1947 Philippine Senate election

← 1946 November 11, 1947 (1947-11-11) 1949 →
8 (of the 24) seats in the Senate of the Philippines 13 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader José Avelino Carlos P. Garcia Party Liberal Nacionalista Seats before 11 (2 up) 12 (6 up) Seats won 6 2 Seats after 15 8 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 12,288,616 10,114,453 Percentage 54.72 45.04 Swing 7.46 4.23
Senate President before election José Avelino Liberal Elected Senate President José Avelino Liberal

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Elections for the Senate of the Philippines were held on November 11, 1947, with eight of the 24 seats in the Senate being contested. These eight seats were elected regularly; the winners were eligible to serve six-year terms from December 30, 1947, until December 30, 1953. Gubernatorial and local elections were held on the same date.

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 1941, or the eight seats not contested 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.

Going into the 1947 election, the Senate consisted of nine Liberals, 14 Nacionalista, and one Popular Front (Vicente Y. Sotto). Of the seats up for election in 1947, all eight seats were held by Nacionalistas.

Senate President Jose Avelino, president of the Liberal Party, scored the opposition and said, "the Nacionalista Party of today is not the party of Quezon and Osmeña ... (it is) the party of Hukbalahaps and other dissident elements." In response, Nacionalista Party President Eulogio Rodriguez appealed for the voters to give the opposition a stronger mandate to fiscalize the administration, which they accused of being corrupt and incompetent.^[1]

In the 1st Congress, the Liberals held 14 seats in the Senate, thereby retaining control of the Senate. The Liberals' total was reduced to 13 seats pursuant to the Senate Electoral Tribunal resolution in which Senator Carlos Tan (Liberal) was unseated and replaced by Eulogio Rodriguez (Nacionalista) in 1949.

Geronima Pecson became the first woman to be elected in the Senate.

1. Alauya Alonto
2. Esteban de la Rama
3. Pedro Hernaez
4. Vicente Rama
5. Proceso Sebastian

The Liberal Party won seven of the eight seats up; the Nacionalista Party won the other seat.

Two incumbents, all Liberals, defended their seats: Vicente Madrigal and Emiliano Tria Tirona.

There were five neophyte senators, all Liberals: Pablo Ángeles y David, Fernando Lopez, Geronima Pecson, Lorenzo Tañada and Carlos Tan. Nacionalista Camilo Osías returns to the Senate, after last serving in 1929.

Eulogio Rodriguez of the Nacionalistas, was the sole incumbent defeated, but won an electoral protest against Tan and was seated in 1949.

Key:

• ‡ Seats up
• + Gained by a party from another party
• √ Held by the incumbent
• * Held by the same party with a new senator

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Up	Before	Won	After	+/−
	Liberal Party	12,288,616	54.72	+7.46	2	11	6	15	+4
	Nacionalista Party	10,114,453	45.04	+4.23	6	12	2	8	−4
	Modernist Party	29,281	0.13	−1.69	0	0	0	0	0
	Young Philippines	13,441	0.06	New	0	0	0	0	0
	Democrat (Osmeña)	9,010	0.04	−0.01	0	0	0	0	0
	Goodwill Party	1,641	0.01	New	0	0	0	0	0
	Popular Front				0	1	0	1	0
Total		22,456,442	100.00	–	8	24	8	24	0
Total votes		3,264,423	–
Registered voters/turnout		4,233,528	77.11
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.

• Eulogio Rodriguez (Nacionalista) originally lost the election, but won an election protest and was seated in 1949.

• Also held on this day:
  • 1947 Cebu's 6th congressional district special election
  • 1947 Philippine local elections
• Commission on Elections
• 1st Congress of the Philippines

• Official website of the Commission on Elections