Labor Party Philippines

Not to be confused with Partido ng Manggagawa.

The Labor Party Philippines,^[1][2][3] also known as the Workers' and Peasants' Party (WPP; this is their preferred acronym) and formerly known as the Partido ng Manggagawa at Magsasaka (lit. Workers' and Farmers' Party; PMM) and the Lapiang Manggagawa (lit. 'Workers' Party'; LM), is a political party in the Philippines.

Labor Party Philippines
President	Ariel Joseph Arias
Secretary-General	Marcelino Arias
Founded	February 3, 1963
Headquarters	Makati
Ideology	Laborism
Political position	Centre-left
Colors	Blue,   Gold
Seats in the Senate	0 / 24
Seats in the House of Representatives	0 / 316
Politics of the Philippines Political parties Elections

History

The Philippine Trade Union Center split into different groups, which included the Labor Party of the Philippines. Led by Cipriano Cid, Roberto Oca, Ignacio Lacsina and Felixberto Olalia, the Labor Party failed to win an election. Some members reorganized themselves into the Katipunang Manggagawang Pilipino (Association of Filipino Workers) at April 25, 1959, at the Manila Hotel with Oca as party president but other groups soon disassociated themselves from the party.^[4]

Founded on February 3, 1963, as the Lapiang Manggagawa (LM), Cipriano Cid, the founder, complained that the "party leaders were already being closely watched." The party broke up in August 1963, and its candidate for the Manila mayoralty, Roberto Oca, was recruited by the Nacionalista Party. Other members coalesced into the Liberal Party.^[5]

However, some founders from that Lyceum of the Philippines meeting persisted and carried on the "Lapiang Manggagawa" name. It was also known, albeit briefly in 1965, as the Socialist Party of the Philippines.^[6] The party registered with the Commission on Elections in 1983. The party supported the Corazon Aquino-Salvador Laurel ticket in the 1986 presidential election. In the 1992 elections, the party merged with the Lakas-NUCD.^[4] For the 1998 elections, the party merged with the Partido ng Demokratikong Reporma (Party for Democratic Reform).^[7]

For the 2010 presidential election, the party announced its nomination of Secretary of Public Works and Highways Hermogenes Ebdane for president.^[8] Ebdane accepted the nomination in November 2009,^[9] but withdrew from the presidential race in December 2009.^[10] Ebdane ran instead for the governorship of Zambales;^[11] he won, defeating Governor Amor Deloso.^[12] In 2012 Zambales' 2nd district special election, Ebdane's son Jun Omar successfully defended the district's seat in the House of Representatives of the Philippines against Deloso's daughter and from deceased Antonio M. Diaz's daughter, who ran under the Nacionalista Party.^[13]

For the 2016 presidential election, the party nominated former ambassador and House representative for OFW Family Club Roy Señeres.^[14] Señeres was in the initial list of official candidates.^[15] However, he withdrew on February 5, 2016.^[16] Seneres eventually died of a heart attack three days later.^[17] Despite his withdrawal and death, he still remained on the ballot.^[18] The party presented Apolonia Soguilon as his substitute, but was rejected because she had a different surname.^[19] Ultimately, Señeres still received around 22,000 votes in the election.^[20]

The party fielded candidates for the 2019 senatorial election. PMM's ticket consisted of Shariff Albani, Gerald Arcega, Marcelino Arias, Melchor Chavez, Jose Sonny Matula, and Luther Meniano.^[2][21]

The party supported Bongbong Marcos during the 2022 presidential election as cited by its unified national convention with the Partido Lakas ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PLMP) in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga.^[22]

Electoral performance

Presidential and vice presidential elections

Year	Presidential election			Vice presidential election
	Candidate	Vote share	Result	Candidate	Vote share	Result
1998	Renato de Villa	4.86%	Joseph Estrada (PMP)	Oscar Orbos	13.00%	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (Lakas–CMD)
2004	None[n 1]		Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (Lakas–CMD)	None[n 2]		Noli de Castro (Independent)
2010	Hermogenes Ebdane[n 3]	N/A	Benigno Aquino III (Liberal)	None		Jejomar Binay (PDP–Laban)
2016	Roy Señeres[n 4]	0.06%	Rodrigo Duterte (PDP–Laban)	None		Leni Robredo (Liberal)
2022	None[n 5]		Bongbong Marcos (PFP)	Manny SD Lopez	0.31%	Sara Duterte (Lakas-CMD)

Legislative elections

Congress of the Philippines
House of Representatives			Senate
Year	Seats won	Result	Year	Seats won	Ticket	Result
1995	0 / 204	Lakas / LDP majority	1995	Did not participate		Lakas-Laban Coalition win 9/12 seats
1998	0 / 258	Lakas plurality	1998	Did not participate		LAMMP win 7/12 seats
2001	Did not participate	Lakas plurality	2001	Did not participate		People Power Coalition win 8/13 seats
2004	Did not participate	Lakas plurality	2004	Did not participate		K4 win 7/12 seats
2007	Did not participate	Lakas plurality	2007	Did not participate		Genuine Opposition win 8/12 seats
2010	1 / 286	Lakas plurality	2010	Did not participate		Liberal Party win 4/12 seats
2013	Did not participate	Liberal Party plurality	2013	Did not participate		Team PNoy win 9/12 seats
2016	Did not participate	Liberal Party plurality	2016	Did not participate		Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid win 7/12 seats
2019	0 / 304	PDP–Laban plurality	2019	0 / 12	Single party ticket	Hugpong ng Pagbabago win 9/12 seats
2022	0 / 316	PDP–Laban plurality	2022	0 / 12	Single party ticket	UniTeam win 6/12 seats

1. supported Raul Roco for president.
2. supported Herminio Aquino for vice president.
3. Ebdane withdrew from the presidential race and instead ran for the Zambales governorship.
4. Señeres withdrew from the presidential race shortly before his death.
5. The Workers' and Peasants' Party endorsed Bongbong Marcos for president.

Local affiliates

• Sulong Zambales Party (Forward Zambales Party) – Zambales^[23]

References

1. "19 senatorial bets, 2 debates on Harapan 2019's last Sunday". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
2. "Labor party senatorial bets push for larger representation of labor in Senate". Manila Bulletin News. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
3. "2 labor leaders gunning for a Senate seat". Manila Bulletin News. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
4. Villegas, Bernardo M. (April 2, 2004). "LM for party-list". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
5. Simbulan, Dante C. (2005). The Modern Principalia: The Historical Evolution of the Philippine Ruling Oligarchy. University of the Philippines Press. p. 170. ISBN 9789715424967.
6. "In honor of Comrade Jose 'Ka Pepe' Ebora Luneta". National Democratic Front. June 3, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
7. "Advocating A Philippine Labor Party". Manila Bulletin. December 28, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
8. "L.M. backs Ebdane". Manila Bulletin. October 16, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
9. "Ebdane to accept labor party's offer". Manila Bulletin. November 6, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
10. "Ebdane's party seeks new bet to back". Philippine Daily Inquirer. December 6, 2009. Archived from the original on December 7, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
11. Reyes, Jonas (December 3, 2009). "Welcome to Zambales, Deloso tells Ebdane". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
12. Servando, Kristine (May 31, 2010). "Most ex-cops, soldiers lose election bids". abs-cbnNEWS. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
13. Aning, Jerome (February 5, 2012). "Ebdane son wins Zambales special congressional polls". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
14. Punzalan, Jamaine (October 15, 2015). "Seneres pursues presidency, promises job security". ABS-CBNnews.com.
15. "Comelec releases initial list of candidates". CNN Philippines. January 21, 2016. Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
16. Crisostomo, Sheila. "And then there were five Comelec final list out as Señeres withdraws". Philstar.com. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
17. "Roy Señeres dies". RAPPLER. February 8, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
18. Tan, Lara (February 15, 2015). "Comelec's official ballot includes Señeres, Poe". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
19. Santos, Tina G. (February 19, 2016). "Señeres' 'substitute' in presidential race denied by Comelec". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
20. Rappler.com (May 9, 2016). "Despite his death, Roy Señeres picks up presidential votes". Rappler. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
21. "Market visit, motorcade, rally mark Senate bets campaign". GMA News Online. February 19, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
22. "Two labor parties endorse Bongbong Marcos for May 2022 presidential elections". MB.com.ph. September 28, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
23. "Sulong Zambales Fields Full Ticket". Manila Bulletin. October 4, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2013.