Lakas ng Bayan ( en, Power of the People), abbreviated as Laban, was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

formed by

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. for the 1978 Interim Batasang Pambansa regional elections. The party had 21 candidates for the

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

area, all of whom lost, including Ninoy. The party's acronym (LABAN) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

word meaning "fight". After Aquino's exile to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the party was managed by the brother of Aquino's wife, Jose "Peping" Cojuangco Jr. By 1984, the party had formed a coalition with the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino of

Aquilino Pimentel Jr. Aquilino Quilinging Pimentel Jr. (, December 11, 1933 – October 20, 2019), commonly known as Nene Pimentel, was a Filipino politician and human rights lawyer who was one of the leading political opposition leaders during the regime of Ferdinan ...

, himself a LABAN party member. By 1986, the two parties were completely merged to form the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan party or

PDP–Laban Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (), abbreviated as PDP–Laban, is a democratic socialist List of political parties in the Philippines, political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was part of the country's ruling party al ...

. The name "Lakas ng Bayan" would eventually be reused in the 1987 Philippine legislative elections as the name of a

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

led by the

United Nationalist Democratic Organization The United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO) was the main political multi-party electoral alliance of the traditional political opposition during the turbulent last years of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in the mid-1980s. It w ...

party of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Corazon C. Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

and

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Salvador H. 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 ...

Noise barrage

On April 6, 1978, supporters of the party came out in protest by asking bystanders and cars to make noise in support of the opposition. However, on April 7, 1978, the first national election under martial law held for the 165- members to the

Interim Batasang Pambansa The Interim Batasang Pambansa (English: Interim National Assembly) was the legislature of the Republic of the Philippines from its inauguration on June 12, 1978 to June 5, 1984. It served as a transitional legislative body mandated by the 1973 ...

resulted in the massive victory of the administration coalition party, the “ Kilusang Bagong Lipunan ng Nagkakaisang Nacionalista, Liberal, at iba pa” or KBL. Only 15 opposition candidates in other parts of the country won. None of the members of LABAN were elected. The opposition denounced the massive vote buying and cheating in that elections. On June 12, 1978, the

was convened with Marcos as President-Prime Minister and

Querube Makalintal Querube Cortinas Makalintal (December 22, 1910 – November 8, 2002) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 1973 to 1975 and Speaker of the Interim Batasang Pambansa from 1978 to 1984. Early life Makalintal was born o ...

as Speaker. Some opposition members went into exile or were driven underground fighting against the Marcos dictatorship. Labor leader Alex Boncayao became guerrilla and was killed by government security forces in 1983.

Electoral performance

As LABAN was a coalition, the results below are combined totals of the parties under LABAN.

Candidates - 1978 Interim Batasang Pambansa

References

{{Reflist Defunct political parties in the Philippines Political parties established in 1978 Political parties disestablished in 1986 1978 establishments in the Philippines 1986 disestablishments in the Philippines