Nacionalista Party

Ideology

The Nacionalista Party was initially created as a Filipino nationalist party that supported Philippine independence until 1946, when the United States granted independence to the country. Since then, many scholarly articles that dealt with the history of political parties during the Third Republic agreed that the party has been increasingly populist, although some have argued they have conservative tendencies because of their opposition to the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party.

History

American Insular to Commonwealth era

The party was organized as a vehicle for Philippine independence, advocating self-rule; and espousing this advocacy through representation in the Philippine Assembly of 1907–1916, and in the succeeding Philippine Legislature of 1916–1935. The ranks of Nationalist politicians rose to prominence through the Commonwealth of the Philippines spanning 1935–1941, ending when political parties were replaced by a singular and monolithic party KALIBAPI during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.

Osmeña to Quirino presidencies: 1944–1953

Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino, and their allies called for an early general election, which elects the president, vice president, and members of the Congress, and lobbied it to their allies in the United States Congress. In December 1945, the House Insular Affairs Committee of the US Congress approved the joint resolution, setting the election date by April 23, 1946.

Prompted by this congressional action, President Sergio Osmeña called the Philippine Congress to a three-day special session. Congress enacted Commonwealth Act No. 725, setting the election date on April 23, 1946. President Osmeña signed the act on January 5, 1946.

The Nacionalista Party was divided into two factions: the Conservative wing, also known as the pro-Osmeña wing, and the Liberal wing, which was led by Roxas and Quirino. On January 3, 1946, Osmeña announced his re-election bid. But the Liberal wing became the Liberal Party and was officially founded on January 19, 1946, with its leaders Roxas and Quirino as party nominees for president and vice president, respectively.

On January 22, 1946, former Rizal congressman and Senator Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez was nominated as Osmeña's running mate for vice president in a convention held at Ciro's Club in Manila. But the tandem of Osmeña and Rodriguez was defeated by Roxas and Quirino of Liberal.

After the victory of the Liberals, Nacionalista only won 1 of 8 seats in the 1947 Senate election, by Camilo Osias. In the 1949 presidential elections, Nacionalista fielded former "collaborator" and political veteran Jose P. Laurel, with former Senator and Supreme Court Associate Justice Manuel Briones as his running mate. Even though the Nacionalistas had the advantage of the Liberals' divide, with Quirino running for his own full term and Senator José Avelino running with another wing, Quirino prevailed against Laurel. Former general and future diplomat Carlos P. Romulo and Marvin M. Gray considered the 1949 edition as the dirtiest election in Philippine electoral history. In the senate election of the same year, anti-American Claro M. Recto only managed to win after an election protest.

Magsaysay presidency: 1953–1957

Former President and then-Senator Jose P. Laurel initially had intentions to seek the Nacionalista's nomination for president in 1953 but did not go through with it. He then proposed to endorse then-Secretary of National Defense Ramon Magsaysay, whose successful anti-insurgency and anti-communist initiatives had strained his relations with President Quirino and the Liberal Party. But Senate President Camilo Osías sought the presidential nomination but ultimately lost to Magsaysay. This prompted Osias to jump to the Liberal Party. In the convention, Senator Carlos P. Garcia of Bohol was picked to be his running mate, defeating Jose Zulueta (who also jumped to the Liberal Party with Osias).

Also, the country's ambassador to the United Nations, Carlos Romulo, and incumbent Vice President Fernando Lopez, who founded the Democratic Party from the Liberal Party and originally intended to run for president and vice president, respectively, withdrew, and Lopez sought a place in the Senate. The tandem of Magsaysay and Garcia won the election in 1953. In the 1953 Senate elections, only Lorenzo Tañada won from a party other than Nacionalista or Democratic, while in 1955, the Nacionalistas swept all eight candidates.

Garcia to Macapagal presidencies: 1957–1965

After Magsaysay's plane crashed on Mt. Manunggal while riding a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Carlos Garcia assumed the presidency for the last months of Magsaysay's unfinished term. He won a re-election in 1957, but for the first time in the electoral history of the Philippines, Garcia had a vice president who did not have the same party or his opponent's running mate as Garcia's running mate; Jose P. Laurel's son and former House Speaker Pepito Laurel was defeated by Kapampangan Congressman Diosdado Macapagal.

Juan Pajo, the then-governor of Bohol, held the Bible on which Garcia took oath, breaking the tradition wherein it is held by presidential spouses. A faction led by Manuel Manahan and Raul Manglapus formed a pro-Magsaysay faction due to dissatisfaction of members of the Nacionalista Party over the "cold treatment" given to them by allies of Garcia. The faction later became the Progressive Party. Also, Senate President Rodriguez clash with President Garcia, citing differences on latter's Filipino First policy, and the former's list of corrupt close officials tied to the president that media dubbed "White Paper".

In 1961, after a divided party due to nomination delays, incumbent President Garcia successfully got the nomination. But he lost the opportunity for a second full term as president of the Philippines to Vice President Diosdado Macapagal. Also, Senator Gil Puyat, Garcia's running mate, lost to Senator Emmanuel Pelaez and was behind Serging Osmeña, the son of the party's founder. Jose Roy and Lorenzo Sumulong are those Nacionalistas who managed to gain seats.

In April 1964, Senate President Ferdinand Marcos resigned from the Liberal Party and joined the Nacionalista ship. He cited President Macapagal's unfulfilled promise of not running for re-election as the main reason for leaving his former party. Before quitting his former party, Marcos served as its party president. Also, incumbent Vice President Pelaez sought nomination, but Marcos prevailed in the 1964 Convention, with controversies like coercion and massive vote buying. By selecting Quirino's former Vice President Fernando Lopez, also a former Liberal, as his running mate, Marcos defeated Macapagal in the three-way 1965 elections.

Marcos presidency: 1965–1986

Tarlac Governor Ninoy Aquino, a former Nacionalista stalwart under Ramon Magsaysay and Marcos' frat mate, became a Liberal in 1959 and won a senate seat in 1967. Aquino became a vocal opponent of Marcos for the next decade.

Ramon Magsaysay's brother Genaro was recruited by the Liberal Party from the Nacionalista Party to be Serging Osmeña's running mate. Magsaysay won a senate seat as a Nacionalista in 1965. Marcos was reelected for a second term. He was the first and last Filipino president and Nacionalista president to win a second full term. His running mate, incumbent Vice President Lopez, was also elected to a third full term as vice president.

But Marcos's second term was characterized by social unrest, beginning with the 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, which was already underway during the second inauguration. Opposition groups began to form, with "moderate" groups calling for political reform and "radical" groups who espoused a more radical-left ideology.

After what happened with the Plaza Miranda bombing, the Liberals won five seats, and the Nacionalistas won three seats by Eva Estrada Kalaw (also the Liberal's guest candidate), Ernie Maceda, and Alejandro Almendras.

In Marcos' 1971 State of the Nation Address, there is a sign in his speech that if the country's condition worsens, it is time to declare martial law.So I come to speak of a society that is sick, so sick that it must either be cured and cured now or buried in a deluge of reforms.

Marcos also suspended the writ of habeas corpus by virtue of Proclamation No. 889, through which he assumed emergency powers.

Marcos's second term effectively ended a little under two years and nine months later, when Marcos announced on September 23, 1972, that he had placed the Philippines under martial law.

For the incoming 1978 parliamentary elections, some Nacionalista members joined the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), a regime-controlled coalition akin to the Japanese occupation's KALIBAPI. With many preferring not to be involved, the Nacionalistas went into hibernation.

Corazon Aquino to Estrada's presidencies: 1986–2001

Years later, in the late 1980s, the party was revived under the leadership of Laurel, who resigned as Secretary of Foreign Affairs due to conflict with President Cory Aquino.

In preparation for the 1992 elections, in 1990, the party had three candidates to seek the presidential nomination. These are Vice President Laurel, businessman and Marcos crony Danding Cojuangco, and former Defense Minister and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. Some of the Nacionalistas, including the son of their late stalwart Vicente Duterte, Rodrigo Duterte, said that Cojuangco is the strongest candidate, as the latter can grab the Solid North vote.

In the 1991 convention, the party nominated Laurel for president and selected Eva Kalaw to be his running mate. But after the party nomination, a pro-Danding Cojuangco/Marcos faction broke away and established the Nationalist People's Coalition led by Amang Rodriguez's son Isidro in 1991. The tandem of Laurel and Kalaw is in last place in that election All of the Nacionalistas who won seats in the lower house (House of Representatives) joined Jose De Venecia's Rainbow Coalition. The party almost returns to hibernation for the next few years, with Valenzuela congressman Antonio Serapio as its only member in both chambers of Congress.

Arroyo presidency: 2001–2010

Homobono Adaza, former Bureau of Immigration commissioner, was running under the Nacionalista banner. The party did not join either the People Power Coalition or Pwersa ng Masa. Adaza's platform was to make the Marcos family liable for their 600 million wealth question. But even though Adaza lost, in the House of Representatives, Nacionalista joined de Venecia's Sunshine Coalition.

In 2003, Doy Laurel searched for the next leader of the party, and he saw former House Speaker and Senator Manny Villar. Villar at that time was an independent politician who was previously affiliated with Lakas and Estrada's LAMMP. He then tapped Villar as chairman. Laurel died in the United States in January 2004. Villar later assumed party presidency after the latter's death.

Even though the party did not field any candidate in legislative and executive positions nationally, in 2004, the party, with the new leadership under its party chairman and president, Senator Villar, supported then-incumbent President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, daughter of Diosdado Macapagal, who defeated their 1957 vice presidential candidate and stopped Carlos Garcia's reelection bid in 1961.

For the 2007 elections, then-Senate President Villar led the Nacionalista into joining the opposition against Arroyo, the Genuine Opposition, to match the administration's TEAM Unity. But another re-electionist, Ralph Recto, moved away from the Nacionalista Party and joined with the admin camp. Villar pushed his re-election bid into victory.

Also, by 2007, the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) is expected to merge with the party. KBL chairman Vicente Millora, who advocated a two-party system return, said the KBL is willing to merge with the Nacionalista Party if the two-party system is revived.

In 2008, Manny Villar topped presidential surveys, despite the naked conflict of interest accusations at that time surrounding the C-5 Road extension project. In the same year, he declared that he intended to run for president in the 2010 Philippine presidential election. Until 2009, Villar still held the top spot in surveys for preferred presidential bets. But due to the death of former President Cory Aquino, her son, Senator Noynoy Aquino, began earning favor until finally surpassing him at around the tail end of the year. During the election period, both candidates had a tight race, with the popularity of Manny Villar's jingle for his presidential campaign, Naging Mahirap (or Nakaligo ka na ba sa Dagat ng Basura), prompting the creation of various memes on the internet. He also used the slogan Tapusin ang Kahirapan (Tagalog for "End Poverty").

Noynoy Aquino to Rodrigo Duterte's presidency: 2010–2022

Nacionalista forged a coalition with the Liberal Party, Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), Sonny Angara's Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, Risa Hontiveros' Akbayan, and Magdalo led by Antonio Trillanes, who is also a Nacionalista member. The coalition became the Team PNoy. Nacionalista members fielded are Trillanes, Villar's wife Cynthia, and Alan Peter Cayetano. The three won seats in the senate.

On an April 2015 cruise from Manila to Japan, the Nacionalista Party were supposed to decide on their plans for 2016. However, they were not able to form a consensus on what to do. In May, Cynthia Villar said that they are considering adopting Grace Poe as their candidate. By July, Trillanes said that it is possible, but not with the inclusion of Chiz Escudero, her running mate. By September, she said that if Rodrigo Duterte decides to run for the presidency, the Nacionalistas might support him.

By 2016, Alan Peter Cayetano, Bongbong Marcos, and Antonio Trillanes originally aspired to get the Nacionalista's nomination for the presidency. But the three ran as candidates for vice president instead, and when PDP–Laban's Rodrigo Duterte substituted Martin Diño, the three sought to be selected as Duterte's running mate, with Cayetano being the one picked in November. At first, Cayetano was originally proposed by Mar Roxas' campaign team to be the latter's running mate. However, the Liberal Party decided to pick then-representative Leni Robredo, the widow of former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, as Roxas' running mate instead. On the other hand, Marcos was tapped by Miriam Defensor Santiago as her running mate in October 2015.

With multiple members angling for the vice presidency, Cynthia Villar said that the party wouldn't impose a stance on whom to support for the presidency if two or more members were to run for the vice presidency. Duterte won, but Cayetano only finished third, with Marcos as second.

In 2022, while campaigning for Isko Moreno, a former Nacionalista, Duterte's former strategist Lito Banayo revealed that Duterte originally planned to run under the Nacionalista banner, but due to Cayetano, Marcos, and Trillanes' ambition, he jumped to PDP–Laban, Cory Aquino's former party.

Bongbong Marcos' presidency: 2022–present

In 2024, the Nacionalista Party forged an alliance with the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and joined the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas coalition alongside PFP, NPC, and NUP. Nacionalista fielded Pia Cayetano, Camille Villar, Imee Marcos, and Ariel Querubin as candidates, but Marcos initially declined coalition membership and endorsement from her younger brother, President Bongbong Marcos, and Querubin later chose to run under the Riding-in-tandem Team alongside independent Bonifacio Bosita. In February 2025, during the campaign, Marcos appeared with the coalition and was reintroduced by her brother. However, she left Alyansa for good on March 26, citing reasons based on the arrest of former President Duterte. Villar and Marcos were later endorsed by Vice President Sara Duterte.

Nacionalista presidents

As of 2026, there have been a total of 5 Nacionalista presidents. Those who won the presidency under other parties are not included.

Electoral performance

Legislative elections

In 1916, the House of Representatives was still called the Philippine Assembly.

The Senate was abolished from 1935 until 1941.

Independent Nacionalista

"Independent Nacionalista," or denoted as "Nacionalista (independent)" on candidate lists, refers to politicians who had aligned themselves with the Nacionalista Party but did not win its nomination or run under its label. This term was used during the Third Philippine Republic, which had a two-party system. In the current Fifth Republic and under the multi-party system, candidates are no longer identified in this manner.

Notable Nacionalistas

Past

Throughout their careers, many of the country's politicians, statesmen, and leaders were, in whole or in part, Nacionalistas. Notable names include the following:

Presidents

Manuel L. Quezon (2nd President)

José P. Laurel (3rd President)

Sergio Osmeña (4th President)

Manuel Roxas (5th President, won as Liberal)

Elpidio Quirino (6th President, won as Liberal)

Ramon Magsaysay (7th President)

Carlos P. Garcia (8th President)

Ferdinand Marcos (10th President)

Joseph Estrada (13th President, as PMP)

Rodrigo Duterte (16th President, won as PDP)

Bongbong Marcos (17th President, won as PFP)

Vice Presidents

Fernando Lopez (3rd and 7th vice president under Elpidio Quirino and Ferdinand Marcos)

Emmanuel Pelaez (6th vice president under Diosdado Macapagal)

Salvador Laurel (8th vice president and 5th and last prime minister under President Corazon Aquino)

Senators

Others

Carlos M. Padilla (former Representative of the Lone District of Nueva Vizcaya and Governor of Nueva Vizcaya)

Roque Ablan Jr. (former Representative of Ilocos Norte's 1st District)

Norberto S. Amoranto (5th Mayor of Quezon City)

Galicano Apacible (former Governor of Batangas)

Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. (former Governor of Tarlac, became Senator under the Nacionalista's rival Liberal)

Jose Aspiras (former Representative of La Union's 2nd District)

Sergio Bayan (former Mayor of Baguio)

Fortunato Borbon (former Governor of Batangas)

Pablo Borbon (former Governor of Batangas)

Bartolome C. Cabangbang (former Representative of Bohol's 2nd district)

Vicente J. Caedo (former Governor of Batangas)

Marc Douglas Cagas IV (former Governor of Davao del Sur)

Antonio Carpio (former Governor of Batangas)

Costancio Castañeda (former Representative of Tarlac's 2nd district)

Modesto Castillo (former Governor of Batangas)

Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. (former Representative of Tarlac's 1st district and Governor of Tarlac)

Current party officials

Some members of the House of Representatives and Senate include—but are not limited to—the following:

Manuel Villar (former Senate President), Party President

Cynthia Villar (former Senator), Party Chairman

Mark Aguilar Villar (current Senator) Secretary-General

Jose Espinosa III (former Mayor of Iloilo City) Nacionalista Chairman of Iloilo City

Robert "Ace" Barbers (current Representative from Surigao del Norte), Spokesperson

Imee Marcos (current Senator)

Matthew Marcos Manotoc (current Vice Governor of Ilocos Norte)

Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza (current Governor of Cotabato)

Jose I. Tejada (current Representative from North Cotabato)

Nacionalista-affiliated parties

PDP–Laban (until 2024)

Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino

Lakas–CMD

National Unity Party

United Bangsamoro Justice Party

People's Reform Party

Alyansa – Davao del Sur and Davao Occidental

Alayon – Cebu

Bileg- Ilocos Sur

Kugi Uswag Sugbo – Cebu City

Partido Magdalo – Cavite

PaDayon Pilipino – Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro

Paglaum Party- Negros Occidental

Fuerza Zamboanga – Zamboanga City

One Batangas – Batangas

Candidates for Philippine general elections

2010

Manuel Villar – presidential candidate (lost)

Loren Legarda – vice presidential candidate (lost)

Pia Cayetano (won)

Bongbong Marcos (won)

Liza Maza (lost)

Ramon Mitra III (lost)

Satur Ocampo (lost)

Susan Ople (lost)

Gwen Pimentel (lost)

Ariel Querubin (lost)

Gilbert Remulla (lost)

Adel Tamano (lost)

Miriam Defensor Santiago (won)

2013

All members ran under the administration coalition, Team PNoy.

Cynthia Villar (won)

Alan Peter Cayetano (won)

Antonio Trillanes (won)

20th Congress Members

All members are as of April 2, 2026