Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—President Corazon C. AQUINO (since 25 February 1986); Vice President Salvador H. LAUREL (since 25 February 1986)
Political parties and leaders: PDP-Laban, Aquilino Pimentel; Struggle of
Philippine Democrats (LDP), Neptali Gonzales; Nationalista Party, Salvador
Laurel, Juan Ponce Enrile; Liberal Party, Jovito Salonga
Suffrage: universal at age 15
Elections:
President—last held 7 February 1986 (next election to be
held May 1992); results—Corazon C. Aquino elected after the fall of the
Marcos regime;
Senate—last held 11 May 1987 (next to be held May 1993); results—Pro-Aquino LDP 63%, Liberals LDP and PDP-Laban (Pimentel wing) 25%, Opposition Nationalista Party 4%, independents 8%; seats—(24 total) Pro-Aquino LDP 15, Liberals LDP-Laban (Pimentel wing) 6, Opposition 1, independents 2;
House of Representatives—last held on 11 May 1987 (next to be held May 1992); results—Pro-Aquino LDP 73%, Liberals LDP and PDP-Laban (Pimentel wing) 10%, Opposition Nationalista Party 17%; seats—(250 total, 180 elected) number of seats by party NA
Communists: the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) controls about 18,000-23,000 full-time insurgents and is not recognized as a legal party; a second Communist party, the pro-Soviet Philippine Communist Party (PKP), has quasi-legal status
Member of: ADB, ASEAN, ASPAC, CCC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77,
GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IPU, IRC, ISO, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Emmanuel PELAEZ; Chancery at 1617 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 483-1414; there are Philippine Consulates General in Agana (Guam), Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle; US—Ambassador Nicholas PLATT; Embassy at 1201 Roxas Boulevard, Manila (mailing address is APO San Francisco 96528); telephone [63] (2) 521-7116; there is a US Consulate in Cebu
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a white equilateral triangle based on the hoist side; in the center of the triangle is a yellow sun with eight primary rays (each containing three individual rays) and in each corner of the triangle is a small yellow five-pointed star