Solid North

The provinces with at least a plurality of its population being Ilocano people are denoted by green on the map.

The term "Solid North" refers to the strong electoral support of northern Philippine provinces, particularly those of Ilocandia, to the family of President Ferdinand Marcos specifically, and other politicians of Ilocano descent and economic issues of affecting the Ilocanos in general, such as the tobacco industry. After the ouster of power of Marcos as a result of the People Power Revolution, the electoral support was waned, but there is still significant support for the Marcoses in the area.

The inclusion of some of the provinces in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in the Solid North has been questioned; while the lingua franca of the CAR is Ilokano language, most of the residents there are not Ilocanos, and most belong to a catch-all term that is called the "Igorot" by Ilocanos and other lowlanders. The provinces have all voted for Marcos while he is in power, but most has had deviated from the regional voting patterns of the rest of northern Luzon.

Third Republic presidential elections

Before the ascension of Ferdinand Marcos into national consciousness, President Elpidio Quirino has carried the Ilocano heartland on the presidential elections where he is a candidate; in fact, in the landslide of Ramon Magsaysay in 1953, Quirino only won in his home province of Ilocos Sur, and in Ilocos Norte, Abra and La Union.

In the 1965 presidential election, Senator Ferdinand Marcos of the Nacionalista Party, from Ilocos Norte, faced the incumbent president Diosdado Macapagal of the Liberal Party, who hailed from Pampanga. Marcos successfully campaigned on the issues of graft, peace and order, and economic progress, although those had been the staple campaign issues of most politicians.^[1] Marcos carried not only the Solid North, but most of Luzon as well, with Macapagal only carrying the provinces of the Pampanga heartland of Pampanga and Tarlac, and Bataan in Luzon north of Manila.

On Marcos' successful reelection bid in 1969, Marcos won via an even larger landslide, and the support from the Solid North wasn't as crucial in his victory. Only Pampanga and Antique in the Visayas are the only provinces that he did not win.

1986 snap presidential election

Marcos eventually declared martial law and stayed in power until 1986, when he called for a "snap election". In the 1986 election, Marcos is now expecting to rely on support from the Solid North, which includes the Ilocos Region that has been described as "impregnable to the opposition", and from Eastern Visayas, the home region of his wife Imelda Marcos.^[2] Marcos was declared the winner but allegations of massive fraud erupted into the People Power Revolution that drove the Marcoses into exile, and concluded with Corazon Aquino's ascension into power.

Fifth Republic elections

• 1992: Marcos died in 1989, and his widow Imelda ran in 1992 against six other candidates. Fidel V. Ramos, one of the leaders of the People Power Revolution, and the candidate President Aquino campaigned for, won. Another Marcos ally, Danding Cojuangco, won in several provinces of the Solid North.

• 1998: Imelda Marcos was supposed to run anew in 1998, but withdrew a month prior to the election; Imelda has been lagging in opinion polling with only 3% of the support.

• 2004: Fernando Poe, Jr. personally sought the endorsement of Imelda for the presidency when he visited the tomb of President Marcos, but Poe narrowly lost against incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The election would later be tainted by fraud allegations.

• 2010: The Marcoses supported the candidacy of Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party; Ferdinand and Imelda's son Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. ("Bongbong") was a part of the senatorial ticket of Villar; Villar lost but Bongbong won a seat in the Senate. Imelda Marcos won a seat to the House of Representatives, and Ferdinand and Imelda's daughter Imee won the gubernatorial election in Ilocos Norte. Bongbong's election victory is the highest elected position won by a Marcos since 1986.^[3]

Election maps

In these maps, the provinces of the candidates where one won at least a plurality of votes is shaded.

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  Provinces where Marcos won at least a plurality are in light green.

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  Provinces where Marcos won at least a plurality are in light green.

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  Provinces where Marcos won at least a plurality are in red. This is the clearest manifestation of the Solid North.

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  Provinces where Marcos won at least a plurality are in red; provinces where Marcos' ally Danding Cojuangco won at least a plurality are in dark green.

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  Provinces where Estrada won at least a plurality are in orange. The Marcoses supported Estrada in the election.

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  Provinces where Poe won at least a plurality are in orange. The Marcoses supported Poe in the election.

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  Provinces where Villar won at least a plurality are in light green. The Marcoses supported Villar in the election.

The North in the presidential elections

Key:

• Boldface: Winner
• Italicized: Marcos, or candidate supported by the Marcoses.

See also

• Lingayen-Lucena corridor, where the national elections have said to be "won".
• Solid South, American counterpart

Notes

References