Philippine General Election – 2004

Presidential elections, legislative elections and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 10, 2004. In the presidential election, incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo successfully won a full six-year term as President, with a margin of just over one million votes over her leading opponent, highly popular movie actor Fernando Poe, Jr..

The elections were notable for several reasons. This election first saw the implementation of the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 (see Wikisource), which enabled Filipinos in over 70 countries to vote.

This is also the first election since the 1986 People Power Revolution where an incumbent President ran for re-election. Under the 1987 Constitution, an elected president cannot run for another term. However, Arroyo was not elected president, but instead succeeded ousted President Joseph Estrada, who was impeached with charges of plunder and corruption in 2000, (later he was convicted on plunder charge but he was received a pardon from Arroyo).

Moreover, this was the first time since 1986 that both the winning president and vice president were under the same party/coalition. This election was also held at a period in modern Philippines marked by serious political polarization. This resulted in lesser candidates for the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections compared to the 1992 and 1998 elections.

Other Information

• Date : May 10, 2004
• Nominees :
  • Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (K4) – 12,905,808 (39.99%)
  • Fernando Poe, Jr. (KNP) – 11,782,232 (36.51%)
  • Panfilo Lacson (LDP) – 3,510,080 (10.88%)
  • Raul Roco (Aksyon Demokratiko / Alyansa ng Pag-Asa) – 2,082,762 (6.45%)
  • Eduardo Villanueva (Bangon Pilipinas Movement) – 1,988,218 (6.16%)
• Winner : Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Timeline

• 2002
  • December 30 – President Arroyo declares that she will not run for President in 2004.
• 2003
  • October 4 – President Arroyo announces her intention to run for President.
  • November 26 – Fernando Poe, Jr. declares his intention to run for President.
  • December 29 – Raul Roco, together with Herminio Aquino filed their candidacies for the position of President and Vice President. Senator Panfilo Lacson filed his candidacy as President without a running mate.
  • December 30 – Fernando, Poe, Jr. together with running mate Senator Loren Legarda filed their candidacies for the position of President and Vice President.
• 2004
  • January 5 – President Gloria Arroyo and Senator Noli de Castro filed their candidacies for the position of President and Vice President.
  • January 13 – The Supreme Court nullified a contract for the computerization of the ballot-counting process, effectively forcing the Commission on Elections to revert to the manual counting of votes.
  • February 10 – Start of the official campaign period for national positions
  • March 3 – Poe was deemed as a natural born Filipino by the Supreme Court, thereby blocking any legal obstacles for his candidacy.
  • March 25 – Start of the official campaign period for local positions
  • May 10 – Election day
  • May 10 – NAMFREL starts its quickcount tally.
  • May 14 – Panfilo Lacson resigns from his party, the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP).
  • May 14 – Grenade explodes at the General Santos City Hall where canvassing was taking place. No one was hurt.
  • May 17 – Opposition groups stage protest at the PICC, site of the official COMELEC canvass for senators and party-list representatives.
  • May 17 – Raul Roco concedes to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
  • May 19 – Fernando Poe, Jr., proclaims himself winner in Zamboanga City.
  • May 25 – COMELEC proclaims the top 11 senators in its official canvass.
  • May 28 – Congress approves the rules for the canvassing of the Certificates of Canvass for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential positions.
  • June 2 – The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines issued a statement saying that the elections were generally peaceful and that there was no sign of massive electoral fraud on a nationwide scale.
  • June 3 – The 12th senator, Rodolfo Biazon, was proclaimed by the COMELEC.
  • June 4 – Congress, through the Joint Committee, starts canvassing the votes for the President and Vice-president.
  • June 8 – Supreme Court votes 14-0 against the KNP petition to declare the Congressional Joint Committee as the National Board of Canvassers unconstitutional.
  • June 20 – The Congressional Joint Committee finishes the canvassing of votes for the President and Vice-president; Arroyo is declared the winner.
  • June 24 – The Congress approves the report of the Joint Committee officially proclaiming Arroyo the winner.
  • June 30 – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is inaugurated in Cebu City.

Election Highlights

• Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s candidacy – 2004
• Fernando Poe, Jr.’s candidacy – 2004
• Death of Lawyer Maria Jeanette Tecson
• Eddie Gil’s candidacy – 2004
• The LDP split – 2004
• COMELEC’s move for an automated elections – 2004
• PET Case No. 003, Legarda v. De Castro, January 18, 2008
• Official Congressional canvass – 2004
• Election scandal – 2004

See also

1. Official Congressional canvass - 2004
2. Election scandal - 2004
3. PET Case No. 003, Legarda v. De Castro, January 18, 2008
4. COMELEC's move for an automated elections - 2004
5. The LDP split - 2004
6. Eddie Gil's candidacy - 2004
7. Death of Lawyer Maria Jeanette Tecson
8. Fernando Poe, Jr.’s candidacy - 2004
9. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s candidacy - 2004
10. Philippine General Election - 2004 (This post)

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