The 1935 Presidential Election

Today in Philippine History (Philatelic Edition Series 3):

SEPTEMBER 16, 1935

The 1935 Presidential Election was held on September 16, 1935. Filipinos got to vote for their president and vice president. 

The enactment of the Tydings–McDuffie Act, a law that paved the way for a transitory government made the elections possible. After the election, the Philippine Assembly was abolished and the new government was called the Philippine Commonwealth, the American governor-general was replaced by a Filipino president, and it became a government run by Filipinos for the Filipinos. 

Senate President Manuel L. Quezon (Nacionalista Party) got 695,332 votes at 67.98 percent while his rivals Emilio Aguinaldo (National Socialist Party), the first President of the Philippine Republic finished with 179,349 votes or 17.53 percent; Obispo Maximo Gregorio Aglipay (Republican Party), the founder of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) had 148,010 votes or 14.47 percent. Pascual Racuyal (Independent), a Cebuano mechanic got 158 votes or 0.02 percent. He ran as an independent and was always a presidential contender in every elections since 1935 until the COMELEC banned him in 1986 as a nuisance candidate. 

Senate President Pro Tempore Sergio Osmeña, Quezon's running mate also won as vice president. Quezon was victorious in all provinces except Aguinaldo's home province of Cavite, Camarines Norte and Aglipay's home province of Ilocos Norte and Nueva Vizcaya. Osmeña won in all the provinces except Cavite, where his rival Melliza won by a close margin. 

Aguinaldo contested the results claiming electoral manipulations. He protested the results in the United States, while his followers plotted to disrupt the November inauguration and hatched assassination attempts against the winners.

(Design, concept, stamps and research: Richard Allan B. Uy) All rights reserved

Photo credit: wikipedia.org