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The Liberal Party of the Philippines (Filipino: Partido Liberal ng Pilipinas) is a liberal party in the Philippines, founded in 1945 by a breakaway from the Nacionalista Party. As such it is the second-oldest political party in the Philippines in terms of establishment, and the oldest active political party in the Philippines. The party has been led by people like Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino, Diosdado Macapagal and Benigno Aquino, Jr.. It occupies five seats in the Senate of the Philippines including Benigno Aquino III (won in the 2007 elections), Majority Floor Leader Francis Pangilinan of Metro Manila (won in 2001; re-elected in 2007) and former Armed Forces Chief General and two-time Senator Rodolfo Biazon of Metro Manila and former Trade Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II of Capiz (won in 2004 elections). There are no results available of the last elections for the House of Representatives, but according to the website of the House, the party holds 34 out of 235 seats (state of the parties, June 2005). The party was, at the time of the 2004 elections, a member of the Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan (K-4, Coalition of Truth and Experience for Tomorrow), the coalition that supported president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who won the 2004 presidential elections. The party is a member of Liberal International and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats. The Liberal Party's ideology is very similar that of the U.S. Democratic Party and the Liberal Party of Canada. Atienza Wing became a defunct wing because Environment and Natural Resources Sec. Lito Atienza is not the real president of the LP.

Contents 1 Leadership controversy 1.1 New LP President 2 References 3 Current party officials 4 Past party presidents 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

• the Drilon Wing, composed of former Senator and President of the Senate of the Philippines Franklin Drilon, Senator-elect Benigno Aquino III, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, Senator Rodolfo Biazon, Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II, Congressman Manuel Mamba, Congressman Nereus Acosta, Congresswoman-elect Liwayway Vinzons-Chato, Congressman Ruffy Biazon and Quezon province Governor Raffy Nantes among others.

The breakup started when Drilon and his allies announced at the height of the Hello Garci crisis in July 2005 that they have cut loose from the administration coalition and have called for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Drilon is the president of the party. Atienza, the party chair, then announced the following day that they are supporting Arroyo and told the press that they were not consulted on Drilon's move.

In a gathering attended by President Macapagal-Arroyo on March 2, 2006, the Atienza faction elected Defensor as party chairman and Atienza the party president. The Atienza faction stated that Drilon's term was expired and only served the unexpired term of Abad's presidency. The Drilon faction called the gathering illegal and called for the removal of Atienza as party chair. Atienza was replaced by Pangilinan. Both parties filed their application for recognition before the Commission on Elections and the Comelec ruled that the Atienza election was illegal while recognizing Drilon's term as expired. The commission ordered an election of party officials on November 2006. The Drilon faction filed for a temporary restraining order before the Supreme Court. The Court then issued a temporary restraining order and suspended the party election pending its resolution.

Drilon's group is recognized worldwide and occupies an office in Makati City while Atienza's group is recognized in Manila and some provinces and occupies an office near the City Hall of Manila.

The Supreme Court ruled on April 17, 2007, that Drilon was the real President of the LP and not Atienza and has approved the Daza-Drilon Amendments to the LP's Charter. It also ruled that all Certificates of Nomination signed by Atienza are worthless unless they moved to another political party like Batangas Gov. Armando Sanchez and Manny Pacquiao who moved to KAMPI and Michael Defensor who moved to Lakas-CMD in February 2007. Voting 9-5, the court said the amended Salonga Constitution extended Drilon’s term to November 2007. On July 16, 2007, the Supreme Court dismissed with finality a motion for consideration filed by former Manila mayor Lito Atienza (en banc resolution dated July 5, 2007). COMELEC earlier ruled that Drilon's term as LP president has already expired and called for the holding of elections to end the leadership vacuum in the country’s oldest political party. The ruling came after the poll body invalidated the so-called "rump elections" of LP leaders in March 2006.^[1]

The party schism was the second in the history of the party. The first split happened in 1949 when Elpidio Quirino and Jose Avelino ran for President of the Philippines using the Liberal Party banner.

In the 14 May 2007 election, the party won 16 seats ^[2].

On November 26, 2007, at Club Filipino, Greenhills, San Juan, LP National Executive Council officials resolved to appoint Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas II as president of the Liberal Party. Corazon Aquino and Jovito Salonga, inter alia, signed the resolution. Roxas is to unite the two LP factions, and set the stage for his presidential campaign in the 2010 election.^[3] Lito Atienza, however, forthwith questioned Roxas II's appointment, attacking the composition of Liberal Party’s National Executive Council (NECO) and alleged that the Supreme Court of the Philippines' June 5 resolution ordered the LP leadership's status quo maintenance. Atienza stated: “I have no invitation. They kicked me out of the meeting; How can you (Roxas) unite the party when you take the wrong step?”^[4]

• Senator Manuel A. Roxas II, President (2007-present)
• Jovito Salonga, Chairman Emeritus (1982-present)
• Senator Francis Pangilinan, Chairman (2005-present)
• Senator Benigno Aquino III, Vice-Chairman (2005-present)

• President Manuel Roxas (1946-1948)
• President Elpidio Quirino (1948-1950)
• Speaker Eugenio Perez (1950-1957)
• Senate President Ferdinand Marcos (1961-1964)
• President Diosdado Macapagal (1964-1965)
• Speaker Cornelio T. Villareal (1965-1969)
• Senator Gerardo M. Roxas (1969-1982)
• Senate President Jovito Salonga (1982-1993)
• Senator Wigberto Tañada (1993-1994)
• Representative Raul Daza (1994-1999)
• Representative Florencio Abad (1999-2004)
• Senate President Franklin Drilon (2004-2007)

• Liberalism
• Contributions to liberal theory
• Liberalism worldwide
• List of liberal parties
• Liberal democracy
• Liberalism in the Philippines
• Nacionalista Party

• Liberal Party official site

v • d • e Political parties in the Philippines
TEAM Unity	Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino - Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino - Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats - Nationalist People's Coalition - Partido Demokratikong Sosyalista ng Pilipinas
Genuine Opposition	Aksyon Demokratiko - Kilusang Bagong Lipunan - Liberal Party - Nacionalista Party - Nationalist People's Coalition - Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan - Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino - Genuine Opposition
Local/Unaffiliated parties	Ang Kapatiran - Kilusang Diwa ng Taguig - People's Reform Party - One Cebu - Partido Magdalo - Sarangani Reconciliation and Reformation Organization
Party list organizations	Akbayan Citizens' Action Party - Alagad - Alang sa Kalambu-an ug Kalinaw - Alliance for Barangay Concerns- Alliance of Volunteer Educators- Anak Mindanao- Anakpawis - Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino- An Waray - Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives - Bagong Alyansang Tagapagtaguyod na Adhikaing Sambayanan - Bayan Muna - Buhay Hayaan Yumabong - Citizen's Battle Against Corruption - Cooperative NATCCO Network Party- Gabriela Women's Party - Luzon Farmers Party - Partido ng Manggagawa - Sandigan ng Lakas at Demokrasya ng Sambayanan - Veterans Freedom Party
Portal:Politics - List of political parties - Politics of the Philippines