Editing Ferdinand Marcos (section)

===1978 parliamentary election===
By 1977, reports of "gross human rights violations" had led to pressure from the international community. US President [[Jimmy Carter]] pressured the Marcos Administration to release Ninoy Aquino and to hold parliamentary elections to demonstrate that some "normalization" had begun after the declaration of martial law.<ref name="JenFrancoElectionsandDemocratization">{{Cite book |last=Franco |first=Jennifer |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=LIkECwAAQBAJ|page=168}} |title=Elections and Democratization in the Philippines |publisher=Routledge |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-136-54191-9 |access-date=September 3, 2020 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165046/https://books.google.com/books?id=LIkECwAAQBAJ&pg=PT168#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|page=168}} Marcos did not release Aquino, but announced that the [[1978 Philippine parliamentary election]] would be held.<ref name="JenFrancoElectionsandDemocratization" />{{rp|page=168}}

The April 7 elections were for 166 (of the 208) regional representatives to the [[Interim Batasang Pambansa]] (parliament). The elections were contested by parties including Ninoy Aquino's new party, the ''[[Lakas ng Bayan]]'' (LABAN) and the regime's party known as the ''[[Kilusang Bagong Lipunan]]'' (KBL).

LABAN fielded 21 candidates for the Metro Manila area<ref name="Roces">{{cite news |work=The Philippine Star |url=http://www.philstar.com/opinion/354387/lakas-ng-bayan-candidates |title=Lakas ng Bayan candidates |first=Alejandro R. |last=Roces |access-date=September 25, 2016 |archive-date=October 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005063047/http://www.philstar.com/opinion/354387/lakas-ng-bayan-candidates |url-status=live}}</ref> including Ninoy, activist Jerry Barican, labor leader Alex Boncayao,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alex-Boncayao-Brigade|title=Alex Boncayao Brigade &#124; Filipino death squad|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=September 25, 2016|archive-date=October 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011224348/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alex-Boncayao-Brigade|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Neptali Gonzales]], Teofisto Guingona Jr. [[Ramon Mitra Jr.]], Aquilino Pimentel Jr., journalist [[Napoleon Rama]], publisher [[Alejandro Roces]], and poet-playwright [[Francisco Rodrigo]].

Irregularities noted during the election included "prestuffed ballot boxes, phony registration, 'flying voters', manipulated election returns, and vote buying",<ref name="Case2013">{{Cite book |last=Case |first=William |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=is3bAAAAQBAJ}}|title=Politics in Southeast Asia: Democracy or Less |date=September 13, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-87121-4 |access-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165047/https://books.google.com/books?id=is3bAAAAQBAJ&q=lakas+ng+bayan+1978&pg=PT306#v=onepage&q=lakas%20ng%20bayan%201978&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|306}} and LABAN's campaigning faced restrictions,<ref name="Case2013" /> including Marcos's refusal to let Aquino out of prison to campaign. All of the party's candidates, including Aquino, lost.
[[File:His excellency the President welcomes the New Zealand Prime Minister, 27 January 1980.jpg|thumb|Marcos greeting [[Robert Muldoon]] on the latter's official visit to the Philippines, 1980. [[New Zealand]] was a valuable strategic partner for the country in the last years of Marcos's rule.]]
Marcos's KBL party won 137 seats, while Pusyon Bisaya led by future Minority Floor Leader  [[Hilario Davide Jr.]], won 13 seats.