1951 Makati local elections
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Local elections was held in the Municipality of Makati on November 13, 1951, within the 1951 Philippine local elections, during the administration of President Elpidio Quirino. The voters elected for the elective local posts in the town: the mayor, vice mayor, and the eight-member local municipal council. The municipality of Makati was then under the jurisdiction of the 1st congressional district of the Province of Rizal. The elections for the district representatives were held in 1949.
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November 13, 1951
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Vice mayoral election | |||||||||||||||||||
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Municipal Council election | |||||||||||||||||||
8 seats in the Makati Municipal Council 5 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||
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Background
Incumbent Makati mayor Jose D. Villena is running for his fifth term, having been elected in every mayoral election from 1934 to 1947. Villena is a staunch candidate of the Nacionalista Party. He selected former councilor Pedro Reyes as his running mate. His challenger for mayor was incumbent vice mayor and erstwhile ally Atty. Tomas Baluyut, who had defected to the Liberal Party, with Bernardo Umali as his running mate.
At the time, Philippine politics was under the Two-party system, dominated by the Liberals and Nacionalistas.
Candidates
Nacionalista Party
| Name | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| For Mayor | ||||
| Jose Daniel S. Villena Sr. | Nacionalista | |||
| For Vice Mayor | ||||
| Pedro Reyes | Nacionalista | |||
| For Councilor | ||||
| Ignacio C. Babasa | Nacionalista | |||
| Amado C. de Vera Jr | Nacionalista | |||
| Amado E. Diaz | Nacionalista | |||
| Tomas B. Estacio | Nacionalista | |||
| Dionisio S. Flores | Nacionalista | |||
| Jose Gavia | Nacionalista | |||
| Fortunato M. Gutierrez | Nacionalista | |||
| Eliseo D. Viray | Nacionalista | |||
Liberal Party
Results
Mayor
Mayor Villena defeated incumbent vice mayor Tomas Baluyut.[1]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Daniel S. Villena | Nacionalista | 7,846 | 60.65 | |
| Tomas A. Baluyut | Liberal | 5,091 | 39.35 | |
| Total | 12,937 | 100.00 | ||
| Nacionalista hold | ||||
| Source: Philippine Commission on Elections | ||||
Vice Mayor
Bernardo Umali won against Pedro Reyes.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernardo Umali | Liberal | 6,584 | 50.89 | |
| Pedro Reyes | Nacionalista | 6,353 | 49.11 | |
| Total | 12,937 | 100.00 | ||
| Liberal Party gain on Nacionalista | ||||
| Source: Philippine Commission on Elections | ||||
Rizal 1st District Representative
Eulogio S. Rodriguez Jr. won as 1st congressional district representative against three other contenders, among them incumbent congressman Ignacio Santos-Diaz. The election for this position was held on November 8, 1949. This district holds jurisdiction over the Municipality of Makati.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eulogio S. Rodriguez Jr. | Nacionalista | 53,938 | 49.57 | |
| Ignacio C. Santos-Diaz | Liberal Quirino Wing | 42,628 | 39.18 | |
| Miguel Cornejo | Liberal Avelino Wing | 11,767 | 10.81 | |
| Guillermo Ventura | Independent | 475 | 0.44 | |
| Total | 108,808 | 100.00 | ||
| Nacionalista gain from Liberal | ||||
| Source: Philippine Commission on Elections | ||||
Municipal Council
Five of eight winning candidates came from the Nacionalista Party. Three won from the Liberal Party.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nacionalista | Ignacio C. Babasa | 4,287 | ||
| Liberal | Abundio G. Suck | 4,031 | ||
| Nacionalista | Dionisio S. Flores | 3,874 | ||
| Liberal | Justino Ventura | 3,692 | ||
| Nacionalista | Eliseo D. Viray | 3,571 | ||
| Nacionalista | Amado E. Diaz | 3,438 | ||
| Nacionalista | Tomas B. Estacio | 3,296 | ||
| Liberal | Isidro de Leon[2] | 3,160 | ||
| Nacionalista | Fortunato M. Gutierrez | 3,098 | ||
| Liberal | Juan Patag | 2,874 | ||
| Nacionalista | Amado C. de Vera Jr | 2,731 | ||
| Liberal | Florentino Dimaguila | 2,614 | ||
| Nacionalista | Jose Gavia | 2,487 | ||
| Liberal | Jose Alarilla | 2,359 | ||
| Liberal | Jose Mayor | 2,216 | ||
| Liberal | Benjamin Bautista | 2,083 | ||
Controversy
Liberal's candidate Isidro de Leon was originally proclaimed as the 8th and final winning councilor on November 18, 1951. On April 12, 1952, or four months and twenty-four days after de Leon's proclamation, Fortunato Gutierrez of the Nacionalista Party, who placed 9th in the municipal council race, filed a petition in the Commission on Elections alleging that due to a mistake in addition the municipal board of canvassers credited de Leon with 3,160 votes when in fact he obtained only 3,060 votes, whereas Gutierrez obtained 3,098 votes, or a majority of 38 votes over de Leon. Respondent petitioned that the municipal board of canvassers be ordered to make a new canvass and a new proclamation declaring him the eighth councilor-elect instead.
On May 26, 1952, de Leon filed a motion to dismiss alleging among other things that the Commission on Elections has no power to order the correction asked for on the ground that the period within which it could be made has already prescribed. This motion was denied and the Commission directed the municipal board of canvassers to reconvene and recanvass the election returns as earlier petitioned for, and, having found that Gutierrez had polled more votes than de Leon, proclaimed the former as the eighth councilor-elect of Makati.
De Leon appealed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines for the reversal of COMELEC's decision. The High Court granted his petition on March 30, 1954, thereby reinstating the original proclamation on November 18, 1951, putting him back as the eighth councilor-elect of Makati.[2]
Aftermath
Villena was suspended by President Elpidio Quirino on June 19, 1953, due to alleged misconduct.[3] He was succeeded as mayor by Councilor Ignacio Babasa, after the incumbent vice mayor, Bernardo Umali, was also suspended by the Makati Municipal Council, as a result of a separate case filed against him and councilor Abundio Suck. Umali eventually succeeded Babasa as acting mayor in 1954. Villena will run for the mayoral post four more times: in 1955, 1959, 1963, 1967, in which he lost all times to Maximo Estrella.