1907 Philippine Assembly elections

1st Philippine Assembly elections May 2020 1907 Philippine Assembly elections Philippines legislative 1898 no 1898 Malolos Congress elections 1898 1909 Philippine Assembly elections 1909 July 30, 1907 All 80 seats in the Philippine Assembly 41 Sergio Osmeña 1908.jpg Sergio Osmeña Cebu–2nd Nacionalista Party 32 + 27 coalition 64,281 65.43% Arsenio Cruz-Herrera.jpg Arsenio Cruz Herrera Rizal–1st (lost) Progresista Party 16 24,234 24.67% 1907PhilippineAssemblyElections.png Coalitions that won a plurality of votes in each province. Speaker None (Pedro Paterno served as Malolos Congress President) Sergio Osmeña Nacionalista Party The first Philippine Assembly elections were held across the Philippines on July 30, 1907. The Philippine Organic Act of 1902, enacted by the United States Congress, established a bicameral Philippine Legislature composed of the appointed Philippine Commission as the upper house and the elected Philippine Assembly as the lower house. The first national election for a legislative body in the Philippines, and considered to be a de facto independence referendum, the newly formed Nacionalista Party, advocating independence, defeated the more established Progresista Party, which were conservative. Formation of political parties With the conclusion of the Philippine–American War (then known as the "Philippine Insurrection") and the establishment of the American colonial Insular Government under the Philippine Organic Act of 1902, elections were held in various parts of the Philippines. Divisions developed between the Federalistas who advocated for statehood within the United States, and the Independistas those who advocated for independence. Opponents to American rule were unable to mount a united front for the 1906 local elections, with only the Comitė de Intereses Filipinos who were a united, yet limited, organization. By mid-1906, those opposed to American rule began organizing themselves into political parties.Cullinane (1989), p. 287 The Comitė de la Union Nacional and the Partido Popular Independista merged to create the Partido de la Union Nacionalista. The Union Nacionalistas rejected a hardline path and instead chose an evolutionary position. Meanwhile, the Independistas urged immediate independence from the U.S. After failing to broker a deal with the Independistas, the Union Nacionalista proposed a merger with the Federalistas. Juan Sumulong, who led the Federalistas, advocated a radical policy, more in line with the "conservative" wing of the Union Nacionalistas led by Rafael Palma. The Federalistas consulted Governor-General James Francis Smith, who then sought to advise Taft on the matter. Both Smith and Taft opposed the union, with Smith saying to Sumulong that a fusion will "result in the complete obliteration of the conservative element as a political actor in the community." The refusal of Federalistas reopened talks between the Union Nacionalista and the Independistas.Cullinane (1989), p. 291 The Independistas organized themselves in January 1907 with a leadership election. To prevent further split, Alberto Barretto and Justo Lukban were elected co-leaders of the party. The election of Fernando Guerrero, Sergio Osmeña, Teodoro Sandiko and Isauro Gabaldon as counselors marked the first time that a Manila-based political group established links with provincial leaders.Cullinane (1989), p. 292 The Nacionalistas and the Progresistas In late January, the Federalistas organized themselves under a new name, Partido Nacional Progresista and launched a campaign to win seats in provinces around Manila. The nationalist-leaning groups launched negotiations to present a unified slate in the elections; Meanwhile, Palma insisted on having the word "Immediata" (immediate) to the party name of the proposed merger of the Union Nacionalistas and the Independistas. On March 12, 1907, the Union Nacionalista and the Independistas merged to form the Partido Nacionalista.Cullinane (1989), p. 293 While the Nacionalistas had a rotating leadership, the manner of selection of the candidates was a source of major dispute and the party convention at the Manila Grand Opera House ended in disarray.Cullinane (1989), p. 294 The Progresistas, on the other hand, dropped Federal from the party name seeing that the word had outlived its usefulness and had changed their name to Partido Nacional Progresista (National Progressive Party).Cullinane (1989), p. 295 Campaign While the Nacionalistas were in disarray, the Progresistas orchestrated a well-organized "popular assembly". The Progresistas established networks of local strongmen already associated with the Nacionalistas; however, they were only able to field candidates in half of the districts in Central and southwestern Luzon. The Progresistas were unable to recruit supporters even in places where a Progresista was already in office, apart from Tarlac. In Manila, the Progresistas resorted to encouraging Americans to register and vote for them. However, the Federalistas were able to field candidates in rural areas in Visayas and Mindanao.Cullinane (1989), p. 296-302 While the Progresistas were struggling to increase their ranks, they instead relied on a strategy to ensure the defeat of Nacionalistas candidates who opposed Progresista policies.Cullinane (1989), p. 304 The Nacionalistas split their ranks when Guerrero and Lukban, members of the old Independista group were dropped from the ticket in favor of Dominador Gomez and Felipe del Pan. Quezon, brokered a deal that set a party convention to settle candidacies but it was never convened; Gomez and del Pan remained the official candidates for the "regular" Nacionalistas. Guerrero and Lukban ultimately set up the Liga Nacional Independecia whose sole purpose was to contest the 1907 elections.Cullinane (1989), p. 305 The Progresistas led by Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, on the other hand, opposed "immediate" independence. The reception at Progresista political rallies ranged from lukewarm to hostile, with people heckling "Hang them, kill them".Mojares (2006), p. 151 On election day, the Partido Nacionalista, with its national organization in disarray, was able to field a candidate in 68 of the 80 districts.Cullinane (1989), p. 306 Results + ↓32161220NacionalistaProgresistaOthersInd Nacionalista Party 34277 32 Progresista Party 24234 16 Immediatista 7126 7 Independista 6179 4 Catholic Party 1192 1 Philippine Independent Church 91 0 Independent 22878 20 95977 2274 98251 104966 Vote share #ddd 600px 410px NP Nacionalista Party 35.71 PP Progresista Party 25.25 Others gray 39.03 Seats #ddd 600px 410px NP Nacionalista Party 40.00 PP Progresista Party 20.00 Others gray 40.00 Votes by province Province/CityNacionalistaProgresistaImmediatistaIndependistaCatholicPhilippine Independent ChurchIndependentRejectedScattered Nacionalista Party Progresista Party Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent IndependentAlbay–2,196––––1,415–55Ambos Camarines1,577334––––244–58Antique–604––––352–47Bataan–––379––359–11Batangas2,11385––––1,455–55Bohol––––––1,594–76Bulacan1,950–––––948––Cagayan–1,434––––725–58Capiz8891,177––––2,60013739Cavite2,686–––––––61Cebu3,088–––445–––159Ilocos Norte7471,421–––9185–106Ilocos Sur1,6192,005––––95–54Iloilo–1,7732,275–––1,779–75Isabela–549–529––199–34La Laguna2,635795––––––132La Union1,2971,284––––585––Leyte3,025510125–––98–69Manila5,6711,361––59–98143Mindoro437–––––153–32Misamis––––––1,038–112Negros Occidental–1,0051,405––––100179Negros Oriental–912614–––––31Nueva Ecija1,385697––––––13Palawan48–––––217–23Pampanga–874–1,448––456–13Pangasinan6155702,637–600–1,909–69Rizal1,9571,477––88–––45Samar13719370–––2,565–184Sorsogon665430––––1,510–53Surigao–745––––––44Tarlac1,234946–––––1818Tayabas–857–3,823––2,237–24Zambales502–––––162–73Total34,27724,2347,1266,1791,1929122,8782692,005Source: Government Printing Officehttp://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.35112203989431 Eighth Annual Report of the Philippine Commission to the Secretary of War 1907 Part 1 Government Printing Office 1908 Washington, D.C. 203 Aftermath 1st Philippine Legislature While the candidates representing the Nacionalistas won the majority of the seats in the assembly, the maneuvering around the election for the Speaker of the Assembly began, as the Speaker would be the most powerful Filipino in government. Quezon and Osmeña focused on aggregating the delegates around Osmeña's leadership, a task that was easier than anticipated. With less than two dozen delegates, the Progresistas were not be able to elect a Speaker from their ranks and were marginalized from talks amongst the Nacionalistas. Osmeña found two opponents for the Speakership: Gomez, who defeated Lukban by 31 votes, and Pedro Paterno. However, Gomez's citizenship was questioned, and Paterno found himself to be Osmeña's leading opponent.Cullinane (1989), p. 318 Gomez was found to be a Spanish citizen and a new election for his seat was called. Gomez still ran in the special election in 1908 and beat Lukban by a larger margin, about 400 votes. Gomez was permitted to take his seat, but not after seven months had passed, and after Osmeña was elected SpeakerCullinane (1989), p. 326 on October 16, 1907, with Quezon as the majority floor leader.Halili (2004), p. 184 The defeat of the Progresistas in the elections hastened their downfall; the Nacionalista Party would continue to dominate the elections for the legislature, while the Progresistas, and later their successor the Democratas, would remain in opposition.Brownlee (2007), p. 75 Notes See also 1st Philippine Legislature References Authoritarianism in an age of democratization Jason Brownlee Cambridge University Press 2007 978-0-521-86951-5 https://books.google.com/books?id=Trpol93amUQC Brownlee2007 Ilustrado Politics: Filipino Elite Responses to American Rule, 1898–1908 Michael Cullinane Ateneo de Manila University Press 1989 978-971-550-439-3 https://books.google.com/books?id=sjMa5dt7gTQC Cullinane1989 Philippine History M.C. Halili Rex Bookstore, Inc. 2004 978-971-23-3934-9 https://books.google.com/books?id=gUt5v8ET4QYC Halili2004 Brains of the nation: Pedro Paterno, T.H. Pardo de Tavera, Isabelo de los Reyes, and the production of modern knowledge Resil B. Mojares Ateneo de Manila University Press 2006 978-971-550-496-6 https://books.google.com/books?id=es3ks3gibHoC Mojares2006 Pobre Cesar P. 2000 Philippine Legislature 100 Years Philippine Historical Association in cooperation with New Day Publishers 971-92245-0-9 legislature External links Official website of the Commission on Elections 1907 Category:1907 elections in the Philippines Category:July 1907 in Asia Category:July 1907 in the United States