The NPC was founded in 1992 after members of the Nacionalista Party, led by Rizal governor Isidro Rodriguez, left the party after disagreements with party leader and vice president Salvador Laurel before the 1992 presidential elections. Members of civil society (including the business sector) who called themselves "Friends of Danding" invited tycoon Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, a former associate of Ferdinand Marcos,[7] to run as president with Senator Joseph Estrada as vice president. Cojuangco lost the presidential race, finishing third, and Estrada won the vice presidency in a landslide.[10]
In 2004, the LDP and NPC backed businessman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco as a potential presidential candidate in that year's elections.[11] Cojuangco, the NPC chair, withdrew from the campaign. Although the NPC had no seats in the Senate, the party had 53 seats in the House of Representatives after the election.[13] The United States Department of State said in its October 2006 Background Note: Philippines, "Members of the Congress tend to have weak party loyalties and change party affiliation easily. There is no clear majority in the Senate, which changed its President in 2006."[12][failed verification]
1995 election
The NPC fielded a 12-person Senatorial slate in the 1995 elections as an opposition party to the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos. They ran against the administration-backed Lakas–Laban Coalition.
^There are no official Presidential standard bearer even Sotto has running mate (Ping Lacson) who is independent.
^Contested in an electoral alliance with LDP and PMP as LAMMP. Seat total consists of 55 LAMMP representatives and 9 NPC representatives elected outside the LAMMP alliance.