Philippine presidential election, 1946

Philippine presidential election, 1946
Philippines
April 23, 1946
 
Nominee Manuel Roxas Sergio Osmeña
Party Nacionalista (Liberal wing) 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
Nacionalista (Liberal wing)

Philippines
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
the Philippines

Presidential, legislative and local elections were held on 23 April 1946 (pursuant to Commonwealth Act No. 725).

Background

Soon after the reconstitution of the Commonwealth Government in 1945 Senators Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino and their allies called for the holding on an early national election to choose the president and vice president of the Philippines and members of the Congress. In December, 1945 the House Insular Affairs Committee of the United States Congress approved the joint resolution setting the election date at not later than 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 on April 23, 1946, and was approved by President Osmeña on January 5, 1946.

Candidates

Three parties presented their respective candidates for the different national elective positions. These were the Nacionalista Party, 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, of capitalizing on the people's hardship, and of minimizing the accomplishment of the [Osmeña] Administration. These men with the Messiah complex have been the bane of the country and of the world. 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, made a long recital of Osmeña's achievements, his virtues as public official and as private citizen.
Entering the convention hall at about 7:30 p.m, President Osmeña, accompanied by the committee on notification, was greeted with rounds of cheer and applause as he ascended the platform. President Osmeña delivered his speech which was a general outline of his future plans once elected. He emphasized that as far as his party is concerned, independence is a close issue. It is definitely 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 Manila. According to Manila Chronicle:

...more than three thousand (by conservative estimate 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, who came from all over the Islands, met in formal convention from 10:50 am and did not break up till about 5:30 pm.
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 differenced of opinion on certain 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

The election was generally peaceful and orderly except in some places where passions ran high, especially in the province of 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, at one time, 200 persons abandoned their homes, their work, and their food, all their belongings in a mass evacuation to the poblacion due to fear and terror.

A total of 2,218,847 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. Interestingly enough, President Osmena chose not to actively campaign, saying the Filipinos were aware of 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 City (Negros Occidental), Iloilo City (Iloilo), Baguio City (Mountain Province), Zamboanga City (Zamboanga), Tagaytay City (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

Final Official Congressional Canvass

 Summary of the April 23, 1946 Philippine presidential election results
Candidates Parties Votes %
Manuel Roxas Liberal wing of the Nacionalista Party (Liberal wing of the Nationalist Party) 1,333,392 53.94%
Sergio Osmeña Nacionalista Party (Nationalist Party) 1,129,996 45.71%
Hilario Moncado Modernist Party 8,538 0.35%
Total 2,471,926 100%
Valid votes 2,471,926 85.3%
Invalid votes 125,342 4.3%
Votes cast 2,596,880 89.6%
Registered voters 2,898,604

Presidential Canvass (by Province)

Province Moncado
(Partido Modernista)		 Osmeña
Nacionalista Party
(Conservative Wing)		 Roxas
Nacionalista Party
(Liberal Party)
Abra 18 3,813 6,750
Agusan (now Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur 26 9,219 9,357
Albay 13 24,344 25,940
Antique 19 12,952 18,271
Bataan 4 8,309 9,468
Batanes 20 705 1,326
Batangas
Bohol 308 40,258 30,592
Bukidnon 365 92,451 3,011
Bulacan 38 38,549 39,799
Cagayan 365 25,605 15,514
Camarines Norte 4 5,482 10,471
Camarines Sur 21 24,214 33,267
Capiz (including Aklan2 14 18,161 41,844
Catanduanes 4 8,698 5,477
Cavite319 11,196 38,111
Cebu4792 98,700 53,848
Cotabato 566 16,490 17,826
Davao 6 1,536 19,229 11,896
Ilocos Norte243 12,097 25,464
Ilocos Sur34 16,530 30,322
Iloilo25 43,522 79,136
Isabela437 9,220 17,431
Laguna26 22,246 36,527
Lanao 7991 37,101 17,212
La Union157 14,844 22,444

^2 Aklan only became a province on November 8, 1956, by virtue of Republic Act No. 1414.

^3 Including the cities of Tagaytay and Cavite.

^4 Including Cebu City. In Cebu City, Sergio Osmeña got 15,569 votes while Roxas only got 8,759 votes.

^5 The present-day provinces of North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan and Sultan Kudarat were part of the then province of Cotabato.

^6 The then province of Lanao was divided in 1959 into two provinces: Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur.

Vice-President

Final Official Congressional Canvass

 Summary of the April 23, 1946 Philippine vice presidential election results
Candidate Party Results
Votes %
Elpidio Quirino Nacionalista (Liberal wing) 1,161,725 52.36%
Eulogio Rodriguez Nacionalista 1,051,243 47.38%
Luis Salvador Modernist 5,879 0.26%
Valid votes 2,218,847 85.4%
Invalid votes 378,033 14.6%
Votes cast 2,596,880 95.2%
Registered voters 2,898,604 100.0%

Vice Presidential Canvass (by Province)

Province Quirino
Nacionalista Party
(Liberal Party)		 Rodriguez
Nacionalista Party
(Conservative Wing)		 Salvador
Partido Modernista
Abra 6,894 3,092 7
Agusan 8,540 8,131 11
Albay 23,44521,696 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 31,28223,052 24
Capiz 36,845 17,494 11
Catanduanes 5,164 8,645 4
Cavite22,688 17,882 28
Cebu50,495 92,253 524
Cotabato17,366 11,718 68
Davao12,015 17,629 1,090
Ilocos Norte26,727 9,672 109
Ilocos Sur36,158 9,460 12
Iloilo68,520 40,343 42
Isabela19,800 5,786 208
Laguna17,724 30,552 26
Lanao12,638 26,787 594
La Union29,126 6,860 104
Leyte55,873 43,776 139
Manila67,228 43,197 139
Marinduque6,405 4,181 27
Masbate8,378 10,006 32
Mindoro12,370 7,4237
Misamis Occidental8,835 15,046 334
Misamis Oriental12,245 10,172 132
Mountain Province (including Baguio City)11,340 6,530 221
Negros Occidental56,527 47,011 63
Negros Oriental11,869 23,000 63
Nueva Ecija27,949 38,690 46
Nueva Vizcaya7,0953,486 21
Palawan6,2914,691 7
Pampanga9,291 64,556 119
Pangasinan84,77556,806 45
Tayabas39,33815,966 35
Rizal35,512 54,896 50
Romblon7,4823,060 24
Samar34,920124,586 140
Sorsogon19,44515,980 10
Sulu5,953 7,640 5
Surigao13,80011,768 56
Tarlac17,523 22,813 50
Zambales15,3704,298 39
Zamboanga13,317 18,426 433
Culion Leper Colony100 329 1

See also

References

  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
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