1971 Philippine Senate election

← 1969

November 8, 1971

1978 (parliamentary) →

8 (of the 24) seats in the Senate
13 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Gil Puyat	Gerardo Roxas
Party	Nacionalista	Liberal
Seats before	17	6
Seats after	16	8
Seat change	1	2
Popular vote	24,819,175	33,469,677
Percentage	42.6%	57.4%
Swing	18.2%	18.3%

Senate President before election

Gil Puyat
Nacionalista

Elected Senate President

Gil Puyat
Nacionalista

A senatorial election was held on November 8, 1971 in the Philippines. The opposition Liberal Party won five seats in the Philippine Senate while three seats were won by the Nacionalista Party, the administration party; this was seen as a consequence of the Plaza Miranda bombing on August 21, 1971, which wounded all of the Liberal Party's candidates and almost took the lives of John Henry Osmeña and Jovito Salonga. Their terms as senators were cut short as a result of the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos on September 23, 1972.

Due to the ratification of a new constitution in 1973, the Senate was abolished and the unicameral parliamentary Batasang Pambansa was instituted. In 1987, a new constitution was approved that reverted to the presidential and bicameral legislative system. This means that this would be the last election for the Senate until the 1987 election.

Retiring incumbents

Results

The Liberal Party won five seats, while the Nacionalista Party won three.

Two Liberal incumbents successfully defended their seats: Genaro Magsaysay and Jovito Salonga, while Alejandro Almendras and Eva Estrada Kalaw of the Nacionalistas successfully defended their seats, as well.

The other four winners are neophyte senators: Eddie Ilarde, Ramon Mitra Jr., and John Henry Osmeña of the Liberals, and Ernesto Maceda of the Nacionalistas.

Nacionalista Senator Dominador Aytona lost his reelection bid.

	1	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Before election		‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡

Election result	Not up	LP					NP			Not up
After election		√	√	*	+	+	*	*	*

Politics of the Philippines


Government Constitution of the Philippines Charter Change Laws Legal codes Taxation
Executive President of the Philippines Bongbong Marcos (PFP) Vice President of the Philippines Sara Duterte (HNP) Cabinet (lists) Executive departments Local government
Legislature Congress of the Philippines 19th Congress Senate President Migz Zubiri (Independent) House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez (Lakas) Districts Party-list representation Bangsamoro Parliament Provincial boards City councils Municipal councils Barangay councils
Judiciary Supreme Court of the Philippines Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo Court of Appeals Court of Tax Appeals Sandiganbayan Ombudsman Regional Trial Courts Barangay justice
Constitutional commissions Civil Service Commission Chairperson Karlo Nograles Commission on Audit Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba Commission on Elections Chairperson George Garcia
Elections General 2016 2019 2022 Barangay 2013 2018 2023 Referendums
Political parties Akbayan Aksyon Lakas LDP Liberal Nacionalista NPC NUP PFP Reporma PDP–Laban UNA
Administrative divisions Capital Regions Autonomous regions Provinces Cities Municipalities Barangays Poblacions Sitios Puroks
Related topics Foreign relations Human rights
Philippines portal Other countries
v t e

Key:

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

Per candidate


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Jovito Salonga	Liberal Party	5,620,272	59.67
	Genaro Magsaysay	Liberal Party	4,756,376	50.49
	John Henry Osmeña	Liberal Party	4,668,092	49.56
	Eddie Ilarde	Liberal Party	4,548,069	48.28
	Eva Estrada-Kalaw	Nacionalista Party^[a]	4,464,367	47.39
	Ramon Mitra Jr.	Liberal Party	3,916,833	41.58
	Ernesto Maceda	Nacionalista Party	3,592,559	38.14
	Alejandro Almendras	Nacionalista Party	3,427,985	36.39
	Manuel Elizalde	Nacionalista Party	3,407,276	36.17
	Melanio T Singson	Liberal Party	3,130,332	33.23
	Dominador Aytona	Nacionalista Party	3,119,995	33.12
	Juan Ponce Enrile	Nacionalista Party	3,044,461	32.32
	Salipada Pendatun	Liberal Party	2,885,336	30.63
	Blas Ople	Nacionalista Party	2,654,067	28.18
	Leonila Garcia	Nacionalista Party	2,473,684	26.26
	Cipriano Primicias Jr	Nacionalista Party	2,099,148	22.28
Total			57,808,852	100.00

Total votes			9,419,568	–
Registered voters/turnout			11,661,909	80.77

^ Guest candidate of the Liberal Party

Per party



Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Up	Before	Won	After	+/−
	Liberal Party	33,469,677	57.42	+18.29	3	6	5	8	+2
	Nacionalista Party	24,819,175	42.58	−18.23	4	17	3	16	−1
	Nationalist Citizens' Party				1	1	0	0	−1
Total		58,288,852	100.00	–	8	24	8	24	0

Total votes		9,419,568	–
Registered voters/turnout		11,661,909	80.77
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. ISBN 9780199249596. & Julio Teehankee. "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). quezon.ph.

Vote share

LP			57.42%
NP			42.58%

Senate seats

LP			62.50%
NP			37.50%

References

External links

Official website of the Commission on Elections

v t e Elections and referendums in the Philippines
General elections	1898 1907 1909 1912 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1935 1941 1943 1946 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1978 1984 1987 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 2025
Presidential elections	1935 1941 1946 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1981 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2016 2022
Senate elections	1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1941 1946 1947 1949 1951 1953 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 1965 1967 1969 1971 1987 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 2025 Special elections
House elections	1898 1907 1909 1912 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1935 1938 1941 1943 1946 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1978 1984 1987 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 2025
Constitutional conventions	1934 1970
Local elections	1895 1899 1905 1909 1912 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1941 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1980 1988 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 2025
Barangay elections	1960 1962 1964 1968 1972 1982 1989 1994 1997 2002 2007 2010 2013 2018 2023
Referendums	1599 1935 1937 1939 1940 1947 1967 1973 (Jan) 1973 (Jul) 1975 1976 1977 1981 (Apr) 1981 (Jun) 1984 1987
Per year Per type Presidential Senatorial Barangay Special Local elections and plebiscites