1963 Philippine Senate election


A senatorial election was held on November 12, 1963 in the Philippines. The 1963 elections were known as a midterm election as the date when the elected officials take office falls halfway through President Diosdado Macapagal's four-year term.
The Liberal Party won control of the chamber after having ten seats out of the 24-member Senate, as the 2-member Grand Alliance were caucusing with them, plus Alejandro Almendras of the Nacionalistas who personally supported Senate President Ferdinand Marcos.

Electoral system

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 1957; 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

  1. Oscar Ledesma, appointed as ambassador to the United States in 1964

Results

The Nacionalista Party and the Liberal Party each won four seats.
Nacionalistas Arturo Tolentino and Gil Puyat, and Liberal Ambrosio Padilla all defended their seats.
Five winners are neophyte senators. These are Juan Liwag, Gerry Roxas and Tecla San Andres Ziga of the Liberal Party, and the Nacionalistas' José W. Diokno and Rodolfo Ganzon.
Incumbent Nacionalista senators Eulogio Balao, Roseller T. Lim and Cipriano Primicias Sr., and Rogelio de la Rosa of the Liberal Party all lost.
Key:
  • ‡ Seats up
  • + Gained by a party from another party
  • √ Held by the incumbent
  • * Held by the same party with a new senator
  • ^ Vacancy

Defeated incumbents

  1. Eulogio Balao retired from politics
  2. Rogelio de la Rosa appointed as ambassador to Cambodia in 1965
  3. Roseller T. Lim ran in 1967 and lost, ran as delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1970 and won
  4. Cipriano Primicias Sr. retired from politics