# 1984 Philippine parliamentary election

A parliamentary election was held on May 14, 1984, in the Philippines. Like past elections, charges of bribery, protests and complaints on irregularities marred the elections. Former Manila Times publisher Chino Roces 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 (KBL) retained a majority in parliament, but the opposition United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO) made massive gains, winning 60 seats and reducing the KBL's majority to 114 compared to the 150 they had in 1978. 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. on August 21, 1983. His death exposed an increasingly incapable administration under President Ferdinand Marcos, 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. The economy was also in crisis with severe poverty and debt dragging down growth, which was attributed to the Reagan administration'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 in the past. Each province or city 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 for sectoral seats. There are three sectors: agricultural labor, industrial labor, and youth, each having 1 seat each from Visayas and Mindanao, 2 seats for Luzon, and the youth sector having an additional 2 seats elected at-large. 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. in 1983, the opposition ran for the Regular Batasang Pambansa under the United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO) and the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) against the ruling Kilusang Bagong Lipunan of Ferdinand Marcos.

## Redistricting

Reapportionment (redistricting) is carried out by the Batasang Pambansa (transl. National Legislature). Voting for Interim Batasang Pambansa in 1978 was via multi-member districts based on the then newly established regions, via plurality block voting.
In January 1984, a plebiscite asked the voters to revert the Batasang Pambansa's representation via provinces and cities, as last seen in 1972. The voters approved the proposal, and the Interim Batasang Pambansa passed Batas Pambansa Bilang (transl. National Law No.) 697 reinstituting representation by province and city. This means the regional at-large districts have been divided as follows:
A total of 17 new seats were disputed.
The number of sectoral representatives were not changed.

## Results

| | Kilusang Bagong Lipunan | 27,237,315 | 46.01 | −25.12 | 110 | −40 |
| | United Nationalist Democratic Organization | 20,352,815 | 34.38 | New | 35 | New |
| | Nacionalista Party | 2,084,331 | 3.52 | +3.19 | 2 | 0 |
| | Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (independent) | 1,596,900 | 2.70 | New | 4 | +4 |
| | PDP–Laban | 1,344,607 | 2.27 | New | 6 | +6 |
| | Partido Panaghiusa | 471,551 | 0.80 | New | 1 | +1 |
| | Social Democratic Party | 349,891 | 0.59 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Mindanao Alliance | 202,945 | 0.34 | −2.88 | 1 | 0 |
| | Pusyon Bisaya | 161,944 | 0.27 | -4.30 | 0 | −13 |
| | United Nationalist Democratic Organization (independent) | 140,539 | 0.24 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Liberal Party | 127,243 | 0.21 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Pundok Sugboanon (independent) | 107,745 | 0.18 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Nacionalista Party (independent) | 102,776 | 0.17 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Konsensiya ng Bayan | 94,592 | 0.16 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Federal Party of the Philippines | 91,082 | 0.15 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Bicol Saro | 83,656 | 0.14 | -0.87 | 0 | 0 |
| | Lapiang Manggagawa | 69,007 | 0.12 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Concerned Citizens' Aggrupation | 41,735 | 0.07 | -0.59 | 1 | +1 |
| | Other parties | 191,683 | 0.32 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent | 4,352,328 | 7.35 | +3.68 | 6 | +5 |
| | Coalitions | | | | 17 | +17 |
| Sectoral seats | Sectoral seats | | | | 14 | 0 |
| Appointed seats | Appointed seats | | | | 3 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 59,204,685 | 100.00 | – | 200 | +10 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 24,824,934 | 83.74 | | | |
| Source: Teehankee, COMELEC |||||||