PHILIPPINES

ELECTIONS IN 2004

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Chamber:

Senado

Dates of election / renewal (from/to):

10 May 2004

Purpose of elections:

Elections were held for one-half of the Senate seats on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.

Background and outcome of elections:

On 10 May 2004, some 43 million voters were called to the polls to elect the President, Vice-President, 12 senators and all the members of the House of Representatives together with 17,000 local government posts.

Incumbent President, Mrs. Gloria Arroyo, was looking to win her first popular mandate, as she had inherited the presidency in 2001, when Mr. Joseph Estrada was deposed by street protests. Under the Constitution, an elected President cannot run again, but Mrs. Arroyo was Vice-President under President Estrada and completed his term.

Her main rival in the race was Mr. Fernando Poe Junior, the country's best-known film star, who was allegedly backed by Mr. Joseph Estrada. There were three other runners: Mr. Raul Roco, a former education secretary, Mr. Panfilo Lacson, the former Police Chief, and Mr. Eduardo Villanueva, an Evangelical preacher.

The election battle was fought mainly on personality, and ignored the important current issues in the country such as poverty, an underperforming economy, a looming debt crisis, Islamic militant terrorism, Muslim and Communist insurgencies and birth control. Around half of the 84 million population lives on less than two dollars a day, while the total debt is estimated at 100 billion dollars. Foreign investment was just 319 million dollars in 2003, compared to 1.8 billion in 1992. Muslim and Communist insurgencies have been festering for decades, and despite having the highest population growth in Asia, birth control is not publicly discussed to avoid angering the Roman
Catholic church.

Mrs. Arroyo presented herself as a "safe pair of hands" for the economy and was backed by the business sector, while Mr. Poe ran on his film star reputation as "Mr Clean". Mr. Poe was adored by the poorest classes because of his screen roles playing an underdog superhero battling for the oppressed.

The elections were marred by numerous complaints that many people had been left off the voters' list or could not find their voting precincts. There were also many reports of violence during the campaign. The released figures showed that 141 people were killed and 192 wounded in election-related violence since December 2003, mostly by communist insurgents and private armed gangs of political warlords. The removal of former President Mr. Joseph Estrada in a military-backed uprising was the main source of bitterness that had divided the country.

About 230,000 police and troops were deployed at polling stations throughout the country in an effort to contain the violence.
According to reports in the local press, some voters were handed envelopes of cash or free lunches if they voted for certain candidates. Other voters complained that the indelible ink aimed at preventing double voting washed off with suspicious ease. Mr Poe's supporters protested in the streets disputing the fairness of the election and Mr. Poe accused the government of cheating.

Opposition candidates also claimed that the extremely slow manual counting of votes, which was completed about a month after the election, was also another avenue for cheating. Reacting to criticism by international observers, President Arroyo conceded there were flaws in the elections, but declared the problems were isolated and warned the opposition against stirring up trouble.

Official results showed that of the 12 Senate seats at stake, the ruling K4 coalition (Coalition for Truth and Experience for the Future, led by the President's Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats) obtained 7. It also won 184 of the 212 seats of the House of Representatives (Lakas-CMD 93, the Nationalist People's Coalition 54, the Liberal Party 34, Kampi 3) while the opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) obtained 11 seats.

On 24 June 2004, a congressional committee tasked with the count declared Mrs. Gloria Arroyo the winner of the presidential elections. She was sworn in on 30 June 2004.

On 26 July 2004, the House of Representatives voted Speaker Jose de Venecia to an unprecedented fourth term at the opening of the Thirteenth Congress while the Senate also re-elected Franklin Drilon as President.

*Mr. Poe died on 14 December 2004 suffering a stroke.

STATISTICS


Round no 1 (10 May 2004): Election results
Number of registered electors		43'536'028
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes



Round no 1: Distribution of votes

Political Group	Candidates	Votes	%
Coalition of the United Filipino (KNP)
Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD)
Liberal Party (LP)
Independents
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP)
People's Reform Party
Pilipino Democratic Party (PDP)-Leban
Promdi
National party (NP)


Round no 1: Distribution of seats

Political Group	Total	Seats 2004
Coalition of the United Filipino (KNP)	6
Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD)	5
Liberal Party (LP)	4
Independents	2
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP)	2
People's Reform Party	1
Pilipino Democratic Party (PDP)-Leban	1
Promdi	1
National party (NP)	1

Comments:

Former Senator Noli de Castro did not complete his term since he was elected Vice President of the Philippines in national elections of May 2004.

Distribution of seats according to sex:

Men:

Women:

Percent of women:

16.67

Distribution of seats according to age:


31 to 40 years	2
41 to 50 years	6
51 to 60 years	5
61 to 70 years	4
Over 70 years	6

Distribution of seats according to profession:

Lawyers		10
Actors		3
Businessmen		3
Doctors of Medicine		2
Former Military General		1
Former Police General		1
Mechanical Engineer, Businessmen		1
Investment Banker		1
Farmers		1

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