Elections for the Second National Assembly were held on November 8, 1938, under a new law that allowed block voting, which favored the governing

Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party (Filipino and Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; ) is the oldest political party in both the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in general. It is responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th ce ...

(formerly divided into the Democratica and the Pro-Independencia factions, which later reconciled). As expected all the 98 seats of the National Assembly went to the Nacionalistas. José Yulo, who was Quezon's Secretary of Justice from 1934 to 1938, was elected Speaker.

Summary

Ahead of the first midterm polls in the country, the two factions of the

had already reunited. The party went into the 1938 Elections with the confidence of having practically every branch of government under the control of its stalwarts. This reconsolidation of political forces left the opposition in tatters, with the Allied Minorities, a loose caucus of opposition parties, failing to stop the Nacionalista bid. The elections of 1938 proved to be historic in two ways: It was the first and last time that a single party would secure 100 percent of the seats in the legislature, with the Nacionalistas winning all 98 seats; and it ushered in the years of one-party rule in the country.

Results

Contributions

The Second National Assembly embarked on passing legislations strengthening the economy, the cloud of the Second World War loomed over the horizon. Certain laws passed by the First National Assembly were modified or repealed to meet existing realities. A controversial

immigration law Immigration law refers to the national statutes, regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the ...

that set an annual limit of 50 immigrants per country whichImmigration Act of 1940 (CA No. 613), Sec. 13
''Accessed on April 13, 2007 affected mostly

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese nationals escaping the Sino-Japanese War was passed in 1940. Since the law bordered on foreign relations it required the approval of the U.S. president which was nevertheless obtained. When the result of the 1939 census was published, the National Assembly updated the apportionment of legislative districts, which became the basis for the 1941 elections.

Note

:A. The combined number of seats of the

after the two factions merged back together.

References

External links

Official website of the Commission on Elections
{{Philippine elections

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

National Assembly Election