The Akbayan Citizens' Action Party, better known as Akbayan (lit. 'the escorting of each other' or 'the support for one another' or 'the collective putting of an arm over the shoulders of another'), is a democratic socialist and progressive political party in the Philippines. Akbayan is noted as a leading member of the progressive movement in the Philippines, having been formed in 1998 by a variety of progressive political organizations. There are approximately 100 thousand members of Akbayan, with a pool of voter interest ranging anywhere between 150 thousand to 1 million people (at most 2.5% of Philippine active voters).

History

Akbayan was formally founded in 1998 by different civil society organizations and various left-leaning organizations from the country's social democratic, democratic socialist, and Marxist traditions with the intent of capturing state power through parliamentary struggle. Akbayan has been critical of abuses committed by some members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against fellow activists. It has also been critical of the Communist Party of the Philippines, particularly its actions in the countryside against peasant groups and communities and what these groups and communities see as the Maoist group's extortion activities. Due to its stance against right-wing extremism (from some elements of the AFP) and the Maoist far-left (CPP–NPA–NDF), Akbayan has been a target of both political groups. During the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Akbayan was among the opposition groups repressed by the government. It was also during this time that Akbayan suffered its lowest number of votes, with just over 400,000 votes in 2007. In 2009, Akbayan supported the presidential candidacy of then Senator Benigno Simeon Aquino III. Fueled by the popular discontent with the outgoing administration of Macapagal-Arroyo, Aquino won the presidency by a large margin. This was also the first time that Akbayan was able to breach the 1 million vote mark, its best performance to that date. Despite the vote increase, however, it failed to secure three seats in the House of Representatives owing to a Supreme Court decision which ensured only the leading party list (Ako Bicol at that time) in the election would secure three seats. Akbayan has been noted to oppose the increased incursions of the People's Republic of China (PRC) naval and coast guard vessels into Philippine territorial waters and within the country's 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In 2016, the party allied itself with the Liberal Party and the Magdalo Group, supporting Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo's campaigns and criticizing other candidates. After the election, it joined the Magnificent 7, a group of Liberal Party and Magdalo members. The party publicly criticized several policies of the Duterte government, including Duterte's handling of the Philippine Drug War and the TRAIN Law. Akbayan has affiliate groups that represent government employees, women workers, migrants, as well as members of the LGBT community. The party's official website states that Akbayan is an activist organisation "and proud of it", and that it "vehemently condemn(s) torture, assassination, and other violent acts that undermine human rights and freedoms regardless of whoever commits them".

Ideology

The party includes both democratic socialists and social democrats as members. While Akbayan's political-economic platform rests on the democratic-socialist foundation which PDP–Laban ostensibly shares, the former differs greatly from the latter with regard to civil rights and law enforcement.

Legislative record

Electoral performance

Presidential and vice presidential

Legislative elections

Senate

In 2010, one of their representatives Risa Hontiveros ran for Senate as a member of Liberal Party, but Akbayan supported her. She only started to run as Akbayan in 2013, and on subsequent elections.

House of Representatives elections in districts

In 2013, Kaka Bag-ao ran for the Dinagat Islands seat under the Akbayan label and won; she ran under the Liberal Party label in subsequent elections.

Results

Party-list elections

Akbayan is only one of two parties (the other is Butil) to win seats in all party-list elections in the Philippines until 2019. Furthermore, Akbayan is the only party to surpass the 2% election threshold in all elections until the 2016 election where they fell short by 0.12%. In September 2024, the COMELEC proclaimed it as a winner after the Supreme Court of the Philippines upheld the COMELEC Resolution which revoked the party-list's registration of An Waray.

Representatives to Congress

Candidates for 2013 elections

Candidates for 2016 elections

Candidates for 2019 elections

Candidates for 2022 elections

Local Candidates

Candidates for 2025 elections

Current party officials