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1946 Philippine presidential election

(Redirected from Philippine presidential election, 1946)

The 1946 Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections were held on April 23, 1946, according to Commonwealth Act No. 725. Incumbent president Sergio Osmeña ran for a full term but was defeated by Senator Manuel Roxas. Meanwhile, senator Elpidio Quirino defeated fellow senator Eulogio Rodriguez to become vice president.

1946 Philippine presidential election
← 1943 April 23, 1946 1949 →
 
Nominee Manuel Roxas Sergio Osmeña
Party Liberal Nacionalista
Running mate Elpidio Quirino Eulogio Rodriguez
Popular vote 1,333,392 1,129,996
Percentage 53.94% 45.71%
President before election

Sergio Osmeña
Nacionalista

Elected President

Manuel Roxas
Liberal

1946 Philippine vice presidential election
← 1941 April 23, 1946 1949 →
 
Candidate Elpidio Quirino Eulogio Rodriguez
Party Liberal Nacionalista
Popular vote 1,161,725 1,051,243
Percentage 52.36% 47.38%
Vice President before election

Vacant (Sergio Osmeña in previous election)

 Elected Vice President

Elpidio Quirino
Liberal

Background

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Soon after the reconstitution of the Commonwealth government in 1945, Senators Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino, and their allies called for an early national election to choose the president and vice president of the Philippines, as well as the members of Congress. In December 1945, the House Insular Affairs Committee of the United States Congress approved the joint resolution, setting the election date by April 30, 1946.

Prompted by this congressional action, President Sergio Osmeña called the Philippine Congress to a three-day special session. Congress enacted Commonwealth Act No. 725, setting the election date on April 23, 1946. President Osmeña signed the act on January 5, 1946.

Candidates

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Three parties presented their respective candidates for the different national elective positions. These were the Nacionalista Party, the Conservative (Osmeña) Wing, the Liberal Wing of the Nacionalista Party, and the Partido Modernista. The Nacionalistas had Osmeña and Senator Eulogio Rodriguez as their candidates for President and vice president, respectively. The Modernistas chose Hilario Camino Moncado and Luis Salvador for the same positions. On the other hand, the standard bearers of the Liberals were Senators Manuel Roxas and Elpidio Quirino.

On January 3, 1946, President Osmeña announced his candidacy for President. On January 22, 1946, Eulogio Rodriguez was nominated as Osmeña's running mate for Vice President in a convention held at Ciro's Club in Manila. According to the Manila Chronicle:

The convention opened at 10:15 in the morning when the acting secretary of the party, Vicente Farmoso, called the confab to order.

Congressman Jose C. Romero, who delivered the keynote speech, accused Senate President Manuel Roxas and his followers of fanning the flames of discontent among the people, capitalizing on the people's hardship, and minimizing the accomplishment of the [Osmeña] Administration. These men with the Messiah complex have been the country's and world's bane. This is the mentality that produces Hitlers and Mussolinis, and in their desire to climb to power, they even want to destroy the party which placed them where they are today.

Senator Carlos P. Garcia, who delivered the nomination speech for President Sergio Osmeña, recited Osmeña's achievements and virtues as a public official and private citizen.

Entering the convention hall at about 7:30 p.m., President Osmeña, accompanied by the committee on notification, was greeted with cheer and applause as he ascended the platform. President Osmeña delivered his speech, a general outline of his plans once elected. He emphasized that as far as his party is concerned, independence is a close issue. It was coming on July 4, 1946.[1]

On January 19, 1946, Senator Roxas announced his candidacy for President in a convention held in Santa Ana Cabaret in Makati, Rizal. According to the Manila Chronicle:

...more than three thousand (by conservative estimates, there were only 1,000 plus) delegates, party members, and hero worshipers jammed into suburban, well-known Santa Ana Cabaret (biggest in the world) to acclaim ex-katipunero and Bagong Katipunan organizer Manuel Acuña Roxas as the guidon bearer of the Nacionalista Party's Liberal Wing.

The delegates from all over the Islands met in a formal convention from 10:50 a.m. and broke up at about 5:30 p.m.


They elected 1. Mariano J. Cuenco, professional Osmeñaphobe, as temporary chairman; 2. Jose Avelino and ex-pharmacist Antonio Zacarias, permanent chairman and secretary, respectively; 3. nominated forty-four candidates for senators; 4. heard the generalissimo himself deliver an oratorical masterpiece consisting of 50 per cent attacks against the (Osmeña) Administration, 50 per cent promises, pledges. Rabid Roxasites greeted the Roxas acceptance speech with hysterical applause.[2]

President Osmeña tried to prevent the split in the Nacionalista Party by offering Senator Roxas the position of Philippine Regent Commissioner to the United States, but the latter turned down the offer.

As a result of the split among the members of the Nacionalista Party, owing to marked differences of opinion on specific vital issues of which no settlement had been reached, a new political organization was born and named the Liberal Wing of the Nacionalista Party, which would later become the Liberal Party.

Results

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Manuel Roxas (right) and Elpidio Quirino (left)

The election was generally peaceful and orderly except in some places where passions ran high, especially in Pampanga. According to the "controversial" decision of the Electoral Tribunal of the House of Representatives on Meliton Soliman vs. Luis Taruc, Pampanga "was under the terroristic clutches and control of the Hukbalahaps. So terrorized were the people of Arayat were terrorized; at one time, 200 persons abandoned their homes, work, food, and belongings in a mass evacuation to the Poblacion due to fear and terror."

A total of 2,596,880 voters went to the polls to elect their President and Vice President, who was to be the Commonwealth's last and the Republic's first. President Osmena chose not to actively campaign, saying the Filipinos knew his record of 40 years of loyal service to the country.

Four days after election day, the Liberal candidates were proclaimed victors. Roxas registered a majority of votes in 34 provinces and nine cities: Abra, Agusan, Albay, Antique, Bataan, Batanes, Batangas, Bukidnon, Bulacan, Cagayan, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Capiz, Cavite, Cotabato, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Laguna, La Union, Leyte, Marinduque, Mindoro, Misamis Oriental, Negros Occidental, Nueva Vizcaya, Palawan, Pangasinan, Rizal, Romblon, Samar, Sorsogon, Sulu, Surigao, Tayabas, Zambales, Manila, Quezon City, Bacolod (Negros Occidental), Iloilo City (Iloilo), Baguio (Mountain Province), Zamboanga City (Zamboanga), Tagaytay (Cavite), Cavite City (Cavite) and San Pablo City (Laguna)

Likewise, the Liberal Party won nine out of 16 contested senatorial seats.

In the House of Representatives, the Liberals achieved a majority with 50 seats won, while the Nacionalistas and the Democratic Alliance were only victorious in 33 and six seats, respectively.

President

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Summary

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CandidatePartyVotes%
Manuel RoxasNacionalista Party (Liberal wing)[a]1,333,00653.93
Sergio OsmeñaNacionalista Party[a]1,129,99445.72
Hilario MoncadoModernist Party8,5380.35
Total2,471,538100.00
Valid votes2,471,53895.17
Invalid/blank votes125,3424.83
Total votes2,596,880100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,898,60489.59
Source: Nohlen, Grotz, Hartmann, Hasall and Santos[3]
  1. ^ a b The Nacionalista Party was split into two wings: those who supported Osmeña or the "conservative wing", and those who supported Roxas or the "liberal wing". The liberal wing eventually split off after the election and became the Liberal Party.
Popular vote
Roxas
 
 53.93%
Osmeña
 
 45.72%
Moncado
 
 0.35%

By province/city

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Province/City Roxas Osmeña Moncado
Abra 6,760 3,813 18
Agusan 9,354 9,219 26
Albay 25,940 24,344 13
Antique 18,271 12,952 19
Bataan 9,468 8,309 4
Batanes 1,326 705 20
Batangas 56,410 24,118 37
Bohol 30,592 40,285 308
Bukidnon 3,011 2,451 150
Bulacan 39,799 38,549 38
Cagayan 15,514 25,605 365
Camarines Norte 10,471 5,482 4
Camarines Sur 33,267 24,214 21
Capiz 41,844 18,161 14
Catanduanes 5,477 8,698 4
Cavite 38,111 11,196 19
Cebu 53,848 98,700 792
Cotabato 17,826 16,490 66
Culion Leper Colony 47 420 0
Davao 11,896 19,226 1,536
Ilocos Norte 25,464 12,097 243
Ilocos Sur 30,322 16,530 34
Iloilo 79,136 43,522 25
Isabela 17,431 9,220 437
La Union 22,499 14,845 157
Laguna 36,527 22,246 26
Lanao 17,212 37,101 991
Leyte 64,236 49,965 155
Manila 82,457 31,513 172
Marinduque 10,596 2,487 8
Masbate 9,730 12,207 27
Mindoro 14,025 9,240 6
Misamis Occidental 11,165 15,926 848
Misamis Oriental 14,307 12,737 153
Mountain Province 8,490 11,369 468
Negros Occidental 62,605 52,982 58
Negros Oriental 13,262 25,594 171
Nueva Ecija 29,478 41,616 28
Nueva Vizcaya 7,458 3,664 9
Palawan 6,317 5,164 7
Pampanga 11,296 69,505 42
Pangasinan 82,081 64,794 56
Rizal 60,103 35,418 101
Romblon 9,200 3,560 17
Samar 37,553 30,793 82
Sorsogon 20,715 17,528 6
Sulu 6,833 9,228 6
Surigao 15,053 12,795 85
Tarlac 16,868 26,193 39
Tayabas 50,224 10,954 16
Zambales 15,811 6,853 16
Zamboanga 15,706 19,413 595
Total 1,333,392 1,129,996 8,538
Source: Bureau of the Census and Statistics[4]

Vice-President

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Summary

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CandidatePartyVotes%
Elpidio QuirinoNacionalista Party (Liberal wing)[a]1,161,72552.36
Eulogio RodriguezNacionalista Party[a]1,051,24347.38
Lou SalvadorModernist Party5,8790.26
Total2,218,847100.00
Valid votes2,218,84785.44
Invalid/blank votes378,03314.56
Total votes2,596,880100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,898,60489.59
Source: Nohlen, Grotz, Hartmann, Hasall and Santos[5]
  1. ^ a b The Nacionalista Party was split into two wings: those who supported Osmeña or the "conservative wing", and those who supported Roxas or the "liberal wing". The liberal wing eventually split off after the election and became the Liberal Party.
Popular vote
Quirino
 
 52.36%
Rodriguez
 
 47.38%
Salvador
 
 0.26%

By province/city

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Province/City Quirino Rodriguez Salvador
Abra 6,894 3,092 7
Agusan 8,540 8,131 11
Albay 23,445 21,696 12
Antique 16,749 12,026 55
Bataan 6,424 8,245 17
Batanes 1,466 221 6
Batangas 32,185 22,195 111
Bohol 26,290 34,296 167
Bukidnon 2,899 2,138 99
Bulacan 29,277 38,881 50
Cagayan 21,826 17,226 238
Camarines Norte 10,013 4,894 4
Camarines Sur 31,282 23,052 24
Capiz 36,845 17,494 11
Catanduanes 5,164 8,645 4
Cavite 22,688 17,882 28
Cebu 50,495 92,253 524
Cotabato 17,366 11,718 68
Culion Leper Colony 100 329 1
Davao 12,015 17,629 1,090
Ilocos Norte 26,727 9,672 109
Ilocos Sur 36,158 9,460 12
Iloilo 68,520 40,343 42
Isabela 19,800 5,786 208
La Union 29,126 6,860 104
Laguna 17,724 30,552 26
Lanao 12,638 26,787 594
Leyte 55,873 43,776 139
Manila 67,228 43,197 139
Marinduque 6,405 4,181 27
Masbate 8,378 10,066 32
Mindoro 12,370 7,423 7
Misamis Occidental 8,835 15,046 334
Misamis Oriental 12,245 10,172 132
Mountain Province 11,340 6,530 221
Negros Occidental 56,527 47,011 63
Negros Oriental 11,869 23,000 83
Nueva Ecija 27,949 38,690 46
Nueva Vizcaya 7,095 3,486 21
Palawan 6,219 4,691 7
Pampanga 9,291 64,566 119
Pangasinan 84,775 56,806 45
Rizal 35,512 54,896 50
Romblon 7,482 3,060 24
Samar 34,920 25,586 140
Sorsogon 19,455 15,980 10
Sulu 5,953 7,640 5
Surigao 13,800 11,768 56
Tarlac 17,523 22,813 50
Tayabas 39,338 15,966 35
Zambales 15,370 4,928 39
Zamboanga 13,317 18,462 433
Total 1,161,725 1,051,243 5,879
Source: Bureau of the Census and Statistics[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Celso G. Cabrera. "Rodriguez is Nominated as Osmeña's Running-Mate," Manila Chronicle, January 22, 1946, p. 2
  2. ^ "Conventions Climax Hectic Week," Manila Chronicle This week, January 27, 1946, p. 3
  3. ^ Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann; Graham Hassall; Soliman M. Santos.
    Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume II: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific    .
  4. ^ a b Bulletin of Philippine Statistics No. 1. Vol. II. Bureau of Printing. 1946. p. 72.
  5. ^ Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann; Graham Hassall; Soliman M. Santos.
    Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume II: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific    .
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