1998 Naga, Camarines Sur, local elections

Local elections were held in Naga, Camarines Sur, on May 11, 1998, as part of the 1998 Philippine general election. Voters elected a mayor, vice mayor, ten members of the city council, and a representative for the second congressional district.

Incumbent mayor Jesse Robredo was term-limited after serving three consecutive terms and endorsed Sulpicio S. Roco Jr., who won the mayoral race with a landslide 62.9% of the vote under the banner of Aksyon Demokratiko. He defeated Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr., among others. Robredo's coalition swept the elections, securing the vice mayoralty and all ten city council seats.^[1]

In 1995, Mayor Jesse Robredo of the Lakas–NUCD was re-elected for a third and final consecutive term, continuing the reform-oriented agenda he had championed since taking office in 1988. His administration was widely credited for transforming Naga into a model city for participatory governance, transparency, and urban innovation. Under his leadership, Naga received national and international recognition, including the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2000.

As Robredo was term-limited by 1998, his party sought to retain control of city hall by endorsing former city administrator Sulpicio S. Roco as their standard-bearer under the newly aligned Aksyon Demokratiko. Roco was a close ally of Robredo and positioned his campaign as a continuation of the Robredo legacy.

The 1998 elections also saw the entry of Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr., son of former Camarines Sur governor Luis Villafuerte, into local politics. Running under the LAMMP coalition aligned with then-presidential candidate Joseph Estrada, Villafuerte aimed to wrest control of Naga City from the reformist camp. Other contenders included former city councilors and independent candidates, though none matched the popularity or organizational strength of the Robredo-aligned slate.

The election was seen as a critical test of whether Robredo's reform coalition could sustain its dominance beyond his tenure. In a decisive result, Roco won the mayoralty by a wide margin, and the administration's ticket swept all city council seats, reaffirming the coalition’s hold on power in Naga.

Source:^[2]

• Sulpicio S. Roco (Aksyon)
• Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. (LAMMP)
• J. Agapito Tria (Lakas-NUCD)
• Lourdes V. Asence (Liberal Party)
• Edmundo Magistrado (Independent)
• Glinton Ervas (Independent)
• Leonor Abias (Independent)

Source:^[3]

Ten city councilors were elected. All ten winning candidates came from the Aksyon Demokratiko slate backed by mayoral winner Sulpicio Roco. The opposition candidates, primarily from LAMMP and the Liberal Party, failed to win any seats.