The Nacionalista Party (Filipino and Spanish: Partido Nacionalista; NP) is a political party in the Philippines that is the oldest existing party in the country and in Southeast Asia. It was responsible for leading the country throughout most of the 20th century since its founding in 1907; it was the ruling party from 1935 to 1946 (under Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña), 1953 to 1961 (under Ramon Magsaysay and Carlos P. Garcia), and 1965 to 1978 (under Ferdinand Marcos), and also was one of the two dominant political parties (along with the Liberal Party) throughout the existence of the Third Republic.
Ideology
The Nacionalista Party was initially created as a Filipino nationalist party that supported Philippine independence until 1946, when the United States granted independence to the country.Dayley, Robert (2016). Southeast Asia In The New International Era. Avalon Publishing. Retrieved April 19, 2017.Liow, J.; Leifer, M. (1995). Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Southeast Asia. New York: Routledge. Retrieved October 16, 2017. Since then, many scholarly articles that dealt with the history of political parties during the Third Republic agreed that the party has been increasingly populist, although some have argued they have conservativePhilippine Journal of Public Administration, Volumes 34–35 (1990). UP College of Public Administration. Retrieved October 19, 2017. tendencies because of their opposition to the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party.
History
American Insular to Commonwealth era The party was organized as a vehicle for Philippine independence, advocating self-rule; and espousing this advocacy through representation in the Philippine Assembly of 1907–1916, and in the succeeding Philippine Legislature of 1916–1935. The ranks of Nationalist politicians rose to prominence through the Commonwealth of the Philippines spanning 1935–1941, ending when political parties were replaced by a singular and monolithic party KALIBAPI during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.
Osmeña to Quirino presidencies: 1944–1953
Break-away of the "Liberal" wing and 1946 elections Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino, and their allies called for an early general election, which elects the president, vice president, and members of the Congress, and lobbied it to their allies in the United States Congress. In December 1945, the House Insular Affairs Committee of the US Congress approved the joint resolution, setting the election date by April 23, 1946.
Prompted by this congressional action, President Sergio Osmeña called the Philippine Congress to a three-day special session. Congress enacted Commonwealth Act No. 725, setting the election date on April 23, 1946. President Osmeña signed the act on January 5, 1946.
The Nacionalista Party was divided into two factions: the Conservative wing, also known as the pro-Osmeña wing, and the Liberal wing, which was led by Roxas and Quirino. On January 3, 1946, Osmeña announced his re-election bid. But the Liberal wing became the Liberal Party and was officially founded on January 19, 1946, with its leaders Roxas and Quirino as party nominees for president and vice president, respectively.
On January 22, 1946, former Rizal congressman and Senator Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez was nominated as Osmeña's running mate for vice president in a convention held at Ciro's Club in Manila. But the tandem of Osmeña and Rodriguez was defeated by Roxas and Quirino of Liberal.
Opposition to the Roxas and Quirino Administrations After the victory of the Liberals, Nacionalista only won 1 of 8 seats in the 1947 Senate election, by Camilo Osias. In the 1949 presidential elections, Nacionalista fielded former "collaborator" and political veteran Jose P. Laurel, with former Senator and Supreme Court Associate Justice Manuel Briones as his running mate. Even though the Nacionalistas had the advantage of the Liberals' divide, with Quirino running for his own full term and Senator José Avelino running with another wing, Quirino prevailed against Laurel. Former general and future diplomat Carlos P. Romulo and Marvin M. Gray considered the 1949 edition as the dirtiest election in Philippine electoral history. In the senate election of the same year, anti-American Claro M. Recto only managed to win after an election protest.
Magsaysay presidency: 1953–1957
Recruitment of Magsaysay vs. Quirino 1953 Nacionalista ConventionCandidateNameRamon MagsaysayCamilo OsíasVotes70249 Former President and then-Senator Jose P. Laurel initially had intentions to seek the Nacionalista's nomination for president in 1953 but did not go through with it. He then proposed to endorse then-Secretary of National Defense Ramon Magsaysay, whose successful anti-insurgency and anti-communist initiatives had strained his relations with President Quirino and the Liberal Party. But Senate President Camilo Osías sought the presidential nomination but ultimately lost to Magsaysay. This prompted Osias to jump to the Liberal Party. In the convention, Senator Carlos P. Garcia of Bohol was picked to be his running mate, defeating Jose Zulueta (who also jumped to the Liberal Party with Osias).
Support from Democrats Also, the country's ambassador to the United Nations, Carlos Romulo, and incumbent Vice President Fernando Lopez, who founded the Democratic Party from the Liberal Party and originally intended to run for president and vice president, respectively, withdrew, and Lopez sought a place in the Senate. The tandem of Magsaysay and Garcia won the election in 1953. In the 1953 Senate elections, only Lorenzo Tañada won from a party other than Nacionalista or Democratic, while in 1955, the Nacionalistas swept all eight candidates.
Garcia to Macapagal presidencies: 1957–1965 After Magsaysay's plane crashed on Mt. Manunggal while riding a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Carlos Garcia assumed the presidency for the last months of Magsaysay's unfinished term. He won a re-election in 1957, but for the first time in the electoral history of the Philippines, Garcia had a vice president who did not have the same party or his opponent's running mate as Garcia's running mate; Jose P. Laurel's son and former House Speaker Pepito Laurel was defeated by Kapampangan Congressman Diosdado Macapagal.
Juan Pajo, the then-governor of Bohol, held the Bible on which Garcia took oath, breaking the tradition wherein it is held by presidential spouses. A faction led by Manuel Manahan and Raul Manglapus formed a pro-Magsaysay faction due to dissatisfaction of members of the Nacionalista Party over the "cold treatment" given to them by allies of Garcia. The faction later became the Progressive Party. Also, Senate President Rodriguez clash with President Garcia, citing differences on latter's Filipino First policy, and the former's list of corrupt close officials tied to the president that media dubbed "White Paper".
In 1961, after a divided party due to nomination delays, incumbent President Garcia successfully got the nomination. But he lost the opportunity for a second full term as president of the Philippines to Vice President Diosdado Macapagal. Also, Senator Gil Puyat, Garcia's running mate, lost to Senator Emmanuel Pelaez and was behind Serging Osmeña, the son of the party's founder. Jose Roy and Lorenzo Sumulong are those Nacionalistas who managed to gain seats.
1965 elections: Rise of Ferdinand Marcos In April 1964, Senate President Ferdinand Marcos resigned from the Liberal Party and joined the Nacionalista ship. He cited President Macapagal's unfulfilled promise of not running for re-election as the main reason for leaving his former party. Before quitting his former party, Marcos served as its party president. Also, incumbent Vice President Pelaez sought nomination, but Marcos prevailed in the 1964 Convention, with controversies like coercion and massive vote buying. By selecting Quirino's former Vice President Fernando Lopez, also a former Liberal, as his running mate, Marcos defeated Macapagal in the three-way 1965 elections.
Marcos presidency: 1965–1986
1969 elections: Marcos retained Tarlac Governor Ninoy Aquino, a former Nacionalista stalwart under Ramon Magsaysay and Marcos' frat mate, became a Liberal in 1959 and won a senate seat in 1967. Aquino became a vocal opponent of Marcos for the next decade.
Ramon Magsaysay's brother Genaro was recruited by the Liberal Party from the Nacionalista Party to be Serging Osmeña's running mate. Magsaysay won a senate seat as a Nacionalista in 1965. Marcos was reelected for a second term. He was the first and last Filipino president and Nacionalista president to win a second full term. His running mate, incumbent Vice President Lopez, was also elected to a third full term as vice president.
But Marcos's second term was characterized by social unrest, beginning with the 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, which was already underway during the second inauguration. Opposition groups began to form, with "moderate" groups calling for political reform and "radical" groups who espoused a more radical-left ideology.Talitha Espiritu Passionate Revolutions: The Media and the Rise and Fall of the Marcos Regime Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2017.
1971: The Plaza Miranda bombing After what happened with the Plaza Miranda bombing, the Liberals won five seats, and the Nacionalistas won three seats by Eva Estrada Kalaw (also the Liberal's guest candidate), Ernie Maceda, and Alejandro Almendras.
In Marcos' 1971 State of the Nation Address, there is a sign in his speech that if the country's condition worsens, it is time to declare martial law. Marcos also suspended the writ of habeas corpus by virtue of Proclamation No. 889, through which he assumed emergency powers.
Marcos's second term effectively ended a little under two years and nine months later, when Marcos announced on September 23, 1972, that he had placed the Philippines under martial law.
1978 elections: Elections under Martial Law and Fourth Republic For the incoming 1978 parliamentary elections, some Nacionalista members joined the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), a regime-controlled coalition akin to the Japanese occupation's KALIBAPI. With many preferring not to be involved, the Nacionalistas went into hibernation.
1981: Alejo Santos With the lifting of Martial Law by Proclamation 2045 on January 17, 1981, Jose Roy was asked by Marcos to find an opponent against him, as Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN) and the United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO) declared a boycott on the election as early as April. As the opposition, UNIDO, the main opposition umbrella group, wanted to clean the voters' list, revamp the Commission on Elections, launch a nationwide campaign, and have them be accredited as a minority party. Marcos did not accept the demands, which led UNIDO to call for a boycott. This caused Marcos to be reportedly dismayed, as he could not legitimize the election without a viable opposition candidate.
The Nacionalista Party chose former Defense Secretary and Bulacan governor Alejo Santos as their standard bearer. Santos, who was appointed by Marcos as chairman of the board of the Philippine Veterans Bank, had Francisco Tatad, Marcos' former information minister, as his campaign manager. Ultimately, Marcos won in a landslide.
1983: Together with UNIDO