After leaving the National Unity Party (NUP) and now getting elected as president of Aksyon Demokratiko, will Manila Mayor Isko Moreno become the standard-bearer of his new party in the 2022 Philippine elections?

If he chooses to do so, the pressure is on, as Aksyon has never had their presidential bets win since it was recognized as a political party by the ​​Commission on Elections in 1998.

Aksyon identifies itself as a progressive party, rooted in the late senator and party founder Raul Roco’s Agenda of Hope:

• An honest government
• Opportunity for all, special privileges for none
• Peace, productivity, and prosperity
• Education and environment for sustainable development

Aksyon supported either party members or allies from other parties in the past four presidential elections.

1998

Roco, who was then senator, himself ran for the country’s top seat in 1998. He received 3,720,212 votes or 13.83% of the total number of votes. He lost to then-vice president Joseph “Erap” Estrada, who received 10,722,295 votes or 39.86% of the total, and then-House of Representatives speaker Jose de Venecia, who received 4,268,483 or 15.87% of the total. 

Estrada ran under the banner of the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino (LAMMP), while De Venecia ran under Lakas-National Union of Christian Democrats (Lakas-NUCD). 

When Estrada was ousted in 2001, he was succeeded by vice president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who then appointed Roco as secretary of education that same year. 

2004

Roco again ran for president under Aksyon in 2004, with the support of Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma-Lapiang Manggagawa (Reporma-LM) and Probinsya Muna Development Initiatives (PROMDI). Together, the three were called the “Alyansa ng Pag-asa” or “Alliance of Hope.”

He ran against Arroyo (Lakas-KAMPI-CMD), who eventually won the election with 39.99% of the total number of votes. Following close behind Arroyo was actor Fernando Poe Jr. (Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino) with 36.51% of the vote, then senator Ping Lacson (independent) with 10.88% of the vote. 

Roco’s running mate was the former Tarlac representative Herminio Aquino, who became the chairman of Aksyon. Aquino received 3.2% of the votes, losing to then-senator Noli de Castro (allied with K-4 coalition) and then-senator Loren Legarda (KNP). 

The late Herminio Aquino was the uncle of the late former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. and granduncle of the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

2010

It was Noynoy Aquino, running under the Liberal Party (LP), who took the presidential seat in 2010. He was supported by Aksyon, which initially wooed him to be their standard-bearer before he officially filed his candidacy. 

Noynoy’s mother, former president Cory Aquino, died in 2009, which led to support for her son and calls for him to continue her legacy. Akyson had reached out to Noynoy if he needed a party because then-senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II had long declared his desire to run for president under LP.

In the end, Roxas slid down to a vice presidential candidacy to give way to Noynoy under the LP. Roxas lost to then-Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay (PDP–Laban).

2016

Aksyon threw its support behind independent candidate, senator Grace Poe, in the 2016 presidential elections. The party praised her platform of governance, saying that Poe was the “balance” that the country needed, and that her platform prioritized the vulnerable and marginalized, which advanced the party’s vision. 

At the time, lawyer and senatorial candidate Lorna Kapunan, who was part of Poe’s senatorial slate, was running under Aksyon. 

Poe, with 21.39% of the votes, lost to Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte (PDP-Laban), who got 39.01% of the votes, and Roxas (LP), who got 23.45% of the votes. – Rappler.com