Established in 1988 by then House Speaker Jose Cojuangco Jr. as the administration party in support of his sister, President Corazon C. Aquino. Its ranks were filled by many of the new representatives and local officials elected in 1987 and 1988, and included former members of both the KBL and the anti-Marcos opposition.
The LDP had the majority in the House during Aquino’s term, and it supported the bid of Ramon Mitra, the House Speaker, who ran for the presidency in 1992. Mitra lost even if the LDP was the biggest and best-funded party. When Ramos became president, the LDP became the minority in the House, but it had the majority in the Senate, enabling one of its leaders, Senator Edgardo Angara, to become Senate president and become the new head of the party.
In 1998, however, the LDP joined a coalition with the NPC and Joseph Estrada’s Partido ng Masang Pilipino to form the LAMMP (Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino) coalition that supported Estrada's candidacy. When he became president, LAMMP became the ruling coalition. But its hold on Congress ended with Estrada's ouster.
The 2001 elections brought new senators to LDP’s ranks, foremost among them former police chief Panfilo Lacson, who announced his bid for the presidency in 2003. Lacson had the backing of some LDP leaders, but the others, most notably Angara, supported the candidacy of actor Fernando Poe Jr. instead. These divisions split the party, whose future depends on the outcome of the 2004 elections.
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