1981 Philippine presidential election and referendum

Philippine presidential election, 1981
	Election result per province. Marcos won in every province, city, and municipality.
President before election; Ferdinand Marcos; KBL	Elected President ; Ferdinand Marcos; KBL

A presidential election in the Philippines was held on June 16, 1981. President Ferdinand E. Marcos of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) defeated retired general and World War II veteran Alejo Santos of the Nacionalista Party in a landslide victory. Most opposition parties boycotted the elections as a sign of protest over the 1978 elections for the Interim Batasang Pambansa (National Assembly), which they condemned as fraudulent.

Marcos' 80% margin of victory is regarded as the most lopsided Philippine presidential election ever, beating out Manuel L. Quezon's landslide victory in 1941. Marcos would have served another six-year term, which was cut short by the equally fradulent 1986 snap elections that eventually resulted in his ouster in the People Power Revolution.

In a referendum held together with the election, the majority voted YES to hold the barangay elections pursuant to Proclamation № 2088.

Lifting of martial law

On January 17, 1981, President Marcos announced the lifting of martial law via Proclamation № 2045; in his address, he also inaugurated the "New Republic." Although martial law has ended, Marcos retained all of the presidential decrees, legislative powers and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. The lifting of martial law was speculated to br due to the election of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, with whom Marcos wanted to have close relationship with and who was to be inaugurated only three days later, and the arrival of Pope John Paul II in the country. In February, the Interim Batasang Pambansa (parliament) passed a constitutional amendment that changed the parliamentary system of government to a semi-presidential modeled on that of France. The electorate approved the amendment on a plebiscite held on April. Marcos then called a presidential election to be scheduled on June.^[1]

Campaign

The opposition, as early as April, had decided to boycott the election. The United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO), the main opposition umbrella group, wanted to clean the voters' list, a revamping of the Commission on Elections, a campaign to be held nationwide and that UNIDO accredited as a minority party. Marcos did not accept the demands which led UNIDO to call for a boycott. This caused for Marcos to be reportedly dismayed as he could not legitimize the election without a viable opposition candidate.^[1] UNIDO also refused to participate as Benigno Aquino, Jr. (who was in exile in Massachusetts) was not allowed to participate since only people fifty years old or older were allowed to participate (Aquino was 48 years old at the time).^[2]

Marcos instructed Nacionalista Party president José Roy to find a token candidate to oppose him. The Nacionalista Party was then a moribund political entity because Marcos, who was elected twice before under its banner, had alternately lured and coerced the vast majority its members to his new Kilusang Bagong Lipunan. The Nacionalista Party chose former Defense Secretary and Bulacan governor Alejo Santos as their standard bearer. Santos, who was appointed by Marcos as chairman of the board of the Philippine Veterans Bank, had Francisco Tatad, Marcos' former information minister, as his campaign manager. The other main candidate was Bartolome Cabangbang of the Federalist Party, whose platform was for the Philippines to become the 51st state of the United States.^[1]

With UNIDO pressing for a boycott, the government issued a statement that abstention was a mortal sin; the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Jaime Sin responded that the people "were free to exercise their moral judgment whether to vote or not." Those who did not vote on the April plebiscite were issued summons to force them to vote. Marcos won overwhelmingly,^[1] but with people remembering the American colonial era and wanting a change from the martial law conditions, Cabangbang surprisingly got 4% of the vote.^[2]

Results

Final Official Parliamentary Canvass


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Ferdinand Marcos	Kilusang Bagong Lipunan	18,309,360	88.02
	Alejo Santos	Nacionalista Party (Roy wing)^[a]	1,716,449	8.25
	Bartolome Cabangbang	Federal Party	749,845	3.60
	Delfin Manapaz	Independent	6,499	0.03
	Ursula Dajao	Independent	4,955	0.02
	Benito Valdez	Independent	4,224	0.02
	Lope Rimando	Independent	1,954	0.01
	Lucio Hinigpit	Sovereign Citizen Party	1,945	0.01
	Pacifico Morelos	Independent	1,740	0.01
	Jose Igrobay	Independent	1,421	0.01
	Simeon del Rosario	Independent	1,234	0.01
	Salvador Enage	Independent	1,185	0.01
	Florencio Tipano	Independent	592	0.00
Total			20,801,403	100.00

Valid votes			20,801,403	95.23
Invalid/blank votes			1,042,426	4.77
Total votes			21,843,829	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			26,986,451	80.94
Source: Nohlen, Grotz, Hartmann, Hasall and Santos^[3]

^ Santos ran under Jose Roy's wing of the Nacionalista Party, while the rest of the party boycotted the election.

Aftermath

Marcos was inaugurated on June 30, 1981 at the Quirino Grandstand, with then United States Vice President George H.W. Bush in attendance. This is when Bush made the infamous praise for Marcos: "We love your adherence to democratic principles and to the democratic process."^[4] On 21 August 1983, Senator Aquino returned from exile in the United States, but was assassinated at the Manila International Airport.

Growing unrest followed, and Marcos was forced to call the snap election of 1986, where UNIDO and Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan participated and nominated Aquino's widow Corazon Aquino as their standard bearer. Marcos claimed victory over Aquino despite reports of massive cheating, but he was removed from power a few hours after his oath-taking on 25 February 1986.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Celoza, Albert (1997). Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism. Praeger Publishers. pp. 73–76. ISBN 978-0-275-94137-6.
^ ^a ^b Steinberg, David Joel (2000). The Philippines: a singular and a plural place. Westview Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-8133-3755-5.
^ 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.
^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960545-4,00.html A Test for Democracy

External links

[3] Santos ran under Jose Roy's wing of the Nacionalista Party, while the rest of the party boycotted the election.

[Celoza-1] Celoza, Albert (1997). Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism. Praeger Publishers. pp. 73–76. ISBN 978-0-275-94137-6.

[Steinberg-2] Steinberg, David Joel (2000). The Philippines: a singular and a plural place. Westview Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-8133-3755-5.

[4] 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.

[5] ttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960545-4,00.html A Test for Democracy

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