1898 Philippine legislative election

The elections for the Malolos Congress, also known as the Revolutionary Congress, were held in the Philippines from June 23 to September 10, 1898.

1898 Philippine legislative election
June 23 – September 10, 1898
68 (of the 136[1][lower-alpha 1]) seats to the Malolos Congress
 
Leader Pedro Paterno
Seats won 68
Seat change Increase68
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These were the first elections for a national legislature in the Philippines. The Spanish colonial government held elections in 1895 across the Philippines but for local municipal officers only. In this election, many parts of the Visayas and Mindanao did not elect representatives and their representatives had to be appointed. The first fully elected national legislative body would be the Philippine Assembly elected in 1907 as the only elected house of the bicameral Philippine Legislature.

Background
Main article: History of the Philippines (1898–1946)

Following the defeat of the Spanish at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War on May 1, 1898, by the American Navy, Philippine revolutionary forces under Emilio Aquinaldo declared the Philippines to be an independent nation on June 12, 1898. The Revolutionary Government of the Philippines held these elections following that declaration.

After the Spanish sold the Philippines to the Americans in the Treaty of Paris of 1898, signed on December 10, 1898, the First Philippine Republic, which includes the Mololos Congress, fought the Philippine–American War against the American colonial forces, eventually losing the war.

There would not be another attempt at national legislative election until the 1907 elections which established the Philippine Assembly. The Assembly, unlike the Malolos Congress, was fully elected but it was only one house of a bicameral legislature, the Philippine Legislature, the other house being the unelected Philippine Commission.

Electoral system

The manner of election of delegates was via a series of indirect elections. In districts where the delegates were not appointed by the government, the manner of election was as follows:[2]

  1. A big assembly of select citizens in every town and shall elect by majority vote a mayor, and officials each for Police and Public Order, Justice and Civil Registry, and of Revenues and Property.
  2. The town mayor, the three officials, and heads of the barrios shall constitute the Popular Assembly.
  3. All town mayors in a province shall constitute the Provincial Assembly, and they shall elect by majority vote the Governor and three councilors.
  4. The Governor of the province, as the president, the mayor of the provincial capital, as the vice president, and the three councilors shall constitute the Provincial Council.
  5. The Provincial Council shall elect three representatives for Manila and Cavite, two representatives for other regular provinces, and one for other provinces and politico-military command posts.

Results

National

List of congress officers elected.

PositionName
PresidentPedro A. Paterno
Vice-presidentBenito Legarda
1.0 SecretaryGregorio S. Araneta
2.0 SecretaryPablo Ocampo

Paterno defeated General Antonio Luna with 24-23 votes; Legarda against Aguedo Velarde with 21–9; and Araneta and Ocampo won with 31 and 27 votes respectively.[3]

Local

List of congress members by province as of July 7, 1899.[1][4]

ProvinceElectedAppointed[lower-alpha 2]
Manila40
Batangas40
Bulacan40
Cavite40
Camarines40
Ilocos Sur31
Ilocos Norte60
Laguna40
Pampanga40
Pangisinan22
Iloilo04
Cebu04
Leyte04
Albay41
Cagayan12
Bataan30
Isabela21
Union12
Nueva Ecija30
Tarlac30
Zambales21
Sorsogon03
Negros Occidental03
Negros Oriental03
Samar03
Capiz03
Antigua03
Bohol03
Zamboanga03
Mismis03
Calamianes03
Masbate03
Mindoro12
Morong20
Lepanto30
Batanes Islands11
Nueva Vicaya11
Abra10
Padre Burgos (Benguet)12
Catanduanes02
Paragua02
Totals6868
136.[1][lower-alpha 1]

See also

Notes
  1. In the book Malolos: The Crisis of the Republic by Teodoro Agoncillo, the Malolos Congress had 193 delegates (42 elected and 151 appointed).[5]
  2. Delegates representing provinces not at the time in a position to elect their own representatives were appointed as needed by the Revolutionary Government.[1]

References
  1. Kalaw, Maximo M. (1927). "The development of Philippine politics". Oriental commercial. p. 121. Retrieved March 22, 2008. (citing Volume II, Galley 2 of Major J. R. M. Taylor's translation and compilation of captured insurgent records (Taylor 1907)
  2. "Decree of June 18, 1898, establishing the Dictatorial Government" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  3. The Rise and Fall of Antonio Luna (1970), pg. 450–452
  4. Taylor, John R.M., ed. (1907). "I. Telegraphic Correspondence of Emilio Aguinaldo, July 15, 1898 to February 28, 1899, Annotated" (PDF). Compilation of Philippine Insurgent Records. War Department, Bureau of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2008 – via Combined Arms Research Library.
  5. Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1897). Malolos: The Crisis of the Republic. University of the Philippines Press. pp. 224 and Appendix F (pp, 658–663). ISBN 978-971-542-096-9.

Further reading
  • Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library
  • Corazon L. Paras. (2000). The Presidents of the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines. Quezon City: Giraffe Books. ISBN 971-8832-24-6.
  • Pobre, Cesar P. (2000). Philippine Legislature 100 Years. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publ. ISBN 971-92245-0-9.
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