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1995 Philippine Senate election

25th Philippine senatorial election

Field	Value
election_name	1995 Philippine Senate election
country	Philippines
flag_year	1986
type	legislative
ongoing	no
previous_election	1992 Philippine Senate election
previous_year	1992
next_election	1998 Philippine Senate election
next_year	1998
election_date	May 8, 1995
seats_for_election	12 (of the 24) seats in the Senate
majority_seats	13
color1
alliance1	Lakas–Laban Coalition
seats1	9
popular_vote1	123,660,355
percentage1	67.71
color2
alliance2	NPC
seats2	3
popular_vote2	56,015,645
percentage2	30.67
title	Senate President
before_election	Edgardo Angara
before_party	Laban
after_election	Edgardo Angara
after_party	Laban

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 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, then known as Laban), 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.

Electoral system

Philippine Senate elections are via pluraity block voting, with the entire country as an at-large "district". Each voter has 12 votes, and can vote for up to 12 candidates. Seats up were for the 13th to 24th placed candidates in 1992. This is the first time that 12 seats will be up, and where the usual operation of the 1987 constitution is followed.

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

There were two major coalitions in this election:

Lakas–Laban Coalition, a united ticket between the administration party Lakas–NUCD–UMDP (Lakas) and opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Laban)
Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), other opposition politicians who against the Fidel V. Ramos administration. The People's Reform Party (PRP) were initially a third party, but its primary candidate, defeated 1992 presidential candidate Miriam Defensor Santiago, was drafted into the NPC slate.

Notably, the COMELEC did not allow any independents to run, but candidates from Bicol Saro, Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP) and Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas (PNP; no relation to then moribund Nacionalista Party) were allowed to run.

Administration coalition

Name	Party
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}};"
Rodolfo Biazon	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}};"
Franklin Drilon
Juan Ponce Enrile
Marcelo Fernan	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}};"
Juan Flavier
Ramon Magsaysay Jr.
Ramon Mitra Jr.	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}};"
Serge Osmeña
Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
Raul Roco	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}};"
Francisco Tatad	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}};"

Opposition coalition

Name	Party
Rosemarie Arenas
Gaudencio Beduya
Nikki Coseteng
Amanda T. Cruz
Ramon Fernandez
Gregorio Honasan
Bongbong Marcos
Adelisa A. Raymundo
Manuel C. Roxas
Miriam Defensor Santiago
Almarin C. Tillah
Arturo Tolentino

Other candidates

Name	Party
Vicente N. Biego
Jose Misa

Name	Party
Herman T. Laurel
Brigido Simon (withdrew)

Name	Party
Ibrahim Amerel
Felino C. Polintan Jr.

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.

Butz Aquino (Laban), term limited, ran for representative from Makati's 2nd district in 1998 and won
Joey Lina (Laban), term limited, ran for governor of Laguna and won
John Henry Osmeña (NPC), term limited, ran for representative from Cebu's 3rd district and won; ran for senator in 1998 and won
Santanina Rasul (Lakas), term limited; ran for senator in 1998 and in 2001, both lost
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

Teofisto Guingona Jr. (Laban), 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. Pimentel also shared that two of his fellow Lakas-Laban senatorial candidates revealed to him that a vote-buying scam called "Oplan Dagdag-Bawas" () was occurring in Mindanao, where canvassers are bribed to shave off votes meant for Pimentel and transfer them to other candidates. Pimentel later admitted that he lacks evidence for his claim, while a Comelec commissioner named Regalado Maambong dismissed the allegation as false. After the election, Pimentel established the Foundation for Clean Elections, Inc. in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila to help prevent fraud in the country's elections.

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.

In May 1996, Maambong reversed his stance from the previous year and revealed that Comelec has found evidence of widespread cheating during the election. 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. 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. 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, though he would remain in office until late 2000 when a pending court case against him forced his resignation.

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. Llorente eventually went on indefinite leave from his position as Justice Undersecretary in September due to the Supreme Court standing by its ruling.

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.

Results

The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Laban) 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 Laban 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, Laban'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 Laban's Rodolfo Biazon and NPC's Arturo Tolentino.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	11	13	15	17	19	21	23	24	Before election	Election result	After election	Senate bloc
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Lakas–NUCD}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Lakas–NUCD}}"	‡	Liberal Party (Philippines)}}"	‡	‡^	Nationalist People's Coalition}}"		Nationalist People's Coalition}}"		Nationalist People's Coalition}}"		Nationalist People's Coalition}}"		Nationalist People's Coalition}}"
Not up	People's Reform Party}}"	[](people-s-reform-party)	Lakas–Laban Coalition}}" colspan="9"	[](lakas-laban-coalition)	Nationalist People's Coalition}}"	[](nationalist-people-s-coalition)	Not up
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"	Lakas–NUCD}}"	People's Reform Party}}"	+	Lakas–NUCD}}"	+	Lakas–NUCD}}"	+	Lakas–NUCD}}"	+	Lakas–NUCD}}"	*	Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"		Independent}}"	+	Nationalist People's Coalition}}"		Independent}}"	+	Nationalist People's Coalition}}"
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino}}"			Nationalist People's Coalition}}"

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

Per coalition

Per party

Defeated incumbents

Rodolfo Biazon (Laban/Lakas–Laban), ran in 1998 and won
Arturo Tolentino (NPC), retired from politics

References

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

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