Solid North

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 Marcos as a result of the People Power Revolution, electoral support for the Marcoses has waned but there is still significant support for them in the area.

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

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 the Ilokano language, most of its residents are not Ilocanos and are referred to as the " Igorot" by Ilocanos and other lowlanders. These provinces all voted for Marcos while he was in power but have now mostly deviated from the regional voting patterns of the rest of northern Luzon.

Prior to independence

In the first national elections in 1907, the North became a stronghold of the Progresista Party, the primary opposition party to the Nacionalista Party at that time.

Third Republic presidential elections

Before the election of Ferdinand Marcos in 1965,it was President Elpidio Quirino who consistently carried the Ilocano heartland in the presidential elections during which he was a candidate. Despite Ramon Magsaysay's landslide victory in the 1953 presidential election, Quirino still won in his home province of Ilocos Sur, as well as 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 these had been staple campaign issues since independence.[1] Marcos carried not only the Solid North, but most of Luzon as well, with Macapagal only carrying the provinces of Pampanga, Tarlac and Bataan.

While Marcos won an even larger mandate during his successful reelection bid in 1969, support from the Solid North was not as crucial in his victory. Pampanga and Antique in the Visayas were 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". With his popularity declining after the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr., Marcos relied heavily on support from the Solid North in the 1986 election, when he faced Aquino's widow, Corazon Aquino. Marcos depended on the Ilocos Region, described as "impregnable to the opposition", and on Eastern Visayas, the home region of his wife, First Lady Imelda Marcos.[2] Marcos was eventually declared the winner but allegations of massive fraud erupted into the People Power Revolution which drove the Marcoses into exile and concluded with Aquino's ascension into the presidency.

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. She had been lagging in opinion polling with only 3% of the support and endorsed the later winner Joseph Estrada.
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 to 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 part of the senatorial ticket of Villar. Joseph Estrada run again but without support from the Marcoses. While Villar and Estrada lost the presidential election, Bongbong won a seat in the Senate. Imelda Marcos won a seat in the House of Representatives, and Ferdinand and Imelda's daughter Imee won the gubernatorial election in Ilocos Norte. Bongbong's Senate victory is the highest elected position won by a Marcos since their ouster in 1986.[3]
2016: Bongbong Marcos ran for vice president under Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago's campaign. While Marcos won the Ilocano provinces, He lost to Leni Robredo, the widow of the deceased former DILG secretary Jesse Robredo. Marcos however, insisted that there was a foul play with the 2016 elections and filed a case against Robredo to the PET. The case is still under investigation.[4] Some provinces voted for Jejomar Binay running mate of Estrada in 2010.

Election maps

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

Provinces where Marcos won at least a plurality are in light green.
Provinces where Marcos won at least a plurality are in light green.
Provinces where Marcos won at least a plurality are in red. This is the clearest manifestation of the Solid North.
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.
Provinces where Estrada won at least a plurality are in orange; provinces where Marcos' ally Juan Ponce Enrile won at least a plurality are in gray. The Marcoses supported Estrada in the election.
Provinces where Poe won at least a plurality are in orange. The Marcoses supported Poe in the election.
Provinces where Villar won at least a plurality are in light green; provinces where Estrada won at least a plurality are in orange. The Marcoses supported Villar in the election.
Provinces where Duterte won at least a plurality are in yellow. The Marcoses supported both Duterte and Defensor-Santiago in the election. Provinces where Binay (former running mate of Estrada) won at least a plurality are in orange.

The North in the presidential elections

Key:

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

Year	Ilocos Region				Cagayan Valley					Cordillera Administrative Region
Year	Ilocos Norte	Ilocos Sur	La Union	Pangasinan	Batanes	Cagayan	Isabela	Nueva Vizcaya	Quirino	Abra	Kalinga	Apayao	Baguio	Benguet	Ifugao	Mountain Province
1965	Marcos
1969	Marcos
1981	Marcos
1986	Marcos
1992	Marcos		Cojuangco	Ramos		Marcos	Cojuangco		Mitra	Cojuangco	Marcos		Santiago	Mitra		Ramos
1998	Estrada			de Venecia	Lim	Enrile	Estrada						de Venecia	Estrada
2004	Poe	Arroyo	Poe								Arroyo	Poe	Arroyo
2010	Villar		Estrada	Aquino		Estrada							Aquino
2016	Duterte	Poe			Roxas	Binay							Duterte	Poe

The North in the vice-presidential elections