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Akbayan

Progressive political party in the Philippines From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Akbayan
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Not to be confused with Makabayan or Anakbayan.

The Akbayan Citizens' Action Party, better known as Akbayan (lit. 'the escorting of each other' or 'the support for one another' or 'the collective putting of an arm over the shoulders of another'), is a social democratic[2] and progressive political party in the Philippines.[7] The party is noted as a leading member of the progressive movement in the Philippines.[1][8]

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The party was founded in 1998 by a variety of progressive and left-leaning political organizations. Currently, the party holds one seat in the Senate, and three seats in the House of Representatives as a multi-sectoral party-list.[9] Internationally, the party is a member of the Progressive Alliance and the regional Network of Social Democracy in Asia.

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History

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Origins and early years

Akbayan traces its roots to the Kaakbay ng Sambayanan, an alliance founded on February 25, 1992 by various civil society organizations and left-leaning organizations from the country's social democratic, democratic socialist, and Marxist traditions, such as the Bukluran sa Ikauunlad ng Sosyalistang Isip at Gawa (Bisig), Pandayan para sa Sosyalistang Pilipinas (Pandayan), and Movement for Popular Democracy.[10][11] Unlike other left-leaning groups, the organizations, particularly Pandayan, were committed to active nonviolence.[12] The alliance was formed in support of the candidacies of Jovito Salonga from the Liberal Party and Nene Pimentel from PDP–Laban under the Koalisyong Pambansa in the 1992 presidential and vice presidential elections, who eventually lost to Fidel V. Ramos of Lakas–NUCD and Joseph Estrada of NPC respectively.[13][14]

Following the defeat of the Koalisyong Pambansa ticket, Akbayan was reestablished as a political party. Initially revived as Aksyon, the party eventually adopted the name Akbayan Citizens' Action Party.[11][13] The party was officially founded in January 1998 and participated in the 1998 House of Representatives elections through the new party-list system, securing one seat in the House of Representatives. Aside from the party-list elections, the party also focused on electing candidates in local elections.[14]

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Akbayan members protesting the granting of bail to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who was then facing plunder charges

During the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Akbayan was among the opposition groups repressed by the government. It was also during this time that Akbayan suffered its lowest number of votes, with just over 400,000 votes in 2007.

Coalition with the Aquino administration and rift with the Makabayan bloc

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Akbayan mobilization in front of the Chinese Consular Office to protest China's incursions into the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone

In 2009, Akbayan supported the candidacy of then Senator Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party for the 2010 presidential election. Fueled by the popular discontent with the outgoing administration of Arroyo, Aquino won the presidency by a large margin. This was also the first time that Akbayan was able to breach the 1 million vote mark, its best performance to that date. Despite the vote increase, however, it failed to secure three seats in the House owing to a Supreme Court decision which ensured only the leading party list (Ako Bicol at that time) in the election would secure three seats. Aquino later appointed several Akbayan members to his cabinet.[15]

However, the party's alliance with the Aquino administration led to tensions with the Makabayan bloc, a national democratic left-wing coalition in Congress. In 2012, members of Anakbayan, the youth organization of the bloc, barged inside a press conference of Akbayan, branding it a "fake partylist" because some of its leaders, including Ronald Llamas, were appointed into top government positions.[16][17][18] Several groups affiliated with Makabayan also filed a disqualification notice against Akbayan for their alliance with the administration. Akbayan, in return, sought the disqualification notice against party-lists affiliated with the Makabayan bloc for allegedly being a front of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).[19] During the 2013 senatorial election, Bayan Muna representative Teodoro Casiño, the sole senatorial candidate of the Makabayan bloc, criticized the senatorial bid of Risa Hontiveros, one of its former representatives, who ran as part of the administration Team PNoy slate, saying that she is "too cozy with the administration".[20] Hontiveros criticized Casiño for his silence on abuses committed by the CPP-affiliated New People's Army.[21] In 2014, as the Makabayan bloc filed an impeachment complaint against Aquino, Renato Reyes, Jr., the secretary-general of BAYAN, criticized the party, branding them as a “Yellow cheerleader", referencing the color of the ruling Liberal Party.[22] In 2015, Walden Bello, one of the party's representatives in the House, resigned over disagreements with the party in supporting the administration after several policy disagreements and the Mamasapano clash.[23]

In 2016, the party allied itself with the Liberal Party to form the Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid, supporting Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo's campaigns for the presidential and vice presidential elections. Although Roxas lost to then-Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte while Robredo narrowly won the vice presidential race, the party entered the Senate with Hontiveros's victory following her third attempt to run, ranking 9th in the official results.[24] However, they lost one seat in the party-list race after their percentage dropped to below the 2 percent threshold for an additional seat.[25]

Opposition against the Duterte and Marcos administrations

After the 2016 election, it joined the Magnificent 7, a group of Liberal Party and Magdalo Party-List members.[26][27] The party publicly criticized several policies of the Duterte administration, including Duterte's handling of the Philippine Drug War and the TRAIN Law. In 2019, amid the defeat of several opposition groups, including the Otso Diretso coalition for the Senate election of which the party was a part, the party lost representation in the House.[28][29]

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Chel Diokno (left) and Risa Hontiveros (right) during a campaign motorcade in Dagupan, 2025.

In the 2022 election, Akbayan backed the candidacies of Leni Robredo and Francis Pangilinan for president and vice president, respectively, as part of the Team Robredo–Pangilinan (TRoPa) alliance. Although Robredo and Pangilinan were defeated, Hontiveros was re-elected. Akbayan also initially fell one spot short of regaining a seat in the House but later took office after the disqualification of the An Waray party-list.[30] In the 2025 elections, Akbayan nominated lawyer Chel Diokno, who ran for senator in 2022 as part of the TRoPa ticket, was chosen as its first nominee for the party-list election. The party also formed the KiBam coalition alongside the Liberal Party and the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino. The coalition was successful, and the party achieved its highest number of votes and the top vote share in the country, garnering about 2.7 million votes and securing three seats in the House.[31]

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Ideology and platform

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Further information: Democratic socialism, Social democracy, and Reformism

A centre-left party, Akbayan advocates for participatory democracy and a form of governance it characterizes as participatory socialism. The party includes both democratic socialists[3] and social democrats[7] as members. While Akbayan's political-economic platform rests on the democratic-socialist foundation which PDP–Laban ostensibly shares,[32] the former differs greatly from the latter with regard to civil rights and law enforcement.

The party has affiliate groups that represent government employees, women workers, migrants, as well as members of the LGBT community. The party's official website states that Akbayan is an activist organisation "and proud of it", and that it "vehemently condemn(s) torture, assassination, and other violent acts that undermine human rights and freedoms regardless of whoever commits them".[33]

Akbayan has been critical of abuses committed by some members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against fellow activists.[34] It has also been critical of the Communist Party of the Philippines, particularly its actions in the countryside against peasant groups and communities and what these groups and communities see as the Maoist group's extortion activities. Due to its stance against right-wing extremism (from some elements of the AFP) and the Maoist far-left (CPP–NPA–NDF), Akbayan has been a target of both political groups.[35]

Foreign policy

Akbayan supports an independent foreign policy that prioritizes the Philippines' sovereignty.[36] The party has been noted to oppose the increased incursions of the People's Republic of China (PRC) naval and coast guard vessels into Philippine territorial waters and within the country's 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).[37][38] It also opposed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, despite being in coalition with the Liberal Party during the Aquino administration which signed the agreement.[15]

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Legislative record

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Akbayan members calling for the passage of the CARPER Law
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Creative demonstration of support for the passage of the Reproductive Health Law in 2012
  • Republic Act 9189 – The Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003[39]
  • Republic Act 9481 – Right to Labor Self-Organization Law[40]
  • Republic Act 9502 – Cheaper and Quality Medicines Law[41]
  • Republic Act 9700 – Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) Law[42]
  • Republic Act 10354 – Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law[43]
  • Republic Act 10351 – Restructuring the Excise Tax on Alcohol and Tobacco or The Sin Tax Law[44]
  • Republic Act 10368 – Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013[45]
  • Republic Act 10667 – Philippine Competition Act[46]
  • Republic Act 10028 – Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Law[47]
  • Republic Act 10742 – Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Law
  • Republic Act 10643 – Graphic Health Warning Law[48]
  • Republic Act 10932 – Anti-Hospital Deposit Act[49]
  • Republic Act 11036 – Mental Health Act[50]
  • Republic Act 11166 – HIV and AIDS Policy Act of 2018[51]

Electoral performance

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Presidential elections

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Vice presidential elections

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Legislative elections

Senate

In 2010, one of Akbayan's representatives Risa Hontiveros ran for Senate as a member of Liberal Party. Akbayan fully supported her candidacy. Hontiveros lost and placed 13th, one rank near the 12 winning candidates.[52][53] In 2013, Hontiveros again ran for a Senate seat, formally under Akbayan. She lost again, placing 17th.[54][55] In the 2016 Senate elections, Hontiveros ran for the third time, and finally won, placing 9th. Hontiveros became the first person in Philippine history from the social democratic and progressive center-left to win a Senate seat.[56] In the 2022 Senate elections, Senator Hontiveros ran for reelection, winning amid the anti-progressive rhetoric of the administration, and placing 11th.[57]

House of Representatives elections in districts

In 2013, Kaka Bag-ao ran for the Dinagat Islands seat under the Akbayan label and won. In 2016, she ran for reelection in the Dinagat Islands seat under the Liberal Party label, and won. She was backed by Akbayan as well. In 2025, Bag-ao again ran for the Dinagat Islands seat under the Liberal Party and won. She was backed by Akbayan and continued to be part of the party.[58]

Results
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Party-list elections

Akbayan is only one of two parties (the other is Butil) to win seats in all party-list elections in the Philippines until 2019. Furthermore, Akbayan is the only party to surpass the 2% election threshold in all elections until the 2016 election where they fell short by 0.12%.

In September 2024, the COMELEC proclaimed the party as a winner after the Supreme Court of the Philippines upheld the COMELEC resolution which revoked the party-list registration of An Waray.[59][60]

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Notes

  1. [n 1]
    Resigned on 16 March 2015.
  2. [n 2]
    Replaced resigned representative Walden Bello and sworn in on 13 May 2015.
  3. [n 3]
    Proclaimed and assumed office on 25 September 2024.

[61][62]

Candidates for 2013 elections

Candidates for 2016 elections

  • Risa Hontiveros – Senator
  • Tom Villarin – 1st nominee, party-list
  • Barry Gutierrez III – 2nd nominee, party-list[n 1]
  • Angelina Katoh – 3rd nominee, party-list
  • Rafaela Mae David – 4th nominee, party-list
  • Doris Obena – 5th nominee, party-list
  • Mylene Hega – 6th nominee, party-list
  • Cenon Nolasco – 7th nominee, party-list

Local candidates

  • Pat Ibay – Councilor (District 1, Pasay)
  • Ileana Ibay – Councilor (District 2, Pasay)
  • Alvin Dizon – Councilor (District 1, Cebu City)[n 2]
  • Sergio Bañes Jr. – Councilor (Estancia, Iloilo)
  • Egar Chu – Councilor (Estancia, Iloilo)

Candidates for 2019 elections

  • Tom Villarin – 1st nominee, party-list
  • Gio Tingson – 2nd nominee, party-list
  • Doris Dinorog-Obena – 3rd nominee, party-list
  • Angelina Katoh – 4th nominee, party-list
  • Napoleon Merida – 5th nominee, party-list
  • Cristina Oganiza – 6th nominee, party-list

Candidates for 2022 elections

  • Risa Hontiveros – Senator
  • Percival Cendaña – 1st nominee, party-list
  • Raymond John Naguit – 2nd nominee, party-list
  • Cristina Oganiza – 3rd nominee, party-list
  • Angelina Katoh – 4th nominee, party-list
  • JC Tejano – 5th nominee, party-list
  • Victoria de Jesus – 6th nominee, party-list

Local candidates

Candidates for 2025 elections

  • Chel Diokno – 1st nominee, party-list
  • Percival Cendaña – 2nd nominee, party-list
  • Dadah Kiram Ismula – 3rd nominee, party-list
  • Justine Balane – 4th nominee, party-list
  • Mercy Abucayon – 5th nominee, party-list
  • Magdalena Robinson – 6th nominee, party-list
  • JC Tejano – 7th nominee, party-list
  • Ernesto Neri – 8th nominee, party-list
  • Yoyong Merida – 9th nominee, party-list
  • Angelina Katoh – 10th nominee, party-list

Local candidates

Current party officials

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Notes

  1. Risa Hontiveros, despite being an Akbayan member, was registered as Liberal Party in the ballot
  1. [n 1]
    Also the spokesperson of Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid.
  2. [n 2]
    Ran under the Liberal Party.

References

Further reading

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External links

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