Another losing contender was Gregorio Aglipay, co-founder and supreme bishop of the Iglesia Filipina Indepediente (Philippine Independent Church).

[1] After the passage of the Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act in the United States in 1933, only requiring approval of the Philippine legislature, the Nacionalista Party was split between the Quezon and Osmeña factions.

[3] Due to Quezon's efforts in the legislature, the Philippines rejected the act and himself promised a better law than the one brought home by Osmeña.

[5] Among those who supported his bid were Sixto Lopez, Anastacio Teodoro, judge Cayetano Lukban, Emiliano Tria Tirona, Narciso Lapuz, Vicente Sotto, and Miguel Cornejo.

[7] His candidacy was also supported by the organization Veteranos de la Revolucion, formed during the administration of Governor-General Leonard Wood by remaining Filipino veterans of the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War.

After his worldwide tour in 1934, wherein Aglipay went to Copenhagen to attend the 11th International Congress of Religious Liberals by the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF), and even claimed to have interviewed Adolf Hitler and talked with Alejandro Lerroux, Prime Minister of Spain, and Edvard Beneš, President of Czechoslovakia, he expressed his intention to run as President of the Commonwealth.

[5] I would consider myself unworthy of having been born a Filipino if my personal interests and the ties of friendship should prevent me from listening to the insistent popular clamor to vindicate with the powers of the highest office the constitutional liberties so arbitrarily trampled down by an abusive regime, and to cut the extravagant tentacles of the bureaucratic octopus that is sucking our public life.His bid was supported by the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP), a left-wing party organized on November 7, 1930 by Crisanto Evangelista.

[10] He raised the issue up to the United States, and his supporters in Cavite plotted not only a rally to disrupt the inauguration in November, but also launching an assassination attempt against the winners, yet to no avail.

However, an opposition bailiwick the city could have been, the Nacionalista party won overwhelmingly, whereas it was expected that Aguinaldo and Aglipay will make an upset advantage.