Colegio De San Gabriel Archangel

Founded 1993
Area E, Fatima I. Sapang Palay , City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan
Recognized by the Government DepEd, TESDA and CHED
PACUCOA Accredited – Level 1 Status

The Controversial 2004

Philippine Presidential Election

Submitted by : MARKHAROLD S. CUARTERO

Date:October 15,2018
 Acknowledgement

The completion of this study could not have been possible without the guidedance of
Maria Corazon De Francisca, our teacher in "Reading of Philipines History".

I would also like to thank my cousin for helping me by giving his ideas about the topic "
controversial election of 2004"

To my family who are the most important thing in my life, and to my special someone
who supports me all the time. Thank you for being my inspiration.

Above all, to God Almighty for giving me life, love, wisdom, and knowledge to continue
in searching for what is factual needed to accomplish this study.
 Table Of Contents

Title Page………………………………………………………………………. 1

Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………… 2

Introduction……………………………………………………………………... 3 - 4

Discussion……………………………………………………………………….. 5 – 9

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………... 10

Reference…………………………………………………………………………. 11

Profile……………………………………………………………………………. 12
 Introduction

After nearly two decades of multi-party democracy, the 2004 national elections reflect
both the accomplishments and challenges to democratic development in the Philippines. Since the
transition to democracy in 1986, the public’s confidence in democratic institutions, including the
election commission and political parties, has eroded. This election marked a significant
opportunity for the Philippines to help restore confidence in the credibility of the political process.
The 2004 national elections themselves were marked by high voter turnout, poor
electoral administration, a lack of cohesive political parties, and election results far closer than
most observers had foreseen. The elections also reflected the larger challenges to democratic
consolidation in the Philippines, which include the need to reestablish a credible electoral
administration, to promote the development of issue-based political parties and a legitimate role
for a credible political opposition, to enforce civil and criminal laws related to the conduct of
elections, and to ensure that citizens receive sufficient information about the issues at stake in any
election.
The institutes’ representatives were in the Philippines to express an interest in and
support for a democratic election process, to assess the electoral conditions and political
environment in which the national elections were held, and to offer an accurate and impartial report
on the election situation. This report summarizes the observations of NDI during this period as
well as observations offered to the Institute’s representatives by Filipino political actors. The report
also offers recommendations regarding possible areas of electoral reform.
Representatives of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), in
cooperation with Consortium for Elections and Political Processes partners, the International
Republican Institute (IRI) and IFES, were present in the Philippines from April 25, 2004 through
July 31, 2004 and followed political developments in the country during the pre-election, Election
Day and immediate post-election periods.
This report is offered in the spirit of international cooperation and in recognition that it is
the people of the Philippines who ultimately must determine the credibility of these elections and
any need for future reforms.
 Discussion

The Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections of 2004 was held on Monday,
May 10, 2004. In the presidential election, incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won a
full six-year term as President, with a margin of just over one million votes over her leading
opponent, highly popular movie actor Fernando Poe, Jr. The 3.48% margin of victory is the
closest margin in Philippine presidential election
This election first saw the implementation of the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 ,
which enabled Filipinos in over 70 countries to vote. This is also the first election since the 1986
People Power Revolution where an incumbent President ran for re-election. Under the 1987
Constitution, an elected president cannot run for another term.
This was the first time since 1986 that both the winning president and vice president were
under the same party/coalition. This election was also held at a period in modern Philippines
marked by serious political polarization. This resulted in lesser candidates for the presidential
and vice presidential elections compared to the 1992 and 1998 elections.
The several months leading to the May elections saw several presidential scandals,
Arroyo reversing her earlier decision not to run for president, the sudden but not unexpected
candidacy of Fernando Poe, Jr., defection of key political figures from the Arroyo camp to the
opposition, the controversial automated elections initiative of the COMELEC, and the split of the
dominant opposition party, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, between Poe and Panfilo Lacson.
The several months leading to the May elections saw several presidential scandals,
Arroyo reversing her earlier decision not to run for president, the sudden but not unexpected
candidacy of Fernando Poe, Jr., defection of key political figures from the Arroyo camp to the
opposition, the controversial automated elections initiative of the COMELEC, and the split of the
dominant opposition party, Laban ngTHE Congressional canvass that declared Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo to have won the presidency in 2004 showed her to have beaten Fernando Poe
Jr. by 1,123,576 votes. A study published in Kasarinlan, a journal of UP’s Third World Studies
Center, says this could not be so. The paper, written by new media pioneer Roberto Verzola,
asserts that Arroyo did not win the May elections by 1.1 million votes. It was a very close
contest, Verzola says, with "the most probable results" ranging from a GMA win of around
156,000 votes
 Verzola analyzed both the Namfrel tally—that used election returns (ERs)—and the
parallel official count by Congress of provincial Certificates of Canvass (COCs). He dissected
not only the numbers but how the tally itself progressed.

Conclusion

A genuine desire for credible elections was expressed by public officials, political and
civic leaders and Filipino citizens generally; however, important challenges still lie ahead. NDI
offers the following recommendations in an effort to contribute to the dialogue among Philippine
stakeholders and to the hard and detailed work of reaching consensus on legal, administrative
and institutional reforms that can be implemented prior to the next national election in 2007.
It was a very close contest, with the most probable results ranging from a GMA win of
around 156,000 votes or less, to an FPJ win of around 84,000 votes or less
NAMFREL officials appear to be keeping the truth from the public, not including in their
system design a provincial or regional breakdown of precincts counted not releasing this
breakdown despite strong demands by the opposition, the media and election watchers;
continuing to refuse to release this information today despite repeated requests, and keeping
silent on the major discrepancies between their tally and the Congress canvass
If NAMFREL releases this breakdown, we might be able to narrow down the probable
range even further and get closer to the truth.
There are good men and women among the NAMFREL officials.16 Thousands of
NAMFREL volunteers risked their safety and their lives, hoping they can contribute towards a
quick, complete and honest citizens’ count. I suggest that they make themselves heard; ask their
chair, secretary-general and the head of the Systems group to explain these issues; and demand
that the breakdown by province of the number of precincts NAMFREL covered be released to
the public.
Could err in favor of GMA and the other which could err in favor of FPJ – I decided to
adopt both, one setting the upper bound and the other the lower bound of the results. Based on
the NAMFREL data, it was indeed a very close contest that, perhaps, only a counting of the
official ERs can resolve. The truth is in those ERs that Congress didn’t want to open.
 References

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqhRO115rIk

https://www.ndi.org/sites/default/files/1745_ph_elections_083104_body_1.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVSdBK545Os

http://ci-journal.org/index.php/ciej/article/view/301/407

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Poe_Jr.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Macapagal_Arroyo
 Profile

Name:Markharold S. Cuartero

Age:19

Birth date: July 26,1999

Address: Samantha Heights blk 2 lot 5 Dulong Bayan San jose del Monte city of Bulacan

Mother Name:Dolores S. Cuartero

Father Name:

Education: (CDSGA) Colegio De San Gabriel Archangel