Makabayan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Satur Ocampo |
| President | Liza Maza[1] |
| Founded | April 16, 2009; 16 years ago (2009-04-16) |
| Headquarters | Quezon City |
| Ideology | National democracy Progressivism[2] |
| Political position | Far-left[3] |
| National affiliation |
|
| Colors | Blue, Red, Yellow |
| Senate | 0 / 24 |
| House of Representatives | 3 / 316 |
| Provincial governors | 0 / 81 |
| Provincial vice governors | 0 / 81 |
| Provincial board members | 0 / 756 |
| Website | |
makabayan | |
Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (lit. 'Patriotic Coalition of the People') or simplyMakabayan is anational democraticpolitical party in thePhilippines. It is also a coalition of threeparty-list organizations in theHouse of Representatives, namelyKabataan,Gabriela, andACT Teachers. It was founded on April 16, 2009 at the Bahay ng mga Alumni inUP Diliman,Quezon City.[4]
As of 2024, fourparty-lists are fielding candidates under the Makabayan bloc:[5]
The following partylists have also ran under the bloc:
In 2016, theCommission on Elections disqualified the Akap Bata and Katribu partylists for failure to acquire the necessary votes.[6]
In 2024, COMELEC delisted and canceled the registration of Anakpawis ahead of the2025 Philippine general election for "failing to obtain at least two (20) percent of votes cast for the party-list system and failed to obtain a seat in the last two (2) preceding elections."[7]
The Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (or Makabayan) was formally founded on April 16, 2009 as an alliance betweenBayan Muna,Anakpawis, and other progressive party-list groups. Then-Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna representativeSatur Ocampo stated that the goal of the alliance was to advance the "politics of change" and a "pro-poor" agenda in the upcoming2010 elections, and that it was open to working with local political leaders that stood against the traditional political system.[4]
Makabayan fielded its firstsenatorial candidates in 2010 through former Bayan Muna representativeSatur Ocampo and former Gabriela representativeLiza Maza. Both candidates ran under theslate of presidential candidate andbillionaireManny Villar.[8][9] Although the senatorial slate of Villar includedBongbong Marcos, Maza and Ocampo stated that they would not be supporting Marcos's senatorial bid, due to his stance onmartial law under his father's rule. Despite this, both of their candidates raising hands with him during an election photo-ops.[10][11]
Maza and Ocampo were both defeated in the 2010 senatorial elections, placing 25th and 26th.[12] However, the Makabayan bloc won a total of seven seats in the party-list elections, with the addition of a new party-list under the coalition,ACT Teachers.[13] With the opening of the15th Congress, the Makabayan bloc initially sided with the majority bloc in Congress.[14]
In the2013 senatorial elections, Makabayan fielded one candidate, namely, Bayan Muna representativeTeodoro Casiño.[15][16] Casiño lost in the senatorial race, placing 22nd.[12] In the 2013 House party-list elections, the Makabayan coalition retained all its seven seats across five party-lists.[13] Makabayan's members in the House were part of the minority bloc against President Aquino.[14]
Although the Makabayan bloc initially sided with the majority bloc in Congress during the first years ofBenigno Aquino III's term, the Makabayan bloc was eventually critical of the Aquino administration, citing the persistence of widespread inequality as well as controversial programs like theDisbursement Acceleration Program and thepork barrel scam.[17][18] On July 21, 2014, representativesNeri Colmenares andCarlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna and Fernando Hicap, along with other activists, filed an impeachment complaint against PresidentNoynoy Aquino for "usurpation of the power of the Legislature" from the DAP.[19] The case was later dismissed due to lack of merit.[20]
During the Aquino administration, Makabayan was also critical of party-list groupAkbayan due to perceived closed ties to the administration. The issues between the two leftist parties is rooted in ideological differences, with Akbayan commonly identified with thesocial democraticcenter-left and Makabayan being identified with thenational-democratic left. During the 2013 senatorial elections, Casiño critiqued former Akbayan representative and then-senatorial candidateRisa Hontiveros for allegedly accepting campaign contributions from Aquino's sisters.[21] Hontiveros was also critical of Casiño due to Makabayan's silence on alleged abuses committed by theNew People's Army.[22] After certain leftist groups identified with Makabayan filed a disqualification notice against Akbayan for being a "party in power" that failed to represent the marginalized, groups identified with Akbayan sought the disqualification of Makabayan bloc partylists for being fronts of theCommunist Party of the Philippines.[23][24]
In the2016 senatorial elections, Makabayan fielded Bayan Muna representativeNeri Colmenares, who ran under thePartido Galing at Puso slate of presidential candidateGrace Poe.[25][26] Colmenares lost and placed 20th.[12] In the 2016 House party-list elections, Makabayan retained its seven seats, where Bayan Muna fell into one seat but ACT Teachers strengthened into two seats.[13]
Makabayan initially welcomed the election of Davao mayorRodrigo Duterte, who had a friendly relationship with leftist organizations during his term as mayor ofDavao City. Several of Duterte's campaign promises were welcomed by Makabayan, including the ending ofendo contractualization, opposition to large-scale mining, and the resumption of peace talks with thecommunist armed movement. In a statement after the 2016 elections, Makabayan recognized the victory of Duterte as an "expression of popular outrage" and a rejection of Aquino's policies.[27]
Upon the election of Duterte, Makabayan bloc joined the supermajority bloc in the lower house, while Duterte also appointed former Makabayan bloc representatives, along with other leftist leaders, as part of his cabinet.[28] Critics of the Makabayan bloc have derided the alliance as having "enabled" Duterte's rise to power, in light of his subsequent human rights violations.[29] In contrast, a political analyst described the relationship between Duterte and Makabayan as "friend-and-foe", cooperating with Duterte in certain key issues while remaining critical of others.[30]
The alliance between Duterte and the Makabayan bloc started to break down after the former allowed the burial ofFerdinand Marcos in theLibingan ng mga Bayani in November 2016. In a press conference, Makabayan representatives called on Duterte to revoke state honors for Marcos, while still remaining supportive of Duterte's "pro-people" policies.[31][32] Nine months later, in September 2017, the Makabayan bloc ended its alliance with Duterte, leaving the House supermajority to join the minority bloc. In a statement, the group claimed that the Duterte administration had "unraveled as a fascist, pro-imperialist and anti-people regime".[33] In an interview in 2020, Bayan Muna representative Carlos Zarate admitted that they were "tricked" by Duterte into forming an alliance, but that the Makabayan bloc did not regret the alliance as a whole, as they believed that they represented the people's pulse at the time for change.[32]
After the collapse of the alliance, Duterte started to regularly attack the Makabayan bloc, accusing them as "fronts" of the communist armed movement. TheNational Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, an anti-communist task force established in 2018 under his administration, also regularly red-tagged members of the Makabayan bloc.[32][34] In a press conference in December 2020, the Makabayan bloc said that Duterte's red-tagging statements were a cover up for the "incompetence" of the Duterte administration.[35]
In the2019 senatorial elections, Makabayan fielded Neri Colmenares again as their sole candidate, placing 24.[36] Makabayan also endorsed the senatorial bids ofNancy Binay andGrace Poe, as well as five candidates under theLiberal-led opposition, such asBam Aquino.[37] In the 2019 party-list elections, Makabayan won six seats.[13]
In November 2021, theCriminal Investigation and Detection Group filed charges of two counts ofcyberlibel (violation of theRepublic Act No. 10175) against an incumbent and three former Makabayanrepresentatives, formerBayan Muna Rep.Carlos Isagani Zarate and three leaders of theGabriela Women's Party, Rep.Arlene Brosas, spokespersonLuzviminda Ilagan, andLiza Maza, after the four allegedly made statements accusing thePhilippine National Police ofred-tagging and planting of evidence. The case stemmed from a CIDG operation on that month to implement a 2015 arrest warrant against an individual for murder. TheDepartment of Justice, in a resolution dated May 12, 2022 but only publicized in September, dismissed the charges for lack of merit.[38][39]
In 2021, the Makabayan bloc expressed concerns that the formal endorsement ofLeni Robredo by opposition coalition group1Sambayan was premature, as unity talks were still underway with Robredo, then-senatorManny Pacquiao, and Manila mayorIsko Moreno.[40] In January 2022, Makabayan formally endorsed Robredo for president andKiko Pangilinan for vice president.[41]
In the 2022 senatorial elections, Neri Colmenares ran alongside labor leaderElmer Labog; both were part of the1Sambayan senatorial slate, and were guest candidates under the senatorial slates of presidential contendersLeody de Guzman andManny Pacquiao.[42][43] Colmenares and Labog finished 24th and 42nd, respectively.[44] In the party-list race of the 2022 House elections, Makabayan won three seats, down from six in the previous elections.[13]
In 2023, ACT Teachers RepresentativeFrance Castro called for an investigation into the dubious use of 125 million pesos of confidential funds by Vice PresidentSara Duterte, which Duterte welcomed.[45] The issue of confidential funds were raised again by members of the Makabayan bloc, as well as other Marcos-allied representatives, in 2024. In September 2024, amidst hearings in the House of Representatives, Duterte slammed what she called a political attack by the "Makabayan–Romualdez–Marcos alliance".[46] ACT Teacher representativeFrance Castro denied the alliance allegations.[47]
Makabayan filed an impeachment complaint against Duterte on December 4, 2024. This was the second impeachment complaint filed against Duterte, after Rep.Perci Cendaña of Akbayan and other civil groups filed a complaint two days earlier.[48] The House later voted toimpeach Duterte in February.[49]
In the 2025 senatorial elections, Makabayan fielded 11 senatorial candidates:[50]
None of Makabayan's candidates won a seat in the Senate. Casiño, Brosas, Ramos, Maza, Arambulo, and Castro were each able to gain at least 3.5 million votes each.[57] In the party-list race, the Makabayan bloc was able to get two seats, down from three in the previous election. Kabataan and ACT Teachers were able to get one seat each.[58] In September, COMELEC chairpersonGeorge Garcia said that the allocation of party-list seats in the lower chamber must be 64 in line with the 1987 Constitution. Republic Act 7941 or the Party-list System Act mandates the House of Representatives to guarantee 20% of the available seats in Congress to party-lists. Prior to Gabriela's proclamation, only 63 party-list seats or 19.8% of the total allocated seats in Congress were occupied. After the COMELEC en banc approved a resolution that would increase the allocated number of party-list seats in the lower chamber from 63 to 64 to meet the 20% allocated party-list seats requirement, Garcia announced in a radio interview withDZMM that Gabriela would be given the 64th party-list seat in the House of Representatives, bringing Makabayan's total number of seats to three.[59]
| Election | Candidate | Number of votes | Share of votes | Outcome of election |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | SupportedManny Villar wholost | |||
| 2016 | SupportedGrace Poe[60] wholost | |||
| 2022 | SupportedLeni Robredo wholost[61] | |||
| Election | Candidate | Number of votes | Share of votes | Outcome of election |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | SupportedLoren Legarda wholost | |||
| 2016 | SupportedFrancis Escudero[60] wholost | |||
| 2022 | SupportedFrancis Pangilinan wholost[61] | |||
| Election | Number of votes | Share of votes | Seats won | Seats after | Outcome of election |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 7,395,145 | 2.49% | 0 / 12 | 0 / 24 | Lost |
| 2013 | 4,295,151 | 1.44% | 0 / 12 | 0 / 24 | Lost |
| 2016 | 6,484,985 | 2.02% | 0 / 12 | 0 / 24 | Lost |
| 2019 | 4,683,942 | 1.29% | 0 / 12 | 0 / 24 | Lost |
| 2022 | 7,690,988 | 1.77% | 0 / 12 | 0 / 24 | Lost |
| 2025 | 28,001,064 | 6.53% | 0 / 12 | 0 / 24 | Lost |
| Election | District elections | Party list election | Total seats | Outcome of election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| 2010 | Did not participate | 3,218,176 | 10.70% | 7 / 57 | 7 / 286 | Joined theminority bloc | ||
| 2013 | 3,870 | 0.01% | 0 / 234 | 3,284,445 | 11.86% | 7 / 57 | 7 / 293 | Joined theminority bloc |
| 2016 | Did not participate | 3,988,816 | 12.28% | 7 / 59 | 7 / 297 | Joined themajority bloc | ||
| 2019 | Did not participate | 2,304,518 | 8.27% | 6 / 61 | 6 / 304 | Joined theminority bloc | ||
| 2022 | Did not participate | 1,592,394 | 4.11% | 3 / 63 | 3 / 316 | Joined theminority bloc | ||
| 2025 | Did not participate | 1,085,680 | 2.58% | 3 / 64 | 3 / 317 | Joined theminority bloc | ||
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