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1971 Philippine Senate election
8 (of the 24) seats in the Senate; 13 seats needed for a majority
Senate President before election; Gil Puyat; Nacionalista	Elected Senate President ; Gil Puyat; Nacionalista

A senatorial election was held on November 8, 1971 in the Philippines. The opposition Liberal Party won five seats in the Philippine Senate while three seats were won by the Nacionalista Party, the administration party; this was seen as a consequence of the Plaza Miranda bombing on August 21, 1971, which wounded all of the Liberal Party's candidates and almost took the lives of John Henry Osmeña and Jovito Salonga. Their terms as senators were cut short as a result of the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos on September 23, 1972.

Due to the ratification of a new constitution in 1973, the Senate was abolished and the unicameral parliamentary Batasang Pambansa was instituted. In 1987, a new constitution was approved that reverted to the presidential and bicameral legislative system. This means that this would be the last election for the Senate until the 1987 election.

Electoral system

Philippine Senate elections are held via plurality block voting with staggered elections, with the country as an at-large district. The Senate has 24 seats, of which 8 seats are up every 2 years. The eight seats up were last contested in 1965; each voter has eight votes and can vote up to eight names, of which the eight candidates with the most votes winning the election.

Retiring incumbents

Results

The Liberal Party won five seats, while the Nacionalista Party won three.

Two Liberal incumbents successfully defended their seats: Genaro Magsaysay and Jovito Salonga, while Alejandro Almendras and Eva Estrada Kalaw of the Nacionalistas successfully defended their seats, as well.

The other four winners are neophyte senators: Eddie Ilarde, Ramon Mitra Jr., and John Henry Osmeña of the Liberals, and Ernesto Maceda of the Nacionalistas.

Nacionalista Senator Dominador Aytona lost his reelection bid.

	1	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Before election		‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡

Election result	Not up	LP					NP			Not up
After election		√	√	*	+	+	*	*	*

Key:

‡ Seats up
+ Gained by a party from another party
√ Held by the incumbent
* Held by the same party with a new senator

Per candidate


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Jovito Salonga	Liberal Party	5,620,272	59.67
	Genaro Magsaysay	Liberal Party	4,756,376	50.49
	John Henry Osmeña	Liberal Party	4,668,092	49.56
	Eddie Ilarde	Liberal Party	4,548,069	48.28
	Eva Estrada-Kalaw	Nacionalista Party^[a]	4,464,367	47.39
	Ramon Mitra Jr.	Liberal Party	3,916,833	41.58
	Ernesto Maceda	Nacionalista Party	3,592,559	38.14
	Alejandro Almendras	Nacionalista Party	3,427,985	36.39
	Manuel Elizalde	Nacionalista Party	3,407,276	36.17
	Melanio Singson	Liberal Party	3,130,332	33.23
	Dominador Aytona	Nacionalista Party	3,119,995	33.12
	Juan Ponce Enrile	Nacionalista Party	3,044,461	32.32
	Salipada Pendatun	Liberal Party	2,885,336	30.63
	Blas Ople	Nacionalista Party	2,654,067	28.18
	Leonila Garcia	Nacionalista Party	2,473,684	26.26
	Cipriano Primicias Jr.	Nacionalista Party	2,099,148	22.28
Total			57,808,852	100.00

Total votes			9,419,568	–
Registered voters/turnout			11,661,909	80.77

^ Guest candidate of the Liberal Party

Per party



Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Up	Before	Won	After	+/−
	Liberal Party	33,469,677	57.42	+16.07	3	6	5	8	+2
	Nacionalista Party	24,819,175	42.58	−16.00	4	17	3	16	−1
	Nationalist Citizens' Party				1	1	0	0	−1
Total		58,288,852	100.00	–	8	24	8	24	0

Total votes		9,419,568	–
Registered voters/turnout		11,661,909	80.77
Source: Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann; Graham Hassall; Soliman M. Santos (15 November 2001). Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume II: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific. ISBN 9780199249596. & Julio Teehankee. "Electoral Politics in the Philippines" (PDF). quezon.ph.