The Evening Star (April 23, 1946)
Roxas is leading Osmena 254-101 in Filipino vote
President’s opponent in hiding as result of kidnap tumor
MANILA (AP) – A rumored kidnap plot sent presidential candidate Manuel Roxas into hiding today as incomplete and unofficial returns from 13 precincts in and around Manila put him out ahead of President Sergio Osmena in the Philippines general election.
The Manila Chronicle said Mr. Roxas was leading Mr. Osmena, 254 to 101, in 11 incomplete precincts in Manila. The first two precincts to report outside Manila gave Mr. Roxas 99 votes, Mr. Osmena 25. Reports and rumors of violence echoed through the islands after an estimated three million Filipinos voted today for candidates to lead them in the first four years of independence.
The military police command reported that Gov. Ramor Imperial of Camarines Sur, province of Southeast Luzon, and two members of his party were wounded seriously when ambushed this afternoon. A seven-year-old boy was killed by automatic rifle fire from a house near the scene of the ambush.
Army unit on guard
The grounds of Mr. Roxas’ residence bristled with machine guns and a detachment of the Philippine Army was on guard.
Mr. Roxas’ secretary, Alfredo Jacinto, said Mr. Roxas was in hiding because he had heard “three men from the province of Bulacan” planned to kidnap him.
Military police expressed concern over the situation in Nueva Ecija Province of Central Luzon, a storm center of the agrarian movement. They said it had been “isolated” since 3 p.m. and all attempts to communicate with the provincial provost marshal had failed.
Frederico Sian, supervisor for the commission on elections, said Mr. Roxas’ inspectors walked out in 11 precincts in the municipality of Calatrava on Negros Island, taking the ballot boxes and keys with them. The inspectors asserted the police had kept some voters from entering the polling places.
Roxas predicts victory
Mr. Roxas, president of the territorial Senate, predicted before he went into hiding that he would win by 300,000 votes, although he conceded four provinces to Osmena.
Newspapers estimated that more than 70 percent of this city’s 100,000-plus registrants voted.
Manila returns were expected to be complete by 3 a.m. tomorrow (2 p.m. today EST), but some sources estimated it would require several days to report results from distant islands of the sprawling archipelago. Air courier service and radio communications probably can finish the task before Saturday, military police headquarters predicted. Communications were badly disrupted by the war.
Mr. Osmena, who made no formal campaign, said nothing. Head of the conservative wing of the Nacionalista Party – from which Mr. Roxas bolted – Mr. Osmena earlier had expressed confidence that his record of 40 years’ public service would re-elect him.
The winner will be in office when the islands achieve complete independence from the United States July 4.
Platforms were similar
Both Mr. Roxas and Mr. Osmena plumped for independence, beneficial post-independence trade with the United States and limitless American investments in the islands.
A third – and perennial – presidential candidate, Hilario Camino Moncado, campaigned for dominion status. He was aided by his showman vice presidential nominee, Lou Salvador, chosen at a gay luncheon meeting of the Modernist Party.
Sen. Eulogio Rodriguez, former secretary of agriculture and former mayor of Manila, was Mr. Osmena’s running mate, and Elpidio Quirino, former senator and secretary of finance, teamed with Mr. Roxas.
Complete order prevails
Fine weather piled up the heavy vote in Manila, but transportation troubles – born of years of war – kept many from the polls in country districts.
Manila streets were without U.S. Army khaki or Navy whites for the first time since the liberation as members of the armed forces were kept close to their quarters to avoid any charges of interference with the islands’ first nationwide voting since the Japanese invasion.