The 1992 Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections were held on May 11, 1992.[1] This was the first general election held under the 1987 Constitution. An estimated 80,000 candidates ran for 17,000 posts from the presidency down to municipal councilors.
The new constitution limited the president to a single six-year term with no possibility of reelection, even if nonsuccessive.[2] Although some of PresidentCorazon Aquino's advisers suggested that she could run for a second term,[3] as she was sworn in before the 1987 Constitution took effect, Aquino did not run again.[4]
Santiago led the canvassing of votes for the first five days but then was overtaken by Ramos in a few days. Santiago cried fraud and filed an electoral protest citing power outages as evidence.[7] Various media personnel became witnesses to the fraud made in the election, where the phrase, 'Miriam won in the election, but lost in the counting' became popular.[8] However, her protest was eventually dismissed by the Supreme Court of the Philippines.[7]
The 1992 election was the second time both president and vice president came from different parties.[9] Movie actor and SenatorJoseph Estrada, running with presidential candidate Eduardo Cojuanco, won a six-year term as vice-president.[10]
Under the transitory provisions of the Constitution, 24 senators were elected in this election. The first 12 senators who garnered the highest votes would have six-year terms while the next 12 senators would have three-year terms.[11] Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) received a large share in the Senate race.[12] Television personality and Quezon City vice mayor Vicente Sotto III (also known as Tito Sotto) received the highest number of votes.[13]