Lakas–CMD

Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas–CMD), also known simply as Lakas, and previously known as Lakas–Kampi until 2011, is a political party in the Philippines. Lakas–CMD is considered to be on the centre-right of the political spectrum and is influenced by Christian democracy and Islamic democracy. Since the 2022 elections, Lakas–CMD is currently the biggest party in the House of Representatives. The party is a dominant member of the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas led by President Bongbong Marcos. Lakas–CMD has produced one President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was in power when the party was formed in 2009, and one vice president, Sara Duterte, who was elected in 2022. The political party was founded in 2008, after the original Lakas–CMD merged with the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), forming Lakas–Kampi–CMD. The party later reverted to its original name and removed KAMPI after many of its members defected to the National Unity Party (NUP). "Lakas" harkens to the original of the Lakas party, which was "Lakas ng Tao", which translates to "People Power", referring to the People Power Revolution of 1986, where party founder Fidel V. Ramos was one of the main participants. After the 2010 elections, the party was split into both the majority and minority blocs. By 2013, Lakas supported most candidates of the opposition coalition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) in the 2013 Senate election, although the party was still split. After the 2016 elections, the party joined the majority bloc led by PDP–Laban, the party of the winner of the presidential election, Rodrigo Duterte. In the 2019 elections, the party joined the Hugpong ng Pagbabago alliance. After the 2022 elections, Lakas won the vice presidency and replaced PDP–Laban as the largest party in Congress, leading the majority bloc.