Popular Front (Philippines)
Popular Front | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Vicente Sotto |
| Founders | Juan Sumulong |
| Founded | 1934 |
| Dissolved | 1950 |
| Preceded by | Democrata Party |
The Popular Front (Spanish: Frente Popular)[1] is a defunct political party founded in 1934 to oppose the then-dominant Nacionalista Party.[2]
History
Formation and early years
After the 1934 elections, the Popular Front was established mainly by poorly organized minorities (including some Democrata Party members), and was eventually reorganized in 1937 to be an official opposition party. The Popular Front lacked leadership and a program, despite the membership of Juan Sumulong, a former senator, former president and general Emilio Aguinaldo, and Philippine Independent Church head bishop Gregorio Aglipay. Of the 43 provincial governor seats, only 2 Popular Front members took office.[2]
1941 elections
However, in November 1941, left-wing and right-wing factions arose in the party ranks, Sumulong leading the right-wing faction while Pedro Abad Santos led the hard-left. Abad Santos challenged each other's right to enroll under the Popular Front banner. Abad Santos accused Sumulong's faction members as members of the Democrata Nacional or Democrata Party, or being its identical twin, and being nationalists but "tools of the capitalists," aligned with Abad Santos' Marxist perspective. Sumulong blasted Abad Santos for spreading Communist ideas, and stated that Communists and their believers should not identify themselves as members of the Popular Front. The elections commission settled the dispute by recognizing the both factions, with Sumulong and Abad Santos as legitimate leaders of the party.[2]
Both Sumulong and Abad Santos had their own presidential ambitions in 1941. Sumulong chose Emilio Javier as running mate, while Abad Santos picked Aglipay's wife as his running mate. Later Abad Santos withdrew his candidacy, but both factions were defeated by incumbents Manuel L. Quezon (president) and Sergio Osmeña (vice president).[3] In the succeeding senate election, no one in the Popular Front slate won, and in the lower house, only 2 seats were secured.[4] Only Vicente Sotto, a Cebuano statesman and member of the party who also lost in 1941, eventually became senator in 1946.[5]
Peasant violence in Pampanga
In response to peasant violence in Pampanga in 1941, Governor Sotero Baluyut, with support from the Quezon administration, made efforts to undermine the influence of Popular Front mayors in the province along with the removal of some of its party members in power. These were made due to concerns of socialist backing.[6]: 57
Electoral performance
Presidential and vice presidential elections
| Year | Presidential election | Vice presidential election | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Vote share | Result | Candidate | Votes | Vote share | Result | |
| 1941 | Juan Sumulong[n 1] | 298,608 | Manuel Quezon (Nacionalista) |
Emilio Javier[n 2] | 124,035 | Sergio Osmeña (Nacionalista) | ||
Legislative elections
| Senate elections |
Senate Seats won |
Result | President | House Seats won |
Result | House elections |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | 0 / 24
|
Lost | Manuel Quezon | 2 / 98
|
Lost | 1941 |
| 1946 | 1 / 24
|
Lost | Manuel Roxas | 1 / 98
|
Lost | 1946 |
Notes
- ^ Sumulong wing only. The other wing (Abad Santos wing), supported Pedro Abad Santos who withdrew.
- ^ Sumulong wing only. The other wing (Abad Santos wing), supported Pilar Aglipay of Republican
References
- ^ Arguilla, Manuel E. (April 1937). "The Socialists" (PDF). Philippine Magazine. Vol. XXXIV, no. 4 (348). Manila: A. V. H. Hartendorp. p. 183. Retrieved October 18, 2024 – via the Rare Periodicals Repository of the University of the Philippines Diliman.
- ^ a b c Porter, C. (1941). Parties and Men in the Philippines. Far Eastern Survey, 10(2), 20–22. doi:10.2307/3022928
- ^ Oaminal, Clarence Paul (May 14, 2018). "Don Sergio Osmeña's Vice-Presidential re-election in 1941". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
- ^ Oaminal, Clarence Paul (May 8, 2016). "Don Vicente Rama, the Cebuano who won in the 1941 Senatorial Election". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
- ^ Oaminal, Clarence Paul (June 19, 2019). "The Sotto Clan and the Senate 100 years after". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
- ^ Kerkvliet, Benedict J. (1977-01-01). The Huk Rebellion: A Study of Peasant Revolt in the Philippines. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03106-7.