1949 Philippine Senate election

1949 Philippine Senate election

←  1947 November 8, 1949 1951  →
8 (of the 24) seats in the Senate 13 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Mariano Jesús Cuenco Carlos P. Garcia Party Liberal Nacionalista Seats before 12 (2 up) 8 (4 up) Seats won 8 0 Seats after 17 4 Seat change 5 4 Popular vote 12,782,449 8,900,568 Percentage 52.52 36.57 Swing 2.20 8.47
Senate President before election Mariano Jesús Cuenco Liberal Elected Senate President Mariano Jesús Cuenco Liberal

Elections for the members of the Senate were held on November 8, 1949 in the Philippines.

While President Elpidio Quirino won a full term as President of the Philippines after the death of President Manuel Roxas in 1948, and his running mate, Senator Fernando Lopez won as Vice President, their Liberal Party won all of the contested seats in the Senate. Despite factions created in the administration party, Quirino won a satisfactory vote from the public.

It was the only time in Philippine history where the duly elected president, vice president and senators all came from the same party, the Liberal Party.

Carlos P. Romulo and Marvin M. Gray, publisher of the Manila Evening News , accuse Quirino in their book The Magsaysay Story (The John Day Company, 1956, updated - with an additional chapter on Magsaysay's death - re-edition by Pocket Books, Special Student Edition, SP-18, December 1957) of widespread fraud and intimidation of the opposition by military action, calling it the "dirty election".

Electoral system

Philippine Senate elections are held via plurality block voting with staggered elections, with the country as an at-large district. The Senate has 24 seats, of which 8 seats are up every 2 years. The eight seats up were won by the 9th to 16th placed candidates in 1946; each voter has eight votes and can vote up to eight names, of which the eight candidates with the most votes winning the election.

Retiring incumbents

1. Alauya Alonto (Nacionalista)
2. Ramon Diokno (Nacionalista)
3. Prospero Sanidad (Liberal)

Incumbents running elsewhere

1. Fernando Lopez (Liberal), elected as vice president, left office on December 30, 1949

Results

The Liberal Party wing led by President Elpidio Quirino (the "Quirinistas") won all 8 seats, shutting out the wing led by former Senate President Jose Avelino (the "Avelinistas"), and the Nacionalista Party.

Two incumbents, Tomas Cabili and Enrique Magalona of the Quirinistas defended their seats, while four incumbents, Avelinistas Olegario Clarin and Salipada Pendatun, and Alejo Mabanag and Jose O. Vera of the Nacionalistas lost their seats.

Newcomers include Esteban Abada, Teodoro de Vera, Justianiano Montano, Quinttin Paredes, Macario Peralta Jr. and Lorenzo Sumulong, all Quirinistas.

Senator Fernando Lopez ran and won in concurrent vice presidential elections. He left office on December 30, 1949, when his vice presidential term started.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Before election													‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡
Election result	Not up												LP								Not up
After election	^												√	*	+	+	+	+	+	+

Key:

• ‡ Seats up
• *+Gained by a party from another party
• √ Held by the incumbent
• * Held by the same party with a new senator
• ^ Vacancy

Per candidate

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Quintin Paredes	Liberal Party (Quirino wing) [a]	1,756,898	49.08
	Esteban Abada	Liberal Party (Quirino wing) [a]	1,685,520	47.08
	Lorenzo Sumulong	Liberal Party (Quirino wing) [a]	1,615,124	45.12
	Enrique Magalona	Liberal Party (Quirino wing) [a]	1,577,083	44.05
	Tomas Cabili	Liberal Party (Quirino wing) [a]	1,575,075	44.00
	Macario Peralta Jr.	Liberal Party (Quirino wing) [a]	1,566,376	43.75
	Justiniano Montano	Liberal Party (Quirino wing) [a]	1,515,569	42.34
	Teodoro de Vera [b]	Liberal Party (Quirino wing) [a]	1,486,158	41.51
	Claro M. Recto [b]	Nacionalista Party	1,390,528	38.84
	Alejo Mabanag	Nacionalista Party	1,150,818	32.15
	Trinidad Legarda	Nacionalista Party	1,108,732	30.97
	Jose O. Vera	Nacionalista Party	1,101,996	30.78
	Jose Maria Veloso	Nacionalista Party	1,069,817	29.88
	Marcelo Adduru	Nacionalista Party	1,053,754	29.44
	Pedro Hernaez	Nacionalista Party	1,025,342	28.64
	Domocao Alonto	Nacionalista Party	999,581	27.92
	Jose T. Nueno	Liberal Party (Avelino wing) [a]	391,394	10.93
	Salipada Pendatun	Liberal Party (Avelino wing) [a]	374,340	10.46
	Olegario Clarin	Liberal Party (Avelino wing) [a]	346,921	9.69
	Filemon Sotto	Liberal Party (Avelino wing) [a]	343,823	9.60
	Felicidad Manuel	Liberal Party (Avelino wing) [a]	340,781	9.52
	Aurelio Intertas	Liberal Party (Avelino wing) [a]	293,630	8.20
	Jose Tando	Liberal Party (Avelino wing) [a]	291,550	8.14
	Apolonio Curato	Liberal Party (Avelino wing) [a]	267,073	7.46
	Leonardo Tenebro	Independent	4,592	0.13
	Cesar Bulacan	Independent	1,531	0.04
Total			24,334,006	100.00
Total votes			3,579,917	–
Registered voters/turnout			5,135,814	69.70

1. The Liberal Party was split into two wings: those who supported Elpidio Quirino or the "Quirinitas" or the "Quirino wing", and those who supported José Avelino or the "Avelinistas" or the "Avelino wing".
2. Teodoro de Vera was later removed from office in favor of Claro M. Recto who won an election protest.

Per party

The Liberals originally had 19 seats entering the 2nd Congress, but the election of Senator Fernando Lopez to the vice presidency meant that his seat is vacant until 1951, when it was contested in a special election.

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Up	Before	Won	After	+/−
	Liberal Party (Quirino wing)	12,782,449	52.52	−2.20	2	12	8	17	+5
	Nacionalista Party	8,900,568	36.57	−8.47	4	8	0	4	−4
	Liberal Party (Avelino wing)	2,649,512	10.89	New	2	3	0	1	−2
	Independent	4,123	0.02	New	0	0	0	0	0
	Popular Front				0	1	0	1	0
Vacancy					0	0	0	1	+1
Total		24,336,652	100.00	–	8	24	8	24	0
Total votes		3,579,917	–
Registered voters/turnout		5,135,814	69.70
Source: Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann; Graham Hassall; Soliman M. Santos (15 November 2001). Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume II: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific. OUP Oxford. ISBN   9780199249596. & Julio Teehankee. "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). quezon.ph.

Vote share LP (Quirino)   52.52% NP   36.57% LP (Avelino)   10.89% Others   0.02%

Senate seats LP (Quirino)   100% NP   0% LP (Avelino)   0% Others   0%

Defeated incumbents

1. Olegario Clarin (Liberal–Avelino wing) retired from politics
2. Alejo Mabanag (Nacionalista) ran in 1953 and won
3. Salipada Pendatun (Liberal–Avelino wing) ran in 1953 and lost, ran for House representative from Cotabato in 1957 and won
4. Jose O. Vera (Nacionalista) retired from politics

See also

• Commission on Elections
• 2nd Congress of the Philippines

External links

• The Philippine Presidency Project
• Official website of the Commission on Elections