PROMDI

Template:Template other The Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiatives or Probinsya Muna Development Initiative (Template:Literal translation; ), abbreviated as PROMDI or Abag-Promdi, is a political party in the Philippines based in Cebu.

The party was founded in 1997 by Lito Osmeña, a former governor of Cebu, for his 1998 presidential campaign. Their main ideology is devolution.

In 2021, PROMDI formed an alliance with Manny Pacquiao's PDP–Laban wing and the People's Champ Movement (PCM), dubbed as the MP3 Alliance. They officially nominated Pacquiao as their candidate in the 2022 Philippine presidential election.

History

PROMDI was founded in 1997 by Lito Osmeña, who served as governor of Cebu (1988–1992) and chief economic adviser to President Fidel V. Ramos (1993–1997), and was Ramos' unsuccessful running mate in the 1992 presidential election. A former officer of Lakas, Osmeña formed PROMDI for his unsuccessful presidential bid in 1998; his running mate was former South Cotabato governor Ismael Sueno. In the House of Representatives, PROMDI won four district seats and a party-list seat represented by Joy Augustus Young.

In 2001, President Joseph Estrada was ousted in the Second EDSA Revolution and Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ascended to the presidency. PROMDI joined the pro-Arroyo People Power Coalition (PPC) alongside Lakas, Reporma, Aksyon, the Liberal Party, and PDP-Laban. The party won three district seats in the House. However, they were disqualified from the party-list election for failing to meet the criteria of representing the "marginalized and underrepresented" in accordance with the Party-list System Act (R.A. 7941). In Cebu City, PROMDI's Tomas Osmeña was elected mayor and Mike Rama was vice mayor.

The 2004 election was dominated by two major coalitions: the pro-Arroyo K4 and the opposition KNP. However, PROMDI opted to join Aksyon and Reporma (former Arroyo supporters) to form a third smaller coalition, the Alyansa ng Pag-asa (Alliance of Hope). They supported the presidential bid of Aksyon's Raul Roco. In 2010, Osmeña unsuccessfully ran for a Senate seat.

In June 2021, Osmeña announced the revival of PROMDI and their plans to contest the 2022 election at national level. Osmeña died the following month. His son, Mimo, became the new party president. On September 18, PROMDI signed an alliance agreement with the Pacquiao–Pimentel wing of PDP-Laban and the People's Champ Movement (PCM), dubbed the MP3 alliance. On September 26, Senator Manny Pacquiao took his oath as member of PROMDI and was named their honorary chairperson. The party then nominated him as their presidential candidate for 2022. When Pacquiao filed his candidacy on October 1, he declared PROMDI as his party, but asserted that he was not abandoning the leadership dispute of PDP-Laban. Pacquiao's running mate, House Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza of Buhay party-list, also filed his candidacy under PROMDI.

Abag PROMDI will participate in the 2025 House of Representatives elections as a party-list, with Mimo Osmeña as their first nominee.

Name and symbols

Promdi is a Filipino slang referring to people from the provinces or rural areas. It is derived from the accented pronunciation of "from the province" and it used to be a derogatory term for Filipinos living outside Metro Manila, who were stereotyped as unsophisticated or socially awkward.

Political positions

In June 2021, PROMDI declared three major platforms: "the devolution of power and initiative, a responsive and relevant educational system, and advanced and tactical nuclearization". The party calls for devolution "to ensure that decisions are made closer to the local people, communities and business they affect". They criticize the unitary system of government based in Imperial Manila as "highly bureaucratic, inefficient, and unresponsive", accusing it of neglecting the provinces. They also want to reform the education system to be "responsive to the needs and wants" of localities. As such, the imposition of national academic standards and assessments should be reviewed. They encourage vocational education and call for the defunding of for-profit education. They also push for the transition to renewable energy. Lastly, they call for the acquisition of nuclear weapons as deterrence, since the Philippines is a "small nation" that must defend itself from "advances by superpowers".

Organization and structure

PROMDI claims to have 3 million members nationwide as of June 2021.

Party leadership

Position	Name
President	Mariano "Mimo" Osmeña
Executive vice president	Chavi Labtic
Secretary general	Oscar Canton
Deputy secretary general	Neil Labrador
Honorary chairperson	Manny Pacquiao (until 2024)
Vice president for Luzon	Roy Ilbay
Vice president for the Visayas	Fernando Celeste
Vice president for Mindanao	Andrade Lagos
Treasurer	Caridad Onde

• As of September 26, 2021 (Osmeña & Pacquiao); June 4, 2021 (other officers)
• Sources:

Party presidents

• Lito Osmeña (1997–2021)
• Mimo Osmeña (2021–present)

Electoral performance

Presidential elections

Election	Candidate	Number of votes	Share of votes	Outcome of election
1998	Lito Osmeña	3,347,631	12.44%	Template:Lost
2004	Supported Raul Roco who lost
2010	N/A
2016	N/A
2022	Manny Pacquiao	3,663,113	6.81%	Template:Lost

Vice presidential elections

Election	Candidate	Number of votes	Share of votes	Outcome of election
1998	Ismael Sueno	537,677	2.10%	Template:Lost
2004	Supported Herminio Aquino who lost
2010	N/A
2016	N/A
2022	Lito Atienza	270,381	0.52%	Template:Lost

Senate elections

Election	Number of votes	Share of votes	Seats won	Seats after	Outcome of election
2010	3,980,370	1.34%	Template:Composition bar	Template:Composition bar	Template:Lost
2022	Candidate rejected by the Commission on ElectionsTemplate:Efn

House of Representatives elections

Election	Districts		Party-list		Seats	Outcome
	Votes	%	Votes	%
1998	586,954	2.40%	255,184	2.79%	Template:Composition bar	Joined the majority bloc
2001			Disqualified		Template:Composition bar	Joined the majority bloc
2004			N/A			Template:Lost
2007						Template:Lost
2010	Did not participate
2013
2016
2019
2022	288,049	0.60%	N/A		Template:Composition bar	Template:Lost
2025			23,144	0.06%	Template:Composition bar	Template:Lost

Party-list Representatives to Congress

Period	1st Representative	2nd Representative	3rd Representative
11th Congress 1998–2001	Joy Augustus Young	Template:N/A	Template:N/A