A parliamentary election was held on May 14, 1984, in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Like past elections, charges of bribery, protests and complaints on irregularities marred the elections. Former ''

Manila Times ''The Manila Times'' is the oldest extant English-language newspaper in the Philippines. It is published daily by The Manila Times Publishing Corp. (formerly La Vanguardia Publishing Corporation) with editorial and administrative offices at 2/F ...

'' publisher

Chino Roces Joaquin "Chino" Pardo Roces (June 29, 1913 – September 30, 1988) was a Filipino businessman and newspaper publisher. He was best known for being the founder of the Associated Broadcasting Corporation (now known as TV5) and a former owner ...

and former senator and opposition leader Jose W. Diokno supported the campaign boycotting the election. The National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) helped mitigate electoral fraud during the election. The ruling

Kilusang Bagong Lipunan The New Society Movement (, KBL), formerly named the New Society Movement of United Nationalists, Liberals, et cetera (, KBLNNL), is a Right-wing politics, right-wing political party in the Philippines. It was first formed in 1978 as an umbrel ...

(KBL) retained a majority in parliament, but the opposition

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 ...

(UNIDO) made massive gains, winning 60 seats and reducing the KBL's majority to 114 compared to the 150 they had in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

. This was the first Philippine election to happen after the end of the controversial martial law period from 1972 to 1981. The opposition's success was due in most part because of the public fallout after the

assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. Ninoy Aquino, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., a former Senate of the Philippines, Philippine senator, was assassinated on Sunday, August 21, 1983, on the airport apron, apron of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila International Airport (no ...

on August 21, 1983. His death exposed an increasingly incapable administration under President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

, exposing serious corruption and nepotism within, including from Marcos' wife Imelda, as well as exposing Marcos' worsening health at that time. As a result of Aquino's assassination and subsequent investigation, opposition became more widespread and united, rallying under his widow

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

. The economy was also in crisis with severe poverty and debt dragging down growth, which was attributed to the

Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...

's decision to distance itself from Marcos following Aquino's death, resulting in fewer investments that boosted the regime earlier before. The gains from UNIDO, among other factors would force Marcos to call the for the 1986 snap presidential election, which would ultimately see him ousted following accusations of fraud, leading to Corazon Aquino becoming president.

Electoral system

The Batasang Pambansa has not more than 200 members, of which 183 are elected via multi-member districts via plurality block vote, similar to the

Philippine Senate elections Elections to the Senate of the Philippines are done via plurality-at-large voting; a voter can vote for up to twelve candidates, with the twelve candidates with the highest number of votes being elected. The 24-member Senate uses staggered elect ...

in the past. Each

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

corresponds to a parliamentary district, with the number of seats dependent on the province's or city's population, with each province guaranteed at least 1 seat.. An additional 14 members are

reserved Reserved is a Polish apparel retailer headquartered in Gdańsk, Poland. It was founded in 1999 and remains the flagship brand of the LPP (company), LPP group, which has more than 2,200 retail stores located in over 38 countries and also owns su ...

for sectoral seats. There are three sectors: agricultural labor, industrial labor, and youth, each having 1 seat each from

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

, 2 seats for

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

, and the youth sector having an additional 2 seats elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

. The seats are determined by electoral college within each sector, with the electoral colleges voting via first-past-the-post system. Finally, the president may choose members of the Cabinet to be members.

Background

After the assassination of opposition leader Senator

Benigno Aquino Jr. Benigno "Ninoy" Simeón Aquino Jr., (, ; November 27, 1932 – August 21, 1983) was a Filipino politician who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac (1963–1967). Aquino was the husband ...

in 1983, the opposition ran for the

Regular Batasang Pambansa The Regular Batasang Pambansa (English language, English: Regular National Assembly), or the First Batasang Pambansa, was the meeting of the Batasang Pambansa (legislature), Batasang Pambansa from the beginning of its session on July 23, 1984 ...

under the

(UNIDO) and the

Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP, ) is a populist political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was previously known as Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) from 1983 to 2024 as a result of a merger with Lak ...

(PDP–Laban) against the ruling

Redistricting

Reapportionment Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation. This page presents the general principles and issues related to apportionment ...

(redistricting) is carried out by the

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 Pa ...

(). Voting for

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 1 ...

was via multi-member districts based on the then newly established

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

, via

plurality block voting Plurality block voting is a type of block voting method for multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected. The usual result when the candidates div ...

. In January 1984, a plebiscite asked the voters to revert the Batasang Pambansa's representation via

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

and

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, as last seen in 1972. The voters approved the proposal, and the Interim Batasang Pambansa passed Batas Pambansa Bilang () 697 reinstituting representation by province and city. This means the regional at-large districts have been divided as follows: * Division of 12-seat Region I's at-large district to 16 seats ** Abra's at-large district (1 seat) ** Baguio's at-large district (1 seat) ** Benguet's at-large district (1 seat) ** Ilocos Norte's at-large district (2 seats) ** Ilocos Sur's at-large district (2 seats) ** La Union's at-large district (2 seats) ** Mountain Province's at-large district (1 seat) ** Pangasinan's at-large district (6 seats) * Division of 7-seat Region II's at-large district to 11 seats ** Batanes's at-large district (1 seat) ** Cagayan's at-large district (3 seats) ** Ifugao's at-large district (1 seat) ** Isabela's at-large district (3 seats) ** Kalinga-Apayao's at-large district (1 seat) ** Nueva Vizcaya's at-large district (1 seat) ** Quirino's at-large district (1 seat) * Division of 16-seat Region III's at-large district to 18 seats ** Bataan's at-large district (1 seat) ** Bulacan's at-large district (4 seats) ** Nueva Ecija's at-large district (4 seats) ** Olongapo's at-large district (1 seat) ** Pampanga's at-large district (4 seats) ** Tarlac's at-large district (3 seats) ** Zambales's at-large district (1 seat) * Division of 20-seat Region IV's at-large district to 19 seats ** Caloocan's at-large district (2 seats) ** Las Piñas–Parañaque's at-large district (1 seat) ** Makati's at-large district (1 seat) ** Malabon–Navotas–Valenzuela's at-large district (1 seat) ** Manila's at-large district (6 seats) ** Pasay's at-large district (1 seat) ** Pasig–Marikina's at large district (1 seat) ** Quezon City's at-large district (4 seats) ** San Juan–Mandaluyong's at large district (1 seat) ** Taguig–Pateros–Muntinglupa's at-large district (1 seat) * Division of 19-seat Region IV–A's at-large district to 24 seats ** Aurora's at-large district (1 seat) ** Batangas's at-large district (4 seats) ** Cavite's at-large district (3 seats) ** Laguna's at-large district (4 seats) ** Marinduque's at-large district (1 seat) ** Occidental Mindoro's at-large district (1 seat) ** Oriental Mindoro's at-large district (2 seats) ** Palawan's at-large district (1 seat) ** Quezon's at-large district (4 seats) ** Rizal's at-large district (2 seats) ** Romblon's at-large district (1 seat) * Division of 12-seat Region V's at-large district to 13 seats ** Albay's at-large district (3 seats) ** Camarines Norte's at-large district (1 seat) ** Camarines Sur's at-large district (4 seats) ** Catanduanes's at-large district (1 seat) ** Masbate's at-large district (2 seats) ** Sorsogon's at-large district (2 seats) * Division of 16-seat Region VI's at-large district to 16 seats ** Aklan's at-large district (1 seat) ** Antique's at-large district (1 seat) ** Capiz's at-large district (2 seats) ** Guimaras's at-large district (1 seat) ** Iloilo's at-large district (5 seats) ** Negros Occidental's at-large district (7 seats) * Division of 13-seat Region VII's at-large district to 15 seats ** Bohol's at-large district (3 seats) ** Cebu's at-large district (6 seats) ** Cebu City's at-large district (2 seats) ** Negros Oriental's at-large district (3 seats) ** Siquijor's at-large district (1 seat) * Division of 10-seat Region VIII's at-large district to 10 seats ** Biliran's at-large district (1 seat) ** Eastern Samar's at-large district (1 seat) ** Leyte's at-large district (5 seats) ** Northern Samar's at-large district (1 seat) ** Samar's at-large district (2 seats) ** Southern Leyte's at-large district (1 seat) * Division of 8-seat Region IX's at-large district to 9 seats ** Basilan's at-large district (1 seat) ** Sulu's at-large district (1 seat) ** Tawi-Tawi's at-large district (1 seat) ** Zamboanga City's at-large district (1 seat) ** Zamboanga del Norte's at-large district (2 seats) ** Zamboanga del Sur's at-large district (2 seats) ** Zamboanga Sibugay's at-large district (1 seat) * Division of 9-seat Region X's at-large district to 10 seats ** Agusan del Norte's at-large district (1 seat) ** Agusan del Sur's at-large district (1 seat) ** Bukidnon's at-large district (2 seats) ** Cagayan de Oro's at-large district (1 seat) ** Camiguin's at-large district (1 seat) ** Dinagat Islands's at-large district (1 seat) ** Misamis Occidental's at-large district (1 seat) ** Misamis Oriental's at-large district (2 seats) ** Surigao del Norte's at-large district (1 seat) * Division of 10-seat Region XI's at-large district to 13 seats ** Surigao del Sur's at-large district (1 seat) ** Davao City's at-large district (2 seats) ** Davao del Norte's at-large district (3 seats) ** Davao del Sur's at-large district (1 seat) ** Davao Occidental's at-large district (1 seat) ** Davao Oriental's at-large district (2 seats) ** Sarangani's at-large district (1 seat) ** South Cotabato's at-large district (2 seats) * Division of 8-seat Region XII's at-large district to 9 seats ** Iligan's at-large district (1 seat) ** Lanao del Norte's at-large district (1 seat) ** Lanao del Sur's at-large district (2 seats) ** Maguindanao del Norte's at-large district (1 seat) ** Maguindanao del Sur's at-large district (1 seat) ** North Cotabato's at-large district (2 seats) ** Sultan Kudarat's at-large district (1 seat) A total of 17 new seats were disputed. The number of sectoral representatives were not changed.

Results

References

External links

The Philippine Presidency Project

Official website of the Commission on Elections
{{Philippine elections

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...