1955 Philippine Senate election

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1955 Philippine general election
Flag of the Philippines.svg
  1953 November 8, 1955 1957  

8 (of the 24) seats in the Senate and 1 mid-term vacancy
13 seats needed for a majority
 Majority partyMinority party
  Senate President Eulogio Rodriguez Sr.jpg Diosdado Macapagal photo.jpg
Leader Eulogio Rodriguez Diosdado Macapagal (lost)
Party Nacionalista Liberal
Seats before17 (3 up)4 (4 up)
Seats won90
Seats after230
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 6Decrease2.svg 4
Popular vote18,422,3688,968,978
Percentage67.1832.71
SwingIncrease2.svg 27.35Decrease2.svg 3.26

Senate President before election

Eulogio Rodriguez
Nacionalista

Elected Senate President

Eulogio Rodriguez
Nacionalista

A senatorial election in the Philippines was held on November 8, 1955. This was a midterm election, the date when the winners took office falling halfway through President Ramon Magsaysay's four-year term.

Contents

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 last contested in 1949; each voter has eight votes and can vote up to eight names, of which the eight candidates with the most votes winning the election.

There was a separate special election held for the vacant seat of Senator Carlos P. Garcia after he won as Vice President in 1953. This is under first-past-the-post. The winner shall then serve for the remainder of Garcia's Senate term.

Summary

Since Magsaysay was very popular midway through his term, there were 10 candidates who ran under the Nacionalista banner. His adoptive Nacionalista Party continued to grow in strength with the absorption of their erstwhile coalition partner, the Democratic Party; but a pillar of the NP could not hide his opposition to the president. Senator Claro M. Recto, one of those who actively sought the adoption of the former Defense Secretary into the NP fold in 1953, had grown critical of Magsaysay, calling him a “banana dictator” and “American puppet,” among other unflattering names. In retaliation, Magsaysay refused the inclusion of Recto into the NP Senate slate of 1955, prompting the Batangueño leader to seek support for his candidacy with the Liberals.

Though Lorenzo Tañada of the NCP had cooperated with the NP in 1953, Recto became the first “guest candidate” in Philippine electoral history, when he was included in the Liberal Party lineup but did not resign his membership as a Nacionalista. [1]

Retiring incumbents

  1. Tomas Cabili (Liberal)
  2. Justiniano Montano (Liberal), ran for House representative from Cavite's at-large district in 1957 and won

Mid-term vacancies

  1. Esteban Abada (Liberal), died on December 17, 1954
  2. Carlos P. Garcia (Nacionalista), elected vice president, left office on December 30, 1953

Results

The Nacionalista Party won all eight seats contested in the general election, and won the one seat contested in the special election.

Nacionalistas Quintin Paredes, Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo Sumulong both defended their Senate seats. Paredes and Sumulong were former Liberals who ran as Nacionalistas in this election. The two Liberal senators who defended their seats were defeated: Enrique Magalona and Macario Peralta Jr.

Five winners are neophyte Nacionalista senators: Decoroso Rosales, Domocao Alonto, Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo, Pacita Madrigal-Warns, and Pedro Sabido. Madrigal-Warns became the only woman in the Senate.

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Before election‡^‡^
Election resultNot up NP Not up
After election++++++

Key:

Per candidate (general election)

CandidatePartyVotes%
Pacita Madrigal-Warns Nacionalista Party 2,544,71650.43
Lorenzo Sumulong Nacionalista Party 2,250,78044.60
Quintin Paredes Nacionalista Party 2,171,41543.03
Soc Rodrigo Nacionalista Party 2,132,09442.25
Pedro Sabido Nacionalista Party 1,821,09836.09
Claro M. Recto Nacionalista Party [a] 1,716,98434.02
Domocao Alonto Nacionalista Party 1,619,10932.08
Decoroso Rosales Nacionalista Party 1,600,25531.71
Diosdado Macapagal Liberal Party 1,454,20028.82
Juan Chioco Nacionalista Party 1,452,69328.79
Camilo Osías Liberal Party 1,388,13727.51
Geronima Pecson Liberal Party 1,340,80026.57
Macario Peralta Jr. Liberal Party 1,207,49523.93
Enrique Magalona Liberal Party 1,086,05421.52
Pio Pedrosa Liberal Party 919,30218.22
William Chiongbian Liberal Party 884,07717.52
Alfredo Abcede Federal Party 22,7690.45
Concepcion R. Lim de Planas Nacionalista Party 10,2450.20
Vicente A. RafaelIndependent4,5510.09
Filemon BlayIndependent1,1790.02
Praxedes FloroIndependent1,0810.02
Total25,629,034100.00
Total votes5,046,488
Registered voters/turnout6,487,06177.79
  1. Guest candidate of the Liberal Party

Special election

One seat was up for election to fill its vacancy created by Carlos P. Garcia's election as vice president in 1953. Unlike the regular election, this is held under the first past the post system.

CandidatePartyVotes%
Roseller T. Lim Nacionalista Party 1,102,97961.40
Simeon Toribio Liberal Party 688,91338.35
Avelino P. GarciaIndependent4,3780.24
Total1,796,270100.00
Valid votes1,796,27035.59
Invalid/blank votes3,250,21864.41
Total votes5,046,488
Registered voters/turnout6,487,06177.79

Per party

This includes the result of the special election.

1955 Philippine Senate election results.svg
PartyVotes%+/–Seats
UpBeforeWonAfter+/−
Nacionalista Party 18,422,36867.18+27.35317923+6
Liberal Party 8,968,97832.71−3.264400−4
Federal Party 22,7690.08+0.0600000
Independent6,8110.02+0.0100000
Citizens Party 01010
Vacant2100−1
Total27,420,926100.009249240
Total votes5,046,488
Registered voters/turnout6,487,06177.79
Source: [2] [3]
Vote share
NP
67.18%
LP
32.71%
Others
0.10%
Senate seats
NP
100.0%
LP
0.0%
Others
0.0%

Defeated incumbents

  1. Enrique Magalona (Liberal) retired from politics
  2. Macario Peralta Jr. (Liberal) appointed Secretary of National Defense in 1962

See also

References

  1. Philippine Electoral Almanac. The Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office. 2013. p. 28. Archived from the original on 2014-04-09.
  2. 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. ISBN   9780199249596.
  3. Julio Teehankee. "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). quezon.ph.