The 1987 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 23rd election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 11, 1987. The

Philippine Senate The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives a ...

was re-instituted following the approval of a new constitution in 1987 restoring the bicameral Congress of the Philippines; earlier, a constitution was approved in 1973 that created a unicameral

Batasang Pambansa The Batasang Pambansa Complex, or simply the Batasan (), is the seat of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It is located along the Batasan Road in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. The complex was initially the home of the Batasang ...

(parliament) that replaced the bicameral Congress. The last Senate election prior to this was the 1971 election. The Lakas ng Bayan Coalition (LABAN) got 64.9% of the vote but won 22 out of 24 seats in the Senate; only two candidates from the opposition Grand Alliance for Democracy won: former Secretary of National Defense

Juan Ponce Enrile Juan Valentin Furagganan Ponce Enrile Sr., (born Juanito Furagganan; February 14, 1924), also referred to by his initials JPE, or Manong Johnny, is a Filipino politician and lawyer known for his role in the administration of Philippine dicta ...

and

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

Mayor Joseph Estrada, despite getting 26.6% of the vote. Along with the

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

and 1941 elections, this is the third and last senatorial election where all seats were up.

Background

After Marcos was ousted in the

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

in 1986, his political party, the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, was fragmented. Almost all its members including Assemblymen

Arturo Tolentino Arturo "Ka Turing" Modesto Tolentino (September 19, 1910 – August 2, 2004) was a Filipino politician and diplomat who served as the Senate president and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He ran as the vice-presidential running mate of Ferdin ...

, Jose Rono, Nicanor Yniquez,

Cesar Virata Cesar Enrique Aguinaldo Virata (born 12 December 1930) is a Filipino former statesman and businessman who was the fourth Prime Minister of the Philippines from 1981 to 1986. He is currently the corporate vice chairman of the Rizal Commercial ...

who were coming from the

Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party ( Filipino and Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; ) is the oldest political party in both the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in general. It is responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th ...

among others were orphaned. On the other hand, the Aquino coalition took all positions in the Ministry/Cabinet. Most notable were Prime Minister

Salvador Laurel Salvador Roman Hidalgo Laurel (, November 18, 1928 – January 27, 2004), also known as Doy Laurel, was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the vice president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992 under President Corazon Aquino an ...

, Local Government Minister Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Executive Secretary

Joker Arroyo Ceferino "Joker" Paz Arroyo Jr. (January 5, 1927 – October 5, 2015) was a Filipino statesman and key figure in the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution which ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos. He was a Congressman for Makati from 1992 to 2001 and ...

. The

Lakas ng Bayan Lakas ng Bayan ( en, Power of the People), abbreviated as Laban, was a political party in the Philippines formed by Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. for the 1978 Interim Batasang Pambansa regional elections. The party had 21 candidates for t ...

(LABAN) consists of the

PDP–Laban Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (), abbreviated as PDP–Laban, is a democratic socialist political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was part of the country's ruling party alliance from 1986 to 1992 under the administrat ...

headed by Local Government Minister Pimentel, the Lakas ng Bansa party headed by Assemblyman

Ramon Mitra Ramon Villarosa Mitra Jr. (February 4, 1928 – March 20, 2000) was a Filipino statesman, diplomat, and pro-democracy activist. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 1987 to 1992. Prior to that, he was ...

, the

UNIDO The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in ...

, the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

headed by Senator

Jovito Salonga Jovito "Jovy" Reyes Salonga, KGCR (; June 22, 1920 – March 10, 2016) was a Filipino politician and lawyer, as well as a leading opposition leader during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos from the declaration of martial law in 1972 until the P ...

, the National Union of Christian Democrats headed by

Raul Manglapus Raul Sevilla Manglapus (October 20, 1918 – July 25, 1999) was a prominent post–World War II Filipino politician and songwriter. He co-founded the reformist Progressive Party of the Philippines and the Christian Democratic Socialist Movement ...

, the Bayang Nagkakaisa sa Diwa at Layunin headed by

Butz Aquino Agapito "Butz" Aquino (May 20, 1939 – August 17, 2015) was a Senator of the Philippines from 1987 to 1995, congressman from Makati and a part-time film and television actor. He was born to former senator Benigno S. Aquino Sr. and Aurora Aqui ...

, Panaghusia and other pro-Cory regional parties The GAD consists of the faction of the KBL headed by Assemblyman

, the Jose Roy faction of the Nacionalista Party headed by

Renato Cayetano Renato "Rene" Luna Cayetano (December 12, 1934 – June 25, 2003), commonly known as Compañero, was a Filipino lawyer, television presenter, journalist, and politician. He served in the Regular Batasang Pambansa, representing the lone district ...

, the pre-1986 opposition leaders who defected from Aquino headed by Senator

Eva Estrada-Kalaw Eva Kalaw ( Evangelina Reynada Estrada; June 16, 1920 – May 25, 2017) was a Filipina politician who served as a senator in the Senate of the Philippines from 1965 to 1972 during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos. She was one of the key oppo ...

, the Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas headed by Former Labor Minister

Blas Ople Blas Fajardo Ople (February 3, 1927 – December 14, 2003) was a Filipino journalist and politician who held several high-ranking positions in the executive and legislative branches of the Philippine government, including as Senate President fr ...

, the Mindanao Alliance, the Muslim Federal Party and the Christian Social Democratic Party. The UPP-KBL coalition was composed of pro-Marcos forces. This coalition included some GAD candidates as guest candidates, and was considered to be the loyalist politicians of the Marcos government. The Left also put up a seven-man slate, under the Partido ng Bayan banner. These includes the

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan () or Bayan is an alliance of left-wing Philippine organizations. It was founded on International Workers' Day, May 1, 1985 as part of the opposition during the Marcos dictatorship. Politics Ideology The prin ...

and its allied organizations. Other political parties who fielded candidates are the Lapiang Manggagawa,

Lakas ng Bansa The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino () is a centre-right political party in the Philippines. There are no results available for the 2004 election for the House of Representatives, but according to the website of the House, the party held 7 out ...

and the Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas, along with several independent candidates.

Major Senate candidates

Administration coalition

Main opposition coalition

: defected from President Aquino

Other notable candidates

*Guest candidate

Results

The

(LABAN) coalition won 22 seats, while the Grand Alliance for Democracy (GAD) won two. Winners who had served in the 1935 constitution Senate were LABAN's

Ernesto Maceda Ernesto "Ernie" Madarang Maceda Sr. (March 26, 1935 – June 20, 2016) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, and columnist who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 1971 to 1972 and again from 1987 to 1998. He served as Senate President fro ...

John Henry Osmeña John Henry Renner Osmeña (January 17, 1935 – February 2, 2021), also known as Sonny Osmeña or simply John Osmeña, was the grandson of Philippine President Sergio Osmeña. He served as a senator of the Philippines from 1971 to 1972, 1987 to ...

and

Mamintal A.J. Tamano Mamintal Abdul Jabbar Tamano (December 25, 1928 – May 18, 1994) was a Filipino statesman and a former Senator of the Philippines. Early life and education Tamano was born in Tamparan, Lanao. He graduated valedictorian at the Lanao High Schoo ...

. Winners who had served in the

were LABAN's Neptali Gonzales, Orlando S. Mercado, Aquilino Pimentel Jr.,

Alberto Romulo Alberto Gatmaitan Romulo (born August 7, 1933) is a Filipino politician and diplomat. He served in the Philippine in various capacities as Executive Secretary, Finance Secretary, Foreign Affairs Secretary, and Budget Secretary. His most recent o ...

, and

Victor ZIga Victor "Vic" San Andres Ziga (September 30, 1945 – January 31, 2021) was a Filipino politician who served as senator in the 8th Congress. He was an assemblyman for Albay in the Regular Batasang Pambansa prior to getting elected as senator. He ...

, and GAD's

. Winners who had neither served in the 1935 constitution Senate and in the 1973 constitution Batasang Pambansa were LABAN's Heherson Alvarez,

Edgardo Angara Edgardo Javier Angara (, September 24, 1934 – May 13, 2018) was a Filipino politician who served as the President of the Senate of the Philippines from 1993 to 1995. He was a Senator from 1987 to 1998 and then served as Secretary of Agricult ...

Teofisto Guingona Jr. Teofisto "Tito" Tayko Guingona Jr. (born July 4, 1928) is a Filipino politician and diplomat who served as the 11th vice president of the Philippines from 2001 to 2004, during the first term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Born in San ...

Ernesto Herrera Ernesto Herrera may refer to: *Ernesto Herrera (politician) (1942–2015), Senator of the Philippines *Ernesto Herrera (playwright) Ernesto Herrera (1889–1917) was a Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, ...

Sotero Laurel Sotero Cosme "Teroy" Hidalgo Laurel II (September 27, 1918 – September 16, 2009) was a Filipino politician and educator who served as a Senator from 1987 until 1992, including a period as President pro tempore from 1990 until 1991. Laurel ...

Joey Lina Jose David Lina Jr., KGCR (born December 22, 1951), better known as Joey Lina, is a Filipino lawyer, businessman, public servant, radio personality, and politician who is the former governor of Laguna and former Senator of the Philippines. Po ...

Leticia Ramos-Shahani Leticia Valdez Ramos-Shahani (September 30, 1929 – March 20, 2017) was a Filipina senator, diplomat, and writer. She was the younger sister of Fidel V. Ramos, the 12th president of the Philippines. Early life She was born on September 30 ...

, Nina Rasul,

Rene Saguisag Renito Augusto Verceluz Saguisag (, born August 14, 1939 in Mauban, Quezon, Philippines) is a Filipino lawyer and politician. He served as a Filipino Senator from 1987 until 1992. Early life Rene A.V. Saguisag was born on August 14, 1939 in ...

and

Wigberto Tañada Wigberto "Ka Bobby" Ebarle Tañada Sr. (, born August 13, 1934) is a Filipino politician. He is member of the Liberal Party and a former member of the Senate of the Philippines (1987–1995) and Philippine House of Representatives representing t ...

, and GAD's Joseph Estrada. The first 21 proclaimed winners were all seated on June 30, the day the terms start. The 22nd and 23rd senators were proclaimed a few days after June 30. Finally, the

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

, due to the tight race between GAD's Juan Ponce Enrile and LABAN's Augusto Sanchez, only declared the 24th winner by August. Key: * ‡ Seats up * + Gained by a party from another party * ^ Vacancy

Tally of votes

Per coalition

References

External links

Official website of the Commission on Elections

Official website of the House of Representatives

{{Philippine elections

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

1987 elections in the Philippines