Chapter 12 -Campaigns in the National and Local Elections in 1949

l remember the presidential and local elections held in our village in November 1948. Manuel Roxas was the elected President at that time. He was the first President elected after the Japanese American war.

Roxas did not finish his full four-year term. On the morning of April 15, 1948 Roxas delivered a speech before the United States Thirteenth Air Force. After the speech, he felt dizzy and was brought to the residence of Major General E. L. Eubank at Clark Field, Pampanga. He died later that night of a heart attack. Roxas' term as President is the third shortest, lasting one year, ten months. and 18 days.

On April 17, 1948, two days after Roxas' death, Vice-President Elpidio Quirino took the oath of office as President of the Philippines.

Manuel Roxas was the fifth President of the Philippines who served from 1946 until his death in 1948. He briefly served as the third and last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from May 28, 1946 to July 4, 1946 and then became the first President of the independent Third Philippine Republic after the United States ceded its sovereignty over the Philippines.

President Elpedio Querino ran for President that coming election on November 1949. The country will elect the President, Vice President, Senators and Congressmen. We were also electing the governors, vice governors, board members together with municipal mayors, vice mayors and councilors. Three political parties contested the local and national elections that year in the country.

I have not seen any candidate for President, Vice President and Senators visiting our village in Cawayan, Carles, Iloilo during the election campaigns.. I had not seen any candidate for congressman and governor. They were rich. They were mostly Spanish descendants. But I saw some of their posters and sample ballots. I saw some of their pictures. I saw their leaflets. I had seen the presidential and vice presidential candidates campaign thru a small plane, a piper cab, with a banner of the candidates’ name tied on the tail of the plane that flew 100 meters above us. On big red or black letters, the names of the presidential candidates was attached to the tail of the planes. One plane carried “AVELINO FOR PRESIDENT” In another airplane it said “QUERINO FOR PRESIDENT”

The small planes flew from Iloilo City to Carles about 165 kms., then turned around, passing another route, perhaps to Roxas City, Aklan and Antique and back to Iloilo City. Posters and sample ballots were dropped from the planes. We ran to retrieve some to give our parents. We brought some leaflets to school. We needed candidates' leaflets to light the firewoods in our stoves. These were how the campaigns for President and Vice President reached our village.

About 3 months before the election, the candidates for mayor, vice mayor and the 8 councilors running for office organized themselves for home visitations. There were three political parties in Carles. The candidate for mayor and 4 candidates for councilors were in one team. The vice mayor and 4 candidates for councilors were in another team. They divided the village for the two teams They started early at 8:00 a.m.. They went visitations house to house until late in the evenings.

One time, at 10:00 a.m. the candidates arrived. Father and mother were at home. They talked to my parents. I listened as the candidates talked. The candidates for councilors smiled to my father and whispered in his ear. I did not know what the candidates whispered. During the campaign period, they visited house to house campaigning with different families. The 3 mayoral and vice mayoral candidates and their councilors visited most of the homes. I didn’t know during that there were island villages.

The candidates attached posters in homes. There were few radio receivers. There was only 1 bus that carried passengers from Carles to Balasan 8 kilometers away. There were a few bicycles. Often we just walked. The candidates running for office just walked from village to village and from house to house. They walked and reached houses before the sun went down.

Campaign rallies were held in our villages by the 3 political parties a month before the 1949 election. The people gathered late in the evenings after the sun has gone down. A kerosene lamp, called “hazag” was pumped with air and gave a powerful light. Four “hazag” were used that evening. There were about 300 people around, excluding the children.

Candidates for 8 councilors each spoke 10 minutes each. The candidates for mayor and vice mayor spoke longer, 30 minutes each. There were no loudspeakers. The voices of some candidates were strong. Some of them spoke softly. They had strong issues against the two other mayoral and vice mayor candidates. They said, they cannot be trusted and do not know their responsibilities.

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The candidates for the country’s Presidents were Elpidio Querino, (Querino Wing) of the Liberal Party, Jose P. Laurel, Nationalista Party and Jose Avelino (Avelino Wing) of the Liberal Party. Running for Vice Presidents were Fernando Lopez, Liberal Party (Querino Wing), Manuel Briones, (Nacionalista Party) and Vicente Francisco, Liberal Party (Avelino Wing?

There were two factions on the Liberal Party during the election campaigns in November 8, 1949. One of the factions were the followers of President Querino. They were known as Querino Wing of the Liberal Party. The other factions were followers of Jose Avelino, known as Avelino Wing of the Liberal Party.

Incumbent President Elpidio Quirino won a full term as President of the Philippines. His running mate, Senator Fernando Lopez won as Vice President. Querino won a satisfactory vote from the public. It was the only time in Philippine history where the duly elected president, vice president and senators all came from the same party, the Liberal Party.

I could not remember anymore what were the platforms and the issues. One candidate for president was Jose Avelino. He seemed to be a popular and controversial candidate. I heard there were issues of his corruption in office. Senator Jose Avelino was asked about these corruption issues against him.

When asked that he was a “corrupt politician”. His answer in Manila was quoted and reached our village and I think the four corners of the country. His answer was clear and strong. “What are we in power for?!” His statement “What are we in power for?!” made Avelino popular nationwide. But he lost greatly in the election.

I did not know how far vote -buying was practiced during that first national and local elections. In our village, I think vote -buying was not yet practiced. The biggest issue on corruption against President Elpidio Querino was using a “Golden Orinola” a gold urinal that he used in Malacanang Palace. It was not really “golden urinal.” The urinal was made of bronze. It was not expensive.

During election day, each of the three candidates for mayors slaughtered a carabao for lunch of the voters. The food preparations by the 3 mayoral candidates where in nearby homes.

The voting started at 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The Voting Precincts were 3 rooms of Cawayan Primary School. After voting, the voters went to the 3 houses where candidate’s foods were served. Most voters ate at the 3 houses where foods were served. They ate 3 times that election day. Many of us children also got good meals on election day. Our uncles and aunts served meals in the three houses. And children were given food, also three lunches during the day.

At about 7:00 p.m. the vote counting started. Counting ballots was called “Escoteno” or Election Canvassing. During the preparation for the canvassing, there were “watchers” from the three political parties. There were counters. The watchers would make sure that the reader got the names correctly while counting was going on. Then the counters wrote the number of votes on the blackboard.

Children were allowed to watch the canvassing from the window outside the classrooms. It was about 1:00 a.m. when the canvassing was finished. The results were recorded in the blackboard for everybody to see. The results of village election was put in box and brought to the Municipal Treasurer’s Office with the signatures of the Precinct Comelec Officer and other officers who served as witnesses.

After the “escutino” or “ballot counting” the Municipal Treasurer sent to the Provincial Comelec the result provincial election. Then the Provincial Comelec sent to the election result to the National Comelec office in Manila. The election results for national offices were released to the people of our village more than a month after the canvassing.

The national and local elections in our village were peaceful. There were no stories of vote- buying and no story of killings on election day. In our village there were no very rich and elites running to get more power. There were few landed people who run to get elected. Most of our people in the villages of Cawayan, Carles were not feudal lords.

That time, vote- buying was not yet practiced in our village. We need only 3 carabaos to slay and six sacks of rice for the food of voters in three feeding areas. But as the years went by, the election has become a bigger business, where candidates gave money to voters in exchange for their votes. That was the game plans of elites to control political and business power of municipalities, districts, cities and provinces in the country.

I cannot remember all the Municipal officials elected during that time in 1949. The elected mayor was Mayor Pacifico Cabuyoc. Helping him for peace and order, was the Chief of Police, Felipe Bernal. For many years, Bernal was chosen Chief of Police of Carles, whoever the elected mayor was.

My remembrance of my primary education and the first local and national elections in our village in Cawayan, Carles, Iloilo, the northernmost town of Iloilo Province.