# 1949 Philippine Senate election

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

* Alauya Alonto (Nacionalista)
* Ramon Diokno (Nacionalista)
* Prospero Sanidad (Liberal)

### Incumbents running elsewhere

* 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 | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | Not up | LP | LP | LP | LP | LP | LP | LP | LP | Not up | Not up | Not up | 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 | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Quintin Paredes | Liberal Party (Quirino wing) | 1,756,898 | 49.08 |
| | Esteban Abada | Liberal Party (Quirino wing) | 1,685,520 | 47.08 |
| | Lorenzo Sumulong | Liberal Party (Quirino wing) | 1,615,124 | 45.12 |
| | Enrique Magalona | Liberal Party (Quirino wing) | 1,577,083 | 44.05 |
| | Tomas Cabili | Liberal Party (Quirino wing) | 1,575,075 | 44.00 |
| | Macario Peralta Jr. | Liberal Party (Quirino wing) | 1,566,376 | 43.75 |
| | Justiniano Montano | Liberal Party (Quirino wing) | 1,515,569 | 42.34 |
| | Teodoro de Vera | Liberal Party (Quirino wing) | 1,486,158 | 41.51 |
| | Claro M. Recto | 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) | 391,394 | 10.93 |
| | Salipada Pendatun | Liberal Party (Avelino wing) | 374,340 | 10.46 |
| | Olegario Clarin | Liberal Party (Avelino wing) | 346,921 | 9.69 |
| | Filemon Sotto | Liberal Party (Avelino wing) | 343,823 | 9.60 |
| | Felicidad Manuel | Liberal Party (Avelino wing) | 340,781 | 9.52 |
| | Aurelio Intertas | Liberal Party (Avelino wing) | 293,630 | 8.20 |
| | Jose Tando | Liberal Party (Avelino wing) | 291,550 | 8.14 |
| | Apolonio Curato | Liberal Party (Avelino wing) | 267,073 | 7.46 |
| | Leonardo Tenebro | Independent | 4,592 | 0.13 |
| | Cesar Bulacan | Independent | 1,531 | 0.04 |
| Total | Total | Total | 24,334,006 | 100.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 3,579,917 | – |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 5,135,814 | 69.70 |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 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".
* 1 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.
Seats :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | +/– | 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 | Vacancy | | | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | +1 |
| Total | Total | 24,336,652 | 100.00 | – | 8 | 24 | 8 | 24 | 0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | 3,579,917 | – | | | | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 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

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