1951 Philippine Senate election

Philippine Senate election, 1951

November 13, 1951
8 (of the 24) seats in the Senate 13 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   File:Cuenco.gif Leader Mariano Jesús Cuenco Carlos P. Garcia Party Liberal Nacionalista Leader's seat Nationwide at-large (lost) Nationwide at-large Seats before 18 4 Seats after 12 12 Seat change 6 8 Popular vote 8,764,190 13,266,643 Percentage 39.9% 59.1% Swing 13.5% 22.5%
Senate President before election Mariano Jesús Cuenco Liberal Elected Senate President Quintin Paredes Liberal

A senatorial election was held in the Philippines on November 13, 1951. The election was known as a midterm election as the date when elected candidates take office falls halfway through President Elpidio Quirino's four-year term.

Summary

As the Hukbalahap insurgency raged in Central Luzon, Filipinos trooped to the polling booths for the 1951 midterm elections—a referendum on President Quirino, who had won the presidency in his own right two years prior. Despite the political remarriage of the two factions of the Liberal Party, the Quirinistas and Avelinistas, the Quirino administration was still far from popular and had gained notoriety for its inability to rein in corruption and its ineffectual attempts to police lawlessness in the countryside. The Nacionalistas took advantage of the situation and mounted an active campaign to wrest back the Senate from the LP. Led by former President Jose P. Laurel, Quirino’s chief adversary in the 1949 presidential polls, the NP swept all eight Senate seats in contention, the first total victory of the opposition in the Senate. So strong was the rejection of the Quirino administration in 1951 that even LP top honcho, Senate President Mariano Jesus Cuenco, lost his seat. Laurel received the highest number of votes, which was seen as his political rehabilitation and which made him the first and only president, thus far, to have served in the Senate after his presidency.

Felisberto Verano, also a Nacionalista, won the special elections held on the same day to fill the Senate seat vacated by Vice-President Fernando Lopez.

Block voting, established in 1941, was abolished in 1951 with Republic Act No. 599. This would later lead to more fragmented results in most national elections.

Results

Per party

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #98fb98;" data-sort-value="Nacionalista Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #f0e68c;" data-sort-value="Liberal Party (Philippines)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" |

Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Total	%	Swing	Won	Before	After	%	+/−
Nacionalista	13,266,643	59.1%	22.5%	8	4	10	41.7%	6
Liberal	8,764,190	39.0%	13.5%	0	18	14	58.3%	4
	APOY-NWW	431,328	1.9%	1.9%	0	0	0	0.0%
Independent	3,503	0.0%	0.0%	0	0	0	0.0%
Totals		22,465,664	100%	—	8	24	24	100.0%

Special election

To serve the unexpired term of Fernando Lopez until December 30, 1953.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Felixberto Verano	Nacionalista Party	873,457	47.69
	Cornelio Villareal	Liberal Party	609,303	33.27
	Prospero Sanidad	Liberal Party (Independent)	223,810	12.22
	Carlos Tan	Liberal Party (Independent)	124,975	6.82
Total			1,831,545	100.00
Valid votes			1,831,545	41.71
Invalid/blank votes			2,559,564	58.29
Total votes			4,391,109	–
Registered voters/turnout			4,754,307	92.36

See also

• Commission on Elections
• Politics of the Philippines
• 2nd Congress of the Philippines

External links

• Official website of the Commission on Elections