Popular Front (Philippines)

Popular Front
Leader	Vicente Sotto
Founders	Juan Sumulong
Founded	1934
Dissolved	1950
Preceded by	Democrata Party
Politics of the Philippines Political parties Elections

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, Popular Front was established by mainly poorly organized minorities (including some Democrata Party members), and was reorganized in 1937 to be an official opposition party. Popular Front hardly lacked leadership, and it lacked a program, even though one of its founders, Juan Sumulong, a former senator, with the membership of former president and general Emilio Aguinaldo and Philippine Independent Church head bishop Gregorio Aglipay. In 43 provincial governors, only 2 Popular Front members won.[2]

1941 elections

However, in November 1941, left-wing and right-wing factions arose in the party ranks, as Sumulong led the right-wing faction while Pedro Abad Santos was the leader of 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," with the contrast of Abad Santos' Marxist stance. While Sumulong, blasted Abad Santos for spreading Communist ideas, and stated that Communists and their believers should not identify themeseleves as member 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 have their own presidential ambition in 1941. Sumulong choose Emilio Javier as running mate, while Abad Santos picked Aglipay's wife as his running mate. Later Abad Santos withdrawn. But the two factions were defeated by incumbents Manuel L. Quezon (president) and Sergio Osmeña (vice president).[3] In the return of senate chamber in 1941, no one won in the slate, and in the lower house, only 2 seat got.[4] But Vicente Sotto, a Cebuano senator, who also lost in 1941, became senator in 1946 while in the party.[5]

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	17.85%	Manuel Quezon (Nacionalista)	Emilio Javier[n 2]	124,035	7.74%	Sergio Osmeña (Nacionalista)

Legislative elections

Congress of the Philippines
House of Representatives			Senate
Year	Seats won	Result	Year	Seats won	Ticket	Result
1941	2 / 98	Nacionalista dominated	1941	0 / 24	Single party ticket	Nacionalista win 24/24 seats

Notes

1. Sumulong wing only. The other wing (Abad Santos wing), supported Pedro Abad Santos who withdrew.
2. Sumulong wing only. The other wing (Abad Santos wing), supported Pilar Aglipay of Republican

References

1. 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.
2. Porter, C. (1941). Parties and Men in the Philippines. Far Eastern Survey, 10(2), 20–22. doi:10.2307/3022928
3. Oaminal, Clarence Paul (May 14, 2018). "Don Sergio Osmeña's Vice-Presidential re-election in 1941". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
4. Oaminal, Clarence Paul (May 8, 2016). "Don Vicente Rama, the Cebuano who won in the 1941 Senatorial Election". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
5. Oaminal, Clarence Paul (June 19, 2019). "The Sotto Clan and the Senate 100 years after". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2024-10-16.