1961 Philippine House of Representatives elections

1961 Philippine House of Representatives elections

November 14, 1961
All 104 seats in the House of Representatives of the Philippines 53 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Daniel Romualdez Cornelio Villareal Party Nacionalista Liberal Leader's seat Leyte–1st Capiz–2nd Last election 82 seats, 61.19% 19 seats, 30.17% Seats won 74 29 Seat change 8 10 Popular vote 3,923,390 2,167,641 Percentage 61.02 33.71 Swing 0.17 3.54
Speaker before election Daniel Romualdez Nacionalista Elected Speaker Cornelio Villareal Liberal

Elections for the House of Representatives of the Philippines were held on November 14, 1961. Held on the same day as the presidential election, the party of the incumbent president, Carlos P. Garcia's Nacionalista Party, won majority of the seats in the House of Representatives.^[1] However, Diosdado Macapagal of the opposition Liberal Party won the presidential election, leading to majority of the elected Nacionalista congressmen to defect to the Liberal Party. This led to Cornelio Villareal being elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The elected representatives served in the 5th Congress from 1961 to 1965.

Electoral system

The House of Representatives has at most 120 seats, 104 seats for this election, all voted via first-past-the-post in single-member districts. Each province is guaranteed at least one congressional district, with more populous provinces divided into two or more districts.

Congress has the power of redistricting three years after each census.

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Nacionalista Party	3,923,390	61.02	−0.17	74	−8
	Liberal Party	2,167,641	33.71	+3.54	29	+10
	Nacionalista Party (independent)	47,614	0.74	+0.68	0	0
	Liberal Party (independent)	40,220	0.63	−0.44	0	0
	Nationalist Citizens' Party	7,837	0.12	−2.73	0	0
	Independent	243,110	3.78	+1.44	1	New
Total		6,429,812	100.00	–	104	+2
Valid votes		6,429,812	95.41	+1.08
Invalid/blank votes		308,993	4.59	−1.08
Total votes		6,738,805	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		8,483,568	79.43	+3.91
Source: Nohlen, Grotz and Hartmann[2] and Teehankee[3]

Vote share NP   61.02% LP   33.71% Others   5.27%

Seats NP   71.15% LP   27.88% Others   0.96%

See also

• 5th Congress of the Philippines

References

1. Quezon, Manuel III (2007-06-06). "An abnormal return to normality". PCIJ.org. Archived from the original on 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
2. Nohlen, Dieter; Grotz, Florian; Hartmann, Christof (eds.). Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook. Vol. 2: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific. Oxford: Oxford University Press..
3. Teehankee, Julio (2002). "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). In Croissant, Aurel (ed.). Electoral Politics in Southeast and East Asia. Singapore: Fiedrich-Ebert-Siftung. pp. 149–202 – via quezon.ph.

• Paras, Corazon L. (2000). The Presidents of the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines. Giraffe Books. ISBN 971-8832-24-6.
• Pobre, Cesar P. (2000). Philippine Legislature 100 Years. Philippine Historical Association. ISBN 971-92245-0-9.
• Teehankee, Julio. "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). quezon.ph. Retrieved 2010-12-06.