# 1995 Philippine Senate election

The 1995 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 25th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 8, 1995, to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. Filipinos protected the ballot boxes with their lives and campaigned against traditional politicians who used bribery, flying voters, violence, election rigging, stealing of ballot boxes, etc. The Philippine National Police (PNP) listed five people dead and listed more than 200 hotspots before and 300 hotspots during the election.
The two largest parties, Lakas-NUCD and the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), contested the senate election under the Lakas-Laban Coalition and won nine out of the 12 seats contested. The opposition-led coalition was composed of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) which had an alliance with the People's Reform Party (PRP), though they contested the election separately.

## Electoral system

Philippine Senate elections are via pluraity block voting, with the entire country as an at-large "district". Each voter has 12 votes, and can vote for up to 12 candidates. Seats up were for the 13th to 24th placed candidates in 1992. This is the first time that 12 seats will be up, and where the usual operation of the 1987 constitution is followed.
This was also the first midterm election for the 1987 constitution, and the first since 1971, as the date the elected candidates take office falls at the midway point of President Fidel V. Ramos' six-year term.

## Candidates

There were two major coalitions in this election:
* Lakas–Laban Coalition, a united ticket between the administration party Lakas–NUCD–UMDP and opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP)
* Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), other opposition politicians who against the Fidel V. Ramos administration.
The People's Reform Party (PRP) were initially a third party, but its primary candidate, defeated 1992 presidential candidate Miriam Defensor Santiago, was drafted into the NPC slate.
Notably, the COMELEC did not allow any independents to run, but candidates from Bicol Saro, Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP) and Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas (PNP; no relation to then moribund Nacionalista Party) were allowed to run.

## Retiring and term limited incumbents

This was the first Senate election where there were term-limited incumbents.
* Butz Aquino (LDP), term limited, ran for representative from Makati's 2nd district and won
* Joey Lina (LDP), term limited, ran for governor of Laguna and won
* John Henry Osmeña (NPC), term limited, ran for representative from Cebu's 3rd district and won; ran for senator in 1998 and won
* Santanina Rasul (Lakas), retired from politics
* Wigberto Tañada (Liberal), term limited, ran for representative from Quezon's 4th district and won; ran for senator in 2001 and lost

### Mid-term vacancies

* Teofisto Guingona Jr. (LDP), appointed Executive Secretary on July 6, 1993

## Controversies
### "Dagdag-Bawas" scam

As the counting of votes was ongoing on May 11, former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. alleged that some senatorial candidates currently outside the unfinished tally's top twelve spots were beginning to rig votes by bribing people involved in the electoral process. Pimentel also shared that two of his fellow Lakas-Laban senatorial candidates revealed to him that a vote-buying scam called "Oplan Dagdag-Bawas" (lit. 'Add-Subtract') was occurring in Mindanao, where canvassers are bribed to shave off votes meant for Pimentel and transfer them to other candidates. Pimentel later admitted that he lacks evidence for his claim, while a Comelec commissioner named Regalado Maambong dismissed the allegation as false. After the election, Pimentel established the Foundation for Clean Elections, Inc. in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila to help prevent fraud in the country's elections.
By late 1995, the Senate Electoral Tribunal ordered to deduct more than 58,000 "unlawfully credited" votes for Juan Ponce Enrile in Bataan and Isabela from his tally, alongside 10,000 votes for Gringo Honasan and 7,000 votes for Ramon Mitra.
In May 1996, Maambong reversed his stance from the previous year and revealed that Comelec has found evidence of widespread cheating during the election. Resureccion Borra, then executive director of Comelec, later stated that the 1995 election was the first time "dagdag-bawas" was committed on a massive scale, and announced that they will attempt to prosecute canvassers in the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Bataan, and Lanao del Sur. In July 1996, Senator Serge Osmeña revealed that he discovered a 30,000 vote discrepancy for him in Pasig City between the manual tally done by the Treasurer's Office and the certificates of canvass. By December, a regional trial court in Bataan ordered for the arrest of Cenon Uy, an assistant regional director for Comelec in Central Luzon, for having allegedly tampered with election results in the region to favor the candidacy of Enrile, though he would remain in office until late 2000 when a pending court case against him forced his resignation.
On February 10, 2000, Antonio Llorente and Ligaya Salayon, who were respectively Pasig City prosecutor and member of the Pasig board of canvassers at the time of the election, was charged by the Supreme Court for violating election laws after they admitted their "honest mistake" of taking away votes from Pimentel and transferring them to Enrile. Llorente eventually went on indefinite leave from his position as Justice Undersecretary in September due to the Supreme Court standing by its ruling.
On September 11, 2000, Arsenia Garcia, who was chair of the Alaminos, Pangasinan municipal canvassers during the election, was convicted of electoral fraud by a Regional Trial Court in Alaminos due to her discarding more than 5,000 votes that were in favor of Pimentel, and sentenced to six years in prison.

## Results

The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) and the Lakas–NUCD won four each, while the Nacionalista Party, the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), People's Reform Party (PRP), and an independent won one seat each.
Three incumbent LDP senators won: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Raul Roco, and Francisco Tatad (originally elected as an NPC member). Nikki Coseteng was the sole NPC senator to successfully defend her seat.
Neophyte senators were Lakas's Franklin Drilon, Juan Flavier, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., and Serge Osmeña, LDP's Marcelo Fernan, Miriam Defensor Santiago of the PRP, and independent Gregorio Honasan.
Returning was Juan Ponce Enrile, who last served in the Senate in 1992.
Incumbents defeated were LDP's Rodolfo Biazon and NPC's Arturo Tolentino.
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Before election | | | | | | | | | | | | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡^ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | |
| Election result | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | PRP | Lakas–Laban Coalition | Lakas–Laban Coalition | Lakas–Laban Coalition | Lakas–Laban Coalition | Lakas–Laban Coalition | Lakas–Laban Coalition | Lakas–Laban Coalition | Lakas–Laban Coalition | Lakas–Laban Coalition | NPC | NPC | Not up |
| After election | | | | | | | | | | | | + | + | + | + | * | * | √ | √ | √ | + | √ | + | |
| Senate bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | Majority bloc | | Minority bloc | Minority bloc | Minority bloc |
Key:
* ‡ Seats up
* + Gained by a party from another party
* √ Held by the incumbent
* * Held by the same party with a new senator
* ^ Vacancy

### Per candidate

| Candidate | Candidate | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Votes | % |
| | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino | 15,745,741 | 61.18 |
| | Raul Roco | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino | 12,509,736 | 48.61 |
| | Ramon Magsaysay Jr. | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Lakas–NUCD | 11,862,458 | 46.09 |
| | Franklin Drilon | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Lakas–NUCD | 11,032,476 | 42.87 |
| | Juan Flavier | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Lakas–NUCD | 10,748,528 | 41.76 |
| | Miriam Defensor Santiago | Nationalist People's Coalition | | People's Reform Party | 9,497,231 | 36.90 |
| | Serge Osmeña | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Lakas–NUCD | 9,390,935 | 36.49 |
| | Francisco Tatad | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino | 9,146,951 | 35.54 |
| | Gregorio Honasan | Nationalist People's Coalition | | Independent | 8,968,616 | 34.85 |
| | Marcelo Fernan | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino | 8,762,235 | 34.05 |
| | Juan Ponce Enrile | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Independent | 8,701,191 | 33.81 |
| | Nikki Coseteng | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | 8,700,278 | 33.81 |
| | Ramon Mitra Jr. | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino | 8,650,618 | 33.61 |
| | Rodolfo Biazon | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino | 8,587,338 | 33.37 |
| | Nene Pimentel | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | PDP–Laban | 8,522,148 | 33.11 |
| | Bongbong Marcos | Nationalist People's Coalition | | Kilusang Bagong Lipunan | 8,168,768 | 31.74 |
| | Arturo Tolentino | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | 7,726,006 | 30.02 |
| | Ramon Fernandez | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | 3,572,604 | 13.88 |
| | Rose Marie Arenas | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | 3,178,837 | 12.35 |
| | Manuel C. Roxas | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | 2,455,764 | 9.54 |
| | Herman T. Laurel | People's Reform Party | People's Reform Party | People's Reform Party | 1,395,015 | 5.42 |
| | Almarin C. Tillah | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | 1,165,164 | 4.53 |
| | Amanda T. Cruz | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | 1,008,180 | 3.92 |
| | Gaudencio Beduya | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | 829,082 | 3.22 |
| | Adelisa Raymundo | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | Nationalist People's Coalition | 745,115 | 2.90 |
| | Ibrahim Amerel | Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas | Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas | Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas | 482,328 | 1.87 |
| | Vicente N. Biego | Bicol Saro | Bicol Saro | Bicol Saro | 417,901 | 1.62 |
| | Felino C. Polintan Jr. | Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas | Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas | Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas | 393,712 | 1.53 |
| | Brigido Simon | People's Reform Party | People's Reform Party | People's Reform Party | 152,161 | 0.59 |
| | Jose Misa | Bicol Saro | Bicol Saro | Bicol Saro | 109,711 | 0.43 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 182,626,828 | 100.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 25,736,505 | – |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 36,415,154 | 70.68 |
* ↑ Withdrew but remained on the ballot

### Per coalition

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats |
| | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino | 63,402,619 | 34.72 | 4 |
| | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Lakas–NUCD | 43,034,397 | 23.56 | 4 |
| | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | PDP–Laban | 8,522,148 | 4.67 | 0 |
| | Lakas–Laban Coalition | | Independent | 8,701,191 | 4.76 | 1 |
| | Lakas–Laban Coalition | Total | Total | 123,660,355 | 67.71 | 9 |
| | Nationalist People's Coalition | | Nationalist People's Coalition | 29,381,030 | 16.09 | 1 |
| | Nationalist People's Coalition | | People's Reform Party | 9,497,231 | 5.20 | 1 |
| | Nationalist People's Coalition | | Kilusang Bagong Lipunan | 8,168,768 | 4.47 | 0 |
| | Nationalist People's Coalition | | Independent | 8,968,616 | 4.91 | 1 |
| | Nationalist People's Coalition | Total | Total | 56,015,645 | 30.67 | 3 |
| | People's Reform Party | People's Reform Party | People's Reform Party | 1,547,176 | 0.85 | 0 |
| | Bicol Saro | Bicol Saro | Bicol Saro | 527,612 | 0.29 | 0 |
| | Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas | Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas | Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas | 482,328 | 0.26 | 0 |
| | Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas | Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas | Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas | 393,712 | 0.22 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 182,626,828 | 100.00 | 12 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 25,736,505 | – | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 36,415,154 | 70.68 | |
| Source: "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). quezon.ph. Retrieved 2010-12-10. |||||||
Vote share
Lakas-Laban
67.71%
NPC
30.67%
Others
1.62% :
Senate seats
Lakas-Laban
75.00%
NPC
25.00%
Others
0% :

### Per party

Seats :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | +/– | Up | Before | Won | After | +/− |
| | Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino | 63,402,619 | 34.72 | −10.28 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 14 | −2 |
| | Lakas–NUCD | 43,034,397 | 23.56 | +5.96 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | +3 |
| | Nationalist People's Coalition | 29,381,030 | 16.09 | −1.62 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | −3 |
| | People's Reform Party | 11,044,407 | 6.05 | −3.83 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | PDP–Laban | 8,522,148 | 4.67 | New | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Kilusang Bagong Lipunan | 8,168,768 | 4.47 | −0.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Bicol Saro | 527,612 | 0.29 | New | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas | 482,328 | 0.26 | New | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas | 393,712 | 0.22 | New | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| | Independent | 17,669,807 | 9.68 | +9.53 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | New |
| | Liberal Party | | | | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | −1 |
| Total | Total | 182,626,828 | 100.00 | – | 12 | 24 | 12 | 24 | 0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | 25,736,505 | – | | | | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 36,415,154 | 70.68 | | | | | | |
| Source: "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). quezon.ph. Retrieved 2010-12-10. ||||||||||
Vote share
LDP
34.72%
Lakas
23.56%
NPC
16.09%
PRP
6.05%
Independent
9.73%
Others
5.92% :
Senate seats won
LDP
33.33%
Lakas
33.33%
NPC
8.33%
PRP
8.33%
Independent
16.66%
Others
0.00% :

## Defeated incumbents

* Rodolfo Biazon (LDP/Lakas–Laban), ran in 1998 and won
* Arturo Tolentino (NPC), retired from politics