The 1943 Philippine presidential election was held on September 25, 1943, at the midst of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The Japanese-sponsored

Second Philippine Republic The Second Philippine Republic, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines ( tl, Repúbliká ng Pilipinas; es, República de Filipinas; ja, フィリピン共和国, ''Firipin-kyōwakoku'') and also known as the Japanese-sponsored Phi ...

merged all parties into the

KALIBAPI The Kapisanan ng Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas (''Association for Service to the New Philippines''), or KALIBAPI, was a fascist Filipino political party that served as the sole party of state during the Japanese occupation. It was intended to ...

, thereby creating a

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

. All of the members of the

National Assembly of the Second Philippine Republic The National Assembly was the legislature of the Second Philippine Republic from September 25, 1943, to February 2, 1944. Half of the membership of the assembly consisted of provincial governors or city mayors acting in an ''ex officio'' capacit ...

, who were elected earlier in the week, were members of the KALIBAPI. Pursuant to the 1943 constitution,

Jose P. Laurel José Paciano Laurel y García (; March 9, 1891 – November 6, 1959) was a Filipino people, Filipino politician, lawyer, and judge, who served as the president of the Japanese-occupied Second Philippine Republic, a puppet state during World W ...

was unanimously elected president by the National Assembly.

Jorge B. Vargas Jorge Bartolomé Vargas y Celis (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) was a Filipino lawyer, diplomat and youth advocate born in Bago, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Negros Occidental High School in 1909 and ...

originally wanted to run against Laurel, but acquiesced on election eve, and consequently campaigned for the latter. The Japanese also wanted

Manuel Roxas Manuel Acuña Roxas (born Manuel Roxas y Acuña; ; January 1, 1892 – April 15, 1948) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of the Philippines, who served from 1946 until his death due to heart attacks in 194 ...

to run, but declined due to ill health for being incarcerated earlier in the year.

Result

Laurel was inaugurated on October 14, 1943 at the

Legislative Building A legislative building is a building in which a legislature sits and makes laws for its respective political entity. The term used for the building varies between the political entities, such as "building", "capitol", "hall", "house", or "palace" ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

External links

Proclamation No. 21, s. 1943, Proclaiming the election of His Excellency, Jose P. Laurel, as President of the Republic of the Philippines.Philippine Electoral Almanac

References

{{Philippine presidential elections 1943 elections in the Philippines Presidential elections in the Philippines Single-candidate elections