Philippine Presidential Election – 1986
The Presidential and Vice-Presidential snap elections were held on February 7, 1986 in the Philippines. President Ferdinand E. Marcos and former Foreign Affairs Minister and Senate President Arturo Tolentino were proclaimed winners by the Batasang Pambansa as well as the official election canvasser, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) thus granting President Marcos another six-year term as President of the Philippines. The electoral exercise was marred by alleged electoral fraud from both sides of the political fence as well as violence.
Marcos and Tolentino won by over a million votes according to the COMELEC. The opposition headed by Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr.’s widow Corazon C. Aquino and former senator Salvador Laurel refused to accept the allegedly fraudulent result. Due to the reports of fraud, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement condemning the elections, the United States Senate passed a resolution stating the same. This chain of events eventually led to the resignation of Marcos’ Defence Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and military vice-chief Fidel Ramos, who then decided to seclude themselves in the military and police headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame respectively, leading to the People Power Revolution which precipitated Marcos’s departure from the country into exile in Hawaii. On March 24, 1986, the Regular Batasang Pambansa made a people’s resolution signed by 150 lawmakers which nullified the election returns that proclaimed that Marcos and Tolentino as the winners. Instead, it mandated that Aquino and Laurel were the real winners of the snap elections.
Other Information
- Date : February 7, 1986
- Nominees :
- Ferdinand E. Marcos (KBL) – 10,807,197 (53.62%)
- Corazon C. Aquino (UNIDO) – 9,291,761 (46.10%)
- Winner : Ferdinand E. Marcos
Election Highlights
See also
- Nullification of COMELEC final tally
- Philippine Presidential Election - 1986 (This post)