The local elections of January 18, 1988, were the third nationwide electoral exercise held under the presidency of Corazon Aquino.
[3] After Marcos was ousted in the 1986 People Power Revolution,[1][4][5] public offices were subjected to the reforms under the "Freedom Constitution" in the Aquino administration's effort to weaken the political machine of Marcos' political party Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) and his allies in the country.
[6] It was observed that politicians, belonged to many former Marcos kingpins[3] and some right-wing warlords with loyalty issues[7] and mostly removed by Aquino,[10] were among those endorsed either by the administration or by one of its coalition's parties, over candidates who had been pro-Aquino.
[4] On the other hand, Vice President Laurel called for a postponement of elections in areas with strong influence by the communist rebels.
[4] The COMELEC took over direct supervision of the polls in 30 identified areas;[7] and postponed the elections in eleven of the 73 provinces until February 15[12] due to security reasons[3][6][8] to give way for the implementation of special measures against fraud and violence.
[9] Unlike previous elections, no independent poll-watcher groups performed "quick counts"; final results would be made available until two days later as many precincts were situated in remote areas.
[6] Early, unofficial returns showed some candidates endorsed by the administration or her coalition leading in key positions; but same to several veteran politicians particularly in Metro Manila and the provinces.
[5] Meanwhile, among those president's relatives, in Quezon City, Mila Aquino–Albert, her sister-in-law, placed[14] third behind two veteran politicians, one being accused of graft.
[14] Candidates from the dynasties lost in Pampanga, Iloilo and Agusan del Sur; but won in Negros Occidental and Cebu City.
[3][7] The campaign was described by The Philippine Star publisher Max Soliven in his column as "a survival course" with "the candidate still alive [until the counting of ballots be the] most likely to win.
[6] In Mindanao, from December 31 to January 1, eight were killed in six incidents, including the acting mayor of San Miguel, Zamboanga del Sur, on Jan. 1.
[7] Three days prior to elections, a land mine explosion in Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte, killed four people, including KBL mayoral and vice-mayoral candidates.
Thaddeus accused his opponents, Jesus and their father, Ramon, both who had run the city for decades, of vote buying and fraud.
[1] It was reported that for the first time in the communist insurgency, the election was used by the guerrillas to raise funds for arms purchases abroad and consolidated local power bases through kidnappings and selective support for hundreds of candidates.
[6] Nevertheless, the NPA, whose rebel forces said to be active in three-fourths of the provinces, stepped up its guerrilla attacks including murdering right-wing candidates.
[4] Before the proclamation of all the winners, Aquino, in her weekly program, said the election would help stabilize the country as voters were expected to be cooperative with candidates.
[5] The alliance between the PDP–Laban and the LnB gave way to the establishment of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino in 1988, merging all pro-administration political parties and groups.