TEAM Unity (Philippines)

TEAM Unity

Leader	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Founded	2007 (2007)
Dissolved	c. before 2010 (c. before 2010)
Preceded by	K4
Succeeded by	Lakas–Kampi–CMD
Political parties	Lakas–CMD KAMPI NPC (Teodoro wing) Liberal (Atienza wing) LDP PDSP
Politics of Philippines Political parties Elections

Together Everybody Achieves More (TEAM) Unity was an electoral alliance in the Philippines that contested the 2007 Philippine general election. TEAM Unity's candidates were supporters of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her administration. The alliance sought to win several Senate and House seats to protect Arroyo from impeachment attempts. Politicians who opposed the Arroyo administration formed their own electoral alliance, Genuine Opposition (GO), to challenge TEAM Unity.

In the Senate election, TEAM Unity won only two of the 12 contested seats. In 2011, as a result of an electoral protest, TEAM Unity's Senator Migz Zubiri lost his seat to GO's Koko Pimentel.^[1] TEAM Unity was more successful in the House elections, winning 142 of the 218 district seats.^[2]

Etymology

During the Lakas–CMD National Convention last April 12, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo devised an acronym for the 12 senatorial candidates of TEAM Unity which is: "Ma S P A R A S A Ki D Z Mo" (in English, More for your kids.) Ma stands for Magsaysay, S stands for Singson, P stands for Pichay, A stands for Angara, R stands for Recto, A stands for Arroyo, S stands for Sotto, A stands for Aquino-Oreta, Ki stands for Kiram, D stands for Defensor, Z stands for Zubiri, and Mo stands for Montano.

Program

TEAM UNITY's slogan and main program for Filipinos was "Our priority agenda is to work for the future of our children." while their secondary slogan was "Tulong Tulong sa Pagsulong" (lit. 'Working together for progress'). The opposing party, Genuine Opposition, used the slogan: Plan Co Revolt (in English, My plan is to revolt) as a demonstrative threat to the Arroyo government.

Slogan

TEAM Unity used Ma S P A R A S A Ki D Z Mo as their slogan for the election. Ma stands for Magsaysay, S stands for Singson, P stands for Pichay, A stands for Angara, R stands for Recto, A stands for Arroyo, S stands for Sotto, A stands for Aquino-Oreta, Ki stands for Kiram, D stands for Defensor, Z for Zubiri, and Mo stands for Montano.

Coalition members

Mainstream party members

Lakas–CMD
Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI)
Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC-Teodoro wing)
Liberal (LP-Atienza wing)
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP)
Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP)

TEAM Unity Senatorial slate

Name	Party	Occupation
Edgardo Angara	LDP	Senator from Aurora and the former President of the Senate (1993–1995)
Joker Arroyo	KAMPI	Senator and former Representative from Makati (1992–2001). He is also the former prosecutor of the impeachment trial of Pres. Joseph Estrada.
Mike Defensor	Lakas–CMD	former Presidential Chief of Staff (2006–2007), Former Representative from Quezon City (1995-1998), and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary. He is also the son of the incumbent Quezon City Representative Matias Defensor Jr. (2004–2010) and the nephew of the incumbent Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago (2004–2016).
Jamalul Kiram III	PDSP	Sultan of Sulu (1986–2013)
Vicente Magsaysay	Lakas–CMD	Governor of Zambales (1967–1978; 1980–1986; 1998–2007)
Cesar Montano	Lakas–CMD	Television and movie personality or actor and UNESCO Commissioner
Tessie Aquino-Oreta	NPC	former senator (1998–2004) and former Representative of Malabon–Navotas (1987–1998)
Prospero Pichay Jr.	Lakas–CMD	Representative from Surigao del Sur (1998–2007)
Ralph Recto	Lakas–CMD	Senator, and former Representative from Batangas (1992–2001). He is the 2nd husband of the actress Vilma Santos and the stepfather of the actor Luis Manzano.
Chavit Singson	Lakas–CMD	Governor of Ilocos Sur (1971–1972; 1980–1986; 1992–2001; 2004–2007)
Tito Sotto	NPC	former senator and the elder brother of the TV and movie actor, Vic Sotto. He is also the former Vice Mayor of Quezon City from (1986–1992).
Migz Zubiri	Lakas–CMD	Representative from Bukidnon (1998–2007) and the son of the incumbent Bukidnon Governor Jose Maria R. Zubiri (2001–present).

Campaign team

Reli German - Campaign Manager
Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano - Spokesperson
Tonypet Albano - Deputy Spokesperson
Ben Evardone - Media Director

Party jingle

The jingle was originated from the song "We Will Rock You" for their early promotional campaign.

Election results

2 out of 12 candidates won the possible 12 seats in the Senate namely: (in order of votes received)

Notes

^ Rood, Steven (August 10, 2011). "Philippine senator resigns seat in election controversy with deep roots". asiafoundation.org. The Asia Foundation. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
^ Mullenbach, Mark J. "Dynamic Analysis of Dispute Management (DADM) Project: 15. Philippines (1946-present)". uca.edu. Conway, Arkansas: Department of Political Science, University of Central Arkansas. Retrieved January 14, 2022.