (Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs; one of the co-founders)
• Ramon Bagatsing (longest serving Mayor of Manila, Plaza Miranda bombing survivor)
• Salipada K. Pendatun (World War II General, Representative, Senator of the Philippines)
• Emmanuel Pelaez (Vice-President of the Philippines, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs; Philippine Ambassador to the United States of America, Senator of the Philippines)
• Jovito Salonga (Senate President of the Philippines, survived the Plaza Miranda bombing)
• Manuel Roxas II (Incumbent Transportation and Communication Secretary, Senator of the Philippines, Representative, Trade and Industry Secretary)
• Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. (Incumbent Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives)

Liberal-affiliated parties

• Aksyon Demokratiko
• Bando Osmeña – Pundok Kauswagan - Cebu City
• Kapayapaan, Kaunlaran at Katarungan - Manila
• Kilusang Diwa ng Taguig – Taguig City
• Hugpong Sa Tawong Lungsod - Davao City
• Uswag Tagum - Davao del Norte
• Ugyon - Iloilo
• Akbayan Citizens' Action Party - Party-list
• Partido Del Pilar - Bulacan
• People's Champ Movement - Sarangani

Candidates for the Philippine general election, 2010

• Benigno Aquino III - Presidential Candidate (won)
• Mar Roxas - Vice Presidential Candidate (lost)

Senatorial Slate (12)

• Franklin Drilon (won)
• Ralph Recto (won)
• Sergio Osmeña, III (won)
• Teofisto Guingona III (won)
• Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel (lost)
• Ruffy Biazon (lost)
• Danilo Lim (lost)
• Sonia Roco (lost)
• Neric Acosta (lost)
• Alexander Lacson (lost)
• Yasmin Busran-Lao (lost)
• Martin Bautista (lost)

See also

• Contributions to liberal theory
• Liberal democracy
• Liberalism
• Liberalism in the Philippines
• Liberalism worldwide
• List of liberal parties
• Nacionalista Party

External links

• Liberal Party official site