Elections for the members of the Senate were held on April 23, 1946, in the Philippines (pursuant to Commonwealth Act No. 725).
Electoral system
Philippine Senate elections are held via plurality block voting with staggered elections, with the country as an at-large district. There are 24 seats in the Senate, with eight seats up every election for every two years starting from the first election in 1941; of the results in that election, the first eight would have served for six years, the next eight for four years, and the last eight for two years. Due to the intervention of World War II and the destruction of records, this election was the next election since 1941, and that lots were drawn on the 16 seats that would have been up in this election.
On this election, each voter has sixteen votes, of which one can vote up to sixteen names. Sixteen candidates shall then be elected, of which the first eight candidates with the most votes serving until 1951, then the next eight serving until 1949.
Background
Soon after the reconstitution of the Commonwealth Government in 1945 Senators Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino and their allies called for an early national election to choose the president and vice president of the Philippines and members of the Congress. In December 1945, the United States House Committee on Insular Affairs 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.
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."
The dominant Nacionalista Party was divided into two wings in this election. The Liberal wing was led by Senate President Manuel Roxas, while the original Nacionalista Party was headed by President Sergio Osmeña. Roxas defeated Osmeña in the concurrent presidential election, while Roxas's running mate Senator Elpidio Quirino defeated Osmeña's running mate Senator Eulogio Rodriguez.
In the Senate elections, the Liberal wing won nine seats, the original Nacionalista Party won six seats, and the Popular Front won one.
^ abcdefghijklmnopThe Nacionalista Party was split into two wings: those who supported Sergio Osmeña in the presidential election or the "conservative wing", and those who supported Manuel Roxas or the "liberal wing". The liberal wing eventually split off after the election and became the Liberal Party.
