Presidents of the Philippines

8. Carlos P. Garcia (1957-1961)

1. Emilio F. Aguinaldo (1898-1901)

9. Diosdado P. Macapagal (1961-1965)

2. Manuel L. Quezon (1935-1944)

10. Ferdinand E. Marcos (1965-1986)

3. Jose P. Laurel (1943-1945)

11. Corazon C. Aquino (1986-1992)

4. Sergio S. Osmea (1944-1946)

12. Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1998)

5. Manuel A. Roxas (1946-1948)

13. Joseph Ejercito Estrada (1998-2001)

6. Elpidio R. Quirino (1948-1953)

14. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (January 20, 2001June 30, 2010)

7. Ramon F. Magsaysay (1953-1957)

15. Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Cojuangco Aquino III

(June 30, 2010-)
Emilio F. Aguinaldo
(Born- March 22, 1869, died- February 6, 1964)

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President of the First Philippine Republic

(Term: 1898- 1901)

Filipino leader who fought first against Spain and later against the United States for the
Independence of the Philippines.
Born of Chinese and Filipino parentage, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, whom providence had placed as
the supreme leader of his people at the critical period in their history. He was born in Kawit,
Cavite, on March 22, 1869. He was the seventh among eight children of the spouses Carlos
Aguinaldo and Trinidad Famy.
He took up his secondary course at the Letran de Manila where he finished only three years of
high school. His favorite subject was geography. He did not finish the secondary course
education.
At the age of 17, Emilio was elected as cabeza de barangay of Binakayan, the most progressive
barrio of Kawit, Cavite. He served for his town-mates for eight years. He also engaged in interisland shipping, travelling as far as Visayas and even Jolo, Philippines. On January 1, 1895, he
was elected capitan municipal of Kawit the first to bear that title in accordance with the Mauro
Law. At that time a capitan municipal received no salary except 3% of taxes he could collect. In
August 1896 he was the local leader of the Katipunan, a revolutionary society that fought bitterly

and successfully against Spanish. In December 1897 he signed an agreement called the Pact of
Biac-na-Bato with the Spanish governor-general. He agreed to leave the Philippines and to
remain permanently in exile on condition of a substantial financial award from Spain coupled
with the promise of liberal reforms. While in Hong Kong and Singapore he made arrangement
with representative of the American consulates and of Commodore George Dewey to return to the
Philippines to assist the United States in the war against Spain.
Aguinaldo return to the Philippines on May 19, 1898 and announced renewal of the struggle with
Spain. Upon the advice of Apolinario Mabini to Aguinaldo he should change the form of
dictatorship to president of revolutionary government. The Filipinos, who declared their
independence of Spain on June 12, 1898, proclaimed a provisional republic, of which Aguinaldo
was to became president, and in September a revolutionary assembly met and ratified Filipino
independence. However, the Philippines along with Puerto Rico and Guam were ceded by Spain
to the United States by the Treaty of Paris, December 10, 1898.
Relation between the Americans and the Filipinos were unfriendly and grew steadily worse. On
January 23, 1899, the Malolos constitution by virtue of which the Philippines was a republic and
which he had been approved by the assembly and by Aguinaldo was proclaimed. Aguinaldo, who
had been president of the provisional government, was elected president.
Aguinaldo formally established the first Philippine republic. He also designated diplomats who
were assigned in the major world capitals to seek recognition of Philippine independence.
In 1935 when the commonwealth government of the Philippines was established in preparation
for independence, Aguinaldo ran for president but was decisively beaten. He returned to private
life until the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941. The Japanese used Aguinaldo as an antiAmerican tool. They caused him to make speeches, to sign articles, and to address a radio appeal
to General Douglas McArthur on Corregidor to surrender in order to spare the flower of Filipino
youth.
When the Americans returned, Aguinaldo was arrested and together with the others accused of
collaboration with the Japanese was held for several months in Bilibid Prison until released by
presidential amnesty. As a token vindication of his honor, he was appointed by president Elpidio
Quirino as a member of the Council of State in 1950. In the latter years of his life, he devoted his
major attention to veterans affairs, the promotion of nationalism and democracy in the
Philippines, and the improvement of relation between the Philippines and the United States.
Aguinaldo resumed his life of retirement. In June 12, 1963, on the occasion of the celebration of
Philippine independence, Aguinaldo veiled his historic mansion in Kawit, together with all the
relics contained therein, to the Philippine government.
On February 6, 1964, he died at the age of 95 years old.

Manuel L. Quezon
(Born- August 19, 1878, died- August 1, 1944)

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First President of the Commonwealth

(Term: November 15, 1935- August 1, 1944)

Filipino statesman, leader of the independence movement, and first president of the Philippine
Commonwealth established under United States tutelage in 1935.
Born in the small town of Baler province of Tayabas on August 19, 1878. His parents are Lucio
Quezon and Maria Dolores Molina, school teacher and small landholder of Tagalog descent on
the part of southern Luzon. Manuel spent the early years of his childhood in his hometown among
the common people. His first teacher was his mother. He enrolled at the San Juan de Letran
college, one of the leading institutions of learning in the capital city. Quezon years at San Juan de
Letran as a self-supporting student brought out of his latent potentialities. He finished Bachelor of
Arts degree at the age of sixteen.
He cut short his law studies at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila in 1899 to participate in
the struggle for independence against the United States, led by Emilio Aguinaldo. After
Aguinaldo surrendered in 1901, however, Quezon returned to the University, obtained his degree
(1903), landed fourth place in the 1903 Bar examinations, and practiced law for a year.
Convinced that the only way to independence was through cooperation with the United States, he
ran for governor of Tayabas province in 1905. Once elected, he served for two years before being
elected as representatives in 1907 to the newly established Philippine Assembly.
In 1909, Quezon was appointed resident commissioner for the Philippines,, entitled to speak, but
not vote in the U.S. House of Representative; during his years in Washington D.C., he fought
vigorously for a speedy grant of independence by the Unites States. Quezon played a major role
in obtaining Congress passage in 1916 of the Jones Act, which pledged independence for the
Philippines without giving a specific date when it would take effect. The act gave the Philippines
greater autonomy and provided for the creation of a bicameral national legislature modeled after
the U.S. Congress. Quezon resigned as a commissioner and returned to Manila to be elected to
the newly formed Philippines senate in 1916; he subsequently served as its president until 1935.
In 1922 he gained control of the Nacionalista party, which had previously been led by his rival
Sergio Osmea.
Quezon fought for passage of the Tydings McDuffie Act (1934) which provided for full
independence for the Philippines ten years after the creation of a constitution and the
establishment of a commonwealth government that would be the forerunner of an independence
republic. Quezon was elected president of the newly formulated commonwealth on November 15,
1935. As president he reorganized the island military defense (aided by General Douglas
McArthur as his special adviser). Tackled the huge problem of landless peasants in the
countryside who still worked as tenants on large estates, promote the settlement and development
of the large southern island of Mindanao, and fought graft and corruption in the government. A

new national capital, later known as Quezon City, was build in the suburb of Manila.
Quezon was reelected president in 1941. After Japan invaded and occupied the Philippines in
1942, he went to the United States, where he formed a government in exile, served as a member
of the Pacific war council, signed the declaration of the United Nations against the fascist nation,
and wrote his autobiography, "The Good Fight" (1946). Quezon died of tuberculosis before full
Philippine independence was established.
He died quietly in Saranac Lake, USA on August 1, 1944 at the age of sixty six.
Married to Doa Aurora Aragon Quezon, now deceased. Of their three children, two are alive,
they are; Zenaida Quezon Avancea and Manuel Quezon Jr.
Manuel L. Quezon best remembered as the "Father of Philippine Language" (Ama ng Wikang
Filipino).

Jose P. Laurel
(Born- March 9, 1891, died- November 6, 1959)
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President of the Japanese Sponsored Republic

(Term: October 14, 1943- August 15, 1945)

Become the President of the Philippines during the Japanese occupation of World War II.
Born in Tanawan, Batangas on March 9, 1891. His parents are Sotero Laurel and Jacoba Garcia.
After receiving law degrees from the University of the Philippines (1915) and from Yale
University (1920), he was elected to the Philippines Senate in 1925 and appointed associate
justice of the Supreme Court in 1936.
After the Pearl Harbor attack. Laurel remained in Manila after President Manuel Quezon escaped
first to Bataan and then to the United States. He offered his services to the Japanese; and because
of his criticism of U.S. rule of the Philippines, he held a series of high posts in 1942-43,
climaxing in his selection as President in 1943. Twice in that year he was shot by Philippine
guerrillas but recovered, after the incident Laurel still held his post to served the Filipino people.
It adds his eagerness and willingness to be of service to his countrymen.
Laurel administration did not last long because when the Japanese occupation near to collapse,
Yamashita, a Japanese leader ordered his troops to bring Laurel out from the Philippines, he was
brought to Japan.
In August 15, 1945, Japanese surrendered to Americans. General McArthur order Lt. Col. Turner
to arrest Laurel and company for a case of "Collaboration". They finally arrested in the City of
Nara, Japan and temporary jailed at Sugano Prison near Tokyo, Japan. In July 1946 he was
charged with 132 counts of treason, but was never brought to trial; he shared in the general

amnesty in April 1948.

As the Nationalist Party's nominee for the presidency of the Philippines in 1949, he was narrowly
defeated by the incumbent president, Elpidio Quirino, nominee of the Liberal Party. Elected to the
Senate in 1951, Laurel helped to persuade Ramon Magsaysay, then secretary of defense, to desert
the Liberals and join the Nationalist. When Magsaysay became president, Laurel headed an
economic mission that in 1955 negotiated an agreement to improve economic relations with the
United States. He retired from public life in 1957.
Married to Mrs. Pacencia Hidalgo, of their nine children, most of them are alive and active in
politics like, former vice president Salvador P. Laurel, former senator Sotero Laurel and exspeaker Jose Laurel Jr.

Sergio S. Osmea
(Born- September 9, 1878, died- October 19, 1961)

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Second president of the Commonwealth

(Term: August 1, 1944- May 27, 1946)

Filipino statesman, founder of the Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista) and president of the
Philippines from 1944 to 1946.
He was born in Cebu, on September 9, 1878. Son of Juana Osmea Y. Suico. His birth place was
a medium sized house of wood with tin can roofing. He was brought up in a wholesome
atmosphere. He was enrolled by his mother in a private school of Miguel Logarta, a local lawyereducator, not long before the latter discovered how intellectually gifted his young pupil was, later
he entered the Seminary College of San Carlos for his secondary course. In 1892, he finished his
studies in San Carlos. To pursue his studies he come to Manila and studied at Letran, he first met
Manuel L. Quezon, one of his classmates. He took up law at the University of Santo Tomas,
although his studies was interrupted by the war conflict between Spain and America, he and the
rest of his classmates were allowed by the Supreme Court to take the examinations in that year of
1903, he got an average of 95.66% second placer in the bar examination.
A lawyer, he espoused the cause of independence through peaceful means as editor of the Cebu
newspaper El Nuevo Dia (New Day), which he founded in 1900. Upon the return of governor
Climaco from the United States, in 1904 the United States colonial administration appointed him
governor of the province of Cebu and fiscal (district attorney) for the province of Cebu and
Negros Oriental. Two years later he was elected delegate to the Philippine National Assembly and
founded the Nationalist Party, which come to dominate Philippine political life.
Osmea remained leader of the Naitonalists until 1921, when he was succeeded by Manuel L.
Quezon, who had joined him in a coalition. Made speaker of the House of Representative in
1916, he served until his election to the Senate in 1923. In 1933 he went to Washington D.C. to

secure passage of the Hare-Hawes-Cutting independence bill, but Quezon differed with Osmea
over the bill's provision to retain U.S. military bases after independence. The bill, vetoed by the
Philippine Assembly, was superseded by the Tydings McDuffie Act of March 1934, making the
Philippines a commonwealth with a large measured of independence. The following years
Osmea became vice president, with Quezon as president. He remained vice president during the
Japanese occupation when the government was in exile in Washington D.C. On the death of
Quezon in August 1944, Osmea became president. He serve as president until the elections of
April 1946, when he was defeated by Manuel Roxas, who became the first president of the
independent republic of the Philippines.
Osmea thereafter retired to his hometown in Cebu, where he spent the remaining of his life, until
he died on October 19, 1961 at the age of 83, with his death the nation lost a towering Molave of
the race.
First wife Doa Estefania Veloso. Most of their eight children are now deceased. One of those
alive is Mrs. Paloming Osmea Charnley, retired in Cebu City. For his second wife, Doa
Esperanza Limjap, are Rosie Osmea Valencia is involved in Manila Society. Ramon and Victor
live in Cebu.

Manuel A. Roxas
(Born- January 1, 1892, died- April 15, 1948)

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Last President of the Commonwealth

(Term: May 28, 1946- July 4, 1946)

First President of the 3rd Republic of the Philippines

(Term: July 4, 1946- April 15, 1948)
Political leader and first president of the independence republic of the Philippines.
The silver tongued genius- for a genius indeed, was born on January 1, 1892, in Capiz (renamed
Roxas City (1949), in his honor).
His parents were Gerardo Roxas Sr. and Rosario Acuna. After graduating his early education in
the public school of Capiz. He went to Hong Kong to study for sometime, later he transferred to
Manila High School to finish his secondary course. He took up law at University of the
Philippines and graduated in 1913.
In 1913 to 1916, after his bar exam whom he got 1st placer, he then became professor at the
Philippine Law School and National University. Upon learning the excellent records of Roxas
former chief justice Cayetano S. Arellano, offered him to be his secretary of the Supreme Court.
Roxas began his political career in 1917 as a member of the municipal council of his hometown
Capiz in Panay Island. He was governor of the province of Capiz in 1919-1921 and was then
elected to the Philippine House of Representative, subsequently serving as Speaker of the House

and a member of the Council of State. In 1923 he and Manuel Quezon, the president of the
senate, resigned in protest from the Council of State when the U.S. governor-general (Leonard
Wood), began vetoing bills passed by the Philippine legislature. In 1932 Roxas and Sergio
Osmea, the Nacionalista Party leader, led the Philippine independence mission to Washington
D.C., where they influenced the passage of teh Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act. Roxas was later
opposed by Quezon, who held that the act compromised future Philippine independence; the
Nacionalista Party was split between them on this issue. In 1934, however, Roxas was a member
of the convention that drew up a constitution under the revised Philippine Independence and
Commonwealth Act (Tydings McDuffie Act). Roxas also served as Secretary of Finance in the
Commonwealth government (1938-1940).
During World War II Roxas served in the pro-Japanese government of Jose Laurel by acquiring
supplies of rice for the Japanese Army. Although a court was established after the war to try
collaborators, Roxas was defended by his friend General Douglas McArthur. Roxas was elected
president of the commonwealth in 1946 as the nominee of the liberal wing of the Nacionalista
Party (which became the Liberal Party), and when independence was declared on July 4 he
became the first president of the new republic.
Although Roxas was successful in getting rehabilitation funds from the United States after
independence, he was forced to concede military bases (23 of which were leased for 99 years),
trade restriction for the Philippine citizens, and special privileges for U.S. property owner and
investor. His administration was marred by graft and corruption; moreover, the abuses of the
provincial military police contributed to the rise of the left-wing Hukbalahap (Huk) movement in
the countryside. His heavy-handed attempts to crush the Huks led to widespread peasant
disaffection.
Roxas did not stay long in office because of heart attack upon a speech in an occassion in the
Clark Air Base in April 15, 1948 and was succeeded by his vice president Elpidio Quirino.
Manuel Roxas bereaved wife Doa Trinidad de Leon and children Ruby and Gerardo Roxas who
became congressman, senator, and a leader of Liberal Party.
He died at the age of 44.
Married to Doa Trinidad de Leon Roxas. Who is very active in the Philippine society. Their two
children Ruby, who is active and involved in functions commemorating the memory of her late
father and former senator Gerry Roxas, their only son, died several years ago.

Elpidio R. Quirino
(Born- November 16, 1890, died- February 28, 1956)

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Second President, Third Republic of the Philippines

(Term: April 17, 1948- November 10, 1953)

Political leader and second president of the Independence Republic of the Philippines.
He was born on November 16, 1890 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
After obtaining a law degree from the University of the Philippines in 1915, Quirino practiced
law until he was elected as member of Philippine House of Representative in 1919-25 and as
senator in 1925-1931. In 1934 he was a member of the Philippine Independence mission to
Washington D.C., headed by Manuel Quezon, which secured the passage in Congress of the
Tydings-McDuffie Act, setting the date for Philippine independence as July 4, 1946. He was also
elected to the convention that drafted a constitution for the new Philippine Commonwealth.
Subsequently he served as secretary of finance and secretary of the interior in the Commonwealth
government.
After World War II, Quirino serve as secretary of state and vice president under the first president
of the independence Philippines, Manuel Roxas. When Roxas died on April 15, 1948, Quirino
suceeded to the presidency. The following years, he was elected president for a four-year term on
the Liberal Party ticket, defeating the Nacionalista candidiate.
President Quirino's administration faced a serious threat in the form of the Communist led
Hukbalahap (Huk) movement. Though the Huks originally had been an anti-Japanese guerrilla
army in Luzon, the Communists steadily gained control over the leadership, and when Quirino's
negotiation with Huk commander Luis Taruc broke down in 1948, Taruc openly declared himself
a Communist and called for the overthrow of the government. By 1950 the Huks had gained
control over a considerable portion of national defense to suppress the insurrection.
Quirino's six years as president were marked by notable postwar reconstruction, general
economic gains, and increased economic aid from the United States. Basic social problems,
however, particularly in the rural areas, remained unsolved; Quirino's administration was tainted
by widespread graft and corruption. The 1949 election, which he had won, were among the most
dishonest in the country's history. Magsaysay, who had been largely successful in eliminating the
threat of the Huk insurgents, broke with Quirino on the issue of corruption, campaigning for clean
elections and defeating Quirino as the Nacionalista candidate in the presidential election of 1953.
Subsequently, Quirino retired to private life, in his new country home in Novaliches where he
died of heart attack on February 28, 1956. His bereaved wife Alicia Syguia and children Tomas,
Victoria and victims of Massacre of World War II: Armando, Norma and Fe. His wife Alicia also
died during World War II and already dead when Quirino become president. Of their children
only Victoria is alive and re-married to Paco Delgado.
Quirino died at the age of 66.

Ramon F. Magsaysay
(Born- August 31, 1907, died- March 17, 1957)

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Third President of the Third Republic of the Philippines

(Term: December 30, 1953- March 17, 1957)

Best known for successfully defeating the communist led Hukbalahap (Huk) Movement. Idol of
the masses, champion of democracy, and freedom fighter.
He was born in the capital of Iba, Zambales on August 31, 1907. His parents are Exequel
Magsaysay and Perfecta Del Fiero.
Magsaysay finished his elementary at the Castillejos, However his secondary course at the
Zambales Academy both in his hometown Zambales.
Though most Philippine political leaders were of Spanish descent, Magsaysay was of Malay
stock, like most of the common people. He took up mechanical engineering at University of the
Philippines but ended up with a commerce degree from Jose Rizal College in Manila in 1933 and
became general manager of a Try-Tran transportation company before starting as a mechanic.
After serving as a guerrilla leader on Luzon during World War II, he was appointed military
governor of his home province, Zambales, by MacArthur, when the United States recaptured the
Philippines. He served two terms (1946-50) as a Liberal Party congressman for Zambales, his
first experience in politics.
President Elpidio Quirino appointed Magsaysay secretary of defense to deal with the threat of the
Huks, whose leader, Luis Taruc, in February 1950 established a People's Liberation Army and
called for the overthrow of the government. Magsaysay then carried out until 1953 one of the
most successful anti-guerrilla campaigns in modern history. Realizing that the Huks could not
survive without popular support, he strove to win the trust of the peasants by offering land and
tools to those who came over to the government side and by insisting that army units treat the
people with respect. Reforming the army, he dismissed corrupt and incompetent officers and
emphasized mobility and flexibility in combat operations against the guerrillas. By 1953, Huks
were no longer a serious threat, but Magsaysay's radical measures had made many enemies for
him within the government, compelling him to resign on February 28, when he charge the
Quirino administration with corruption and incompetence.
Although Magsaysay was a Liberal, the Nacionalista Party successfully backed him for the
presidency against Quirino in the 1953 elections, winning the support of Carlos P. Garcia, who
had organized a third party. Magsaysay promised reform in every segment of Philippine life, but
he was frustrated in his efforts by a conservative congress that represented the interest of the
wealthy. Despite initial support of Congress in July 1955.
Magsaysay was unable to pass effective land reform legislation; government indifference to the
plight of the peasants then undid most of his good work in gaining the support of the people
against the Huks. Neverthless, he remained extremely popular and had a well deserve reputation
for incorruptibility.
In foreign policy, Magsaysay remained a close friend and supporter of the United States and a
vocal spokesman against communism during the Cold War. He made the Philippines a member of
the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, which was established in Manila on September 8, 1954.
Before the expiration of his term as president, Magsaysay was killed when his airplane crashed at
Mount Pinatubo in the early morning of March 17, 1957, he was succeeded by the vice president,

Carlos P. Garcia. The nation was shocked upon learning of Magsaysay sudden death, most of the
Filipino people mourned because the nation lost a well loved leader, who in his lifetime become a
legendary figure in Philippine politics.
He left his bereaved wife Luz Banzon, children Teresita, Milagros Magsaysay Valenzuela and
Ramon Magsaysay Jr., a proclaim winner in May 8, 1995 Senatorial election.
Magsaysay died at the age of 50 years old.

Carlos P. Garcia
(Born- November 4, 1896, died- June 14, 1971)

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Fourth President of the Third Republic of the Philippines

(Term: March 18, 1957- December 30, 1961)

Famous for his austerity program and policy. He was born in Talibon, Bohol, on November 4,
1896. His parents are Policronio Garcia and Ambrosia Polistico.
After graduating from Philippine Law School in Manila in 1923, he was among the top ten in the
bar examination. He became successively, a school teacher, representative in the Philippine
Congress, governor of his province (Bohol), and then senator (1941-1953).
Garcia was the one who commissioned the Philippine rehabilitation at war damage claims in
1945 in the United States. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II,
Garcia was active in the resistance movement. He was elected vice president on the ticket of the
Nacionalista Party in 1953 and was also minister of foreign affairs (1953-1957). He became
president of the Philippines in March 1957 for eight months, upon the death of president Ramon
Magsaysay, and was elected to a full four-year term the same year (The noisiest and the most
expensive in Philippine history). He maintained the strong tradition ties with the United States
and sought closer relation with non-communist Asian countries. In the election of November
1961 he was defeated by the vice president Diosdado Macapagal.
He left his bereaved wife, Leonila Dimataga and the only daughter Linda Garcia Campus.
He died on June 14, 1971 at the age of seventy five (75).

Diosdado P. Macapagal
(Born- September 28, 1910)

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Fifth President of the Third Republic of the Philippines

(Term: December 30, 1961- December 30, 1965)

Filipino reformist president of the Republic of the Philippines.

Best known as the "Champion of the Common Man."

He was born in Barrio San Nicolas, Lubao, Pampanga, on September 28, 1910. His parents are
Urbano Macapagal and Romana Pangan, their family was a middle class and a law abiding
citizen, Macapagal pursue his studies in order to reach his goal in the future.
Nevertheless, Macapagal finish his elementary at the Lubao Elementary School, he received an
honor of being the valedictorian and in 1929 in the Pampanga High School for his secondary
course, he is the salutatorian.
He entered Philippine Law School to get his law degree.In this law school he become well-known
as the best orator and debater. After two years he transferred to the University of Sto. Tomas.
After receiving his law degree, Macapagal was admitted to the bar in 1936. During World War II,
he practiced law in Manila and aided the anti-Japanese resistance. After the war he worked in a
law firm and in 1948 served as second secretary to the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The following year was elected to a seat in the Philippine House of Representatives, serving until
1956. During this time he was Philippine representative to the United Nations General Assembly
three times. From 1957 to1961, Macapagal was a member of the Liberal Party and vice president
under Nacionalista President Carlos P. Garcia. In the 1961 elections, however he ran against
former president Carlos P. Garcia forging a coalition of the Liberal and progressive parties and
making a crusade against corruption a principal element of his platform. He was elected by a
wide margin.
While president, Diosdado Macapagal worked to suppress graft and corruption and to stimulate
the Philippine economy. He placed the Peso in the free currency-exchange market, encouraged
wealthiest families, which cost the treasury millions of pesos yearly. His reforms, however, were
crippled by a House Representatives and Senate dominated by the Nacionalistas, and he was
defeated in the 1965 elections by Ferdinand E. Marcos.
Macapagals administration (1961 - 1965) is best remembered for resetting the date of the
celebration of Philippine Independence Day from July 4 when the U.S. turned over the reins of
government in 1946 to the more correct date of June 12 when Aguinaldo declared independence
in 1898.
In 1972 he chaired the convention that drafted the 1973 constitution only to question in 1981 the
validity of its ratification. In 1979 he organized the National Union for Liberation as an
opposition party to the Marcos regime. He had two children from first wife Purita dela Rosa
(deceased); Maria Cielo and Arturo. For his second wife Doa Evangeline Macaraeg Macapagal,
their children are Maria Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a winner in the 1995 senatorial race and
Diosdado Macapagal Jr. who served the government under Corazon's administration.
As of this writing (February 1996) Macapagal is still alive and a regular writer/columnist in a
leading newspaper. In his retirement, although he still heartily and devoted a good part of his time
to reading and writing.
The good president always remembered those past days serving his country with love and honor

with peace in his heart.

Ferdinand E. Marcos
(Born- September 11, 1917, Died- September 28, 1989)

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Sixth President of the Third Republic of the Philippines

(Term: December 30, 1965- February 25, 1986)

Philippine lawyer and politician who, as head of the States from 1966 to 1986.
He was born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte on September 11, 1917. His parents are; Don Mariano
Marcos and Doa Josefa Edralin. His father is a politician, while his mother is a teacher in their
hometown.
Marcos attended school at the age of five years old in Sarrat Central School, later he transferred
to Manila. According to his scholastic records, Marcos always got an honor from his elementary
and secondary course. He is best in oratory speeches as well as in debate and declamatory
speeches.
Marcos attended school in Manila and studied law in the late 1930s at the University of the
Philippines, in Quezon City. Tried for the assassination in 1933 of a political opponent of his
politician father, Marcos was found guilty in November 1939. But he argued his case on appeal to
the Philippine Supreme Court, acquittal a year later. He become a trial lawyer in Manila. During
World War II he served as an officer with the Philippine Armed Forces. Captured by the Japanese,
he survived the Death March from Bataan to Central Luzon and then escaped. Marcos subsequent
claims to being an important leader in the Filipino guerrilla resistance movement were a central
factor in his later political success, but U.S. government archives revealed that he actually played
little or no part in anti-Japanese activities during 1942-45.
From 1946 to 1947 Marcos was a technical assistant to Manuel Roxas, the first president of the
independent Philippine Republic. He was a member of House of Representatives (1949-1959)
and of the Senate (1959-1965). Serving as Senate President (1963-1965). In 1965, Marcos, who
was a prominent member of the Liberal Party founded by Roxas, broke with it after failing to get
his party's nomination for president. He then ran as the Nationalist Party candidate for president
against the Liberal president, Diosdado Macapagal. The campaign was expensive and bitter.
Marcos won and was inaugurated as president. On December 30, 1969, Marcos was reelected, the
first he had made progress in agriculture, industry, and education. Yet his administration was
troubled by increasing student demonstrations and violent urban-guerilla activities.
On September 21, 1972, Marcos imposed martial law. Holding that communist and subversive
forces precipitated the crisis, he acted swiftly; opposition politicians were jailed and the armed
forces became an arm of the regime. Opposed by political leaders- notably Benigno Aquino Jr.,
who was jailed and held in detention for almost eight years, Marcos was also criticized by church
leaders and others. In the provinces Maoist communists (New Peoples Army) and Muslim
separatist undertook guerrilla activities intended to bring down the central government.

Under Martial Law the president assumed extraordinary powers, including the suspension of the
Writ of Habeas Corpus. Marcos announce the end of Martial Law in January 17, 1981 but still
ruled in an authoritarian fashion thereafter under various constitutional formats. He won election
to the newly created post of president against only token opposition in June 1981.
Marcos wife from 1954 was Imelda Romualdez Marcos, a former beauty queen. Imelda became a
powerful figure in her own right after her husband instituted martial law in 1972. She was
frequently criticized for her appointment of relatives to lucrative government and industrial
position while she held the post of Governor of Metropolitan Manila (1975-1986) and Minister of
Human Settlements and Ecology (1979-1986).
Marcos later years in power were marred by rampant government corruption, economic
inequalities between the rich and the poor, and the steady growth of a communist guerrilla
insurgency active in the rural areas of the Philippines innumerable islands.
By 1983 Marcos health was beginning to fall, and opposition to his rule was growing. Hoping to
present an alternative to both Marcos and the increasingly powerful New Peoples Army. Benigno
Aquino Jr. return to Manila on August 21, 1983, only to be shot dead as he stepped off the plane.
The assassination was probably the work of the government and touch off massive antigovernment protest. An independent commission appointed by Marcos concluded in 1984 that
high military officers were responsible for Aquino's assassination. To reassert his mandate,
Marcos called for presidential election to be held in 1986. But a formidable political opponent
soon emerged in Aquino's widow, Corazon C. Aquino, who became the presidential candidate of
the opposition. It was widely asserted that Marcos managed to defeat Aquino and retain the
presidency in the election of February 7, 1986, only through massive voting fraud on the part of
his supporters. Marcos held to his presidency as the Philippine military split between supporters
of his and of Aquino's legitimate right to the presidency. A tense stand off (EDSA Revolution,
People's Power) that ensued between the two sides ended only when Marcos fled the country on
February 25, 1986 at United States urging, and went into exile in Hawaii, USA.
Evidence subsequently emerged that during his year in power, Marcos, his family, and his close
associates had looted the Philippines economy of billions of dollars through embezzlements and
other corrupt practices. Marcos and his wife were subsequently indicted by the U.S. government
on racketeering charges. After a trial a year later, Imelda won acquittal by the board of jury.
Imelda return to the Philippines to face the charges against her and her family.
Marcos died on September 28, 1989 at Waikiki, Hawaii. His bereaved wife, Imelda R. Marcos
and children Imee Marcos Manotoc, Irene Marcos Araneta and Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos
Jr., a former congressman of Ilocos Sur and a senatorial candidate in May 8, 1995 election. He
serve as congressman under Ramos administration.
Ferdinand Marcos died at the age of seventy two (72).

Corazon C. Aquino
(Born- January 25, 1933, Died- August 1, 2009)

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Seventh and First Woman President of the Republic of the Philippines

(Term: February 25, 1986- June 30, 1992)

Political leader and president from (1986 to 1992) of the Philippines. In 1983 she succeeded her
murdered husband, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.(A popular critic of the Marcos administration),
as leader of the opposition to President Ferdinand Marcos. No one could have imagined that Cory
Aquino would become a president of the Philippines.
Corazon "Cory" Aquino, the first woman to become president of the Philippines, was born in
Tarlac on January 25, 1933. Her parents are Don Jose Cojuangco and Doa Demetria Sumulong.
Cory was the sixth among the eight children of the Sumulong. Corazon Aquino's children are
Maria Elena Aquino, Aurora Corazon, Victoria Eliza, Noynoy and Kris Aquino, her youngest
child is a TV and movie personality.
Corazon Cojuangco was born into a wealthy, politically prominent family based in Tarlac
province, north of Manila. In 1946, her family left for the U.S. and she enrolled at Ravenhill
Academy in Philadelphia. She finished her junior and senior years at Notre Dame College in New
York. She entered Mount Saint Vincent College in New York City in 1949 where she finished a
Bachelor of Arts, major in French. In 1953, she returned to the Philippines to take up law at the
Far Eastern University, but then abandoned further studies in 1955 to marry Benigno Aquino,
who was then a promising young politician. Cory remained in the background during her
husband's subsequent career, rearing their five children at home and later in exile. Her husband
was assassinated upon his return to the Philippines in August 1983.
When Ferdinand Marcos unexpectedly called for presidential election in February 1986, Corazon
Aquino become the unified opposition's candidate for the presidency. Though she was officially
reported to have lost the election to Marcos, Aquino and her supporters challenged the results,
charging widespread voting fraud. High officials in the Philippines military soon publicly
renounced Marcos continued rule and proclaimed Aquino the Philippines rightful president. On
February 25, 1986, both Aquino and Marcos were inaugurated as president by their respective
supporters but that same day Marcos fled the country.
In March 1986 she proclaimed a provisional constitution and soon thereafter appointed a
commission to write a new constitution. The resulting document was ratified by a landslide
popular vote in February 1987. In spite of her continuous popular support, Aquino faced an
ongoing outcry over economic injustice, a problem that was only exacerbated by continuing
warfare between the communist insurgency and a military whose loyalties to Aquino were
uncertain. In general, her economic policies were criticized for being mixed or faltering in the
face of mass poverty.
Aquino children are Maria Elena Aquino, Aurora Corazon, Victoria Eliza, Noynoy and Kris
Aquino. Her youngest child is a TV & movie personality.

Fidel V. Ramos
(Born- March 18, 1928)

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8th President of the Republic of the Philippines

(Term- June 30, 1992-June 30, 1998)

As head of the State his administration centerpiece program is the Philippines 2000; which aim to
uplift the Philippines as a newly industrialized country by the year 2000.
Fidel V. Ramos was born in Lingayen, Pangasinan on February 8, 1928. His parents are Narciso
Ramos (A lawyer, a crusading journalist, a legislator and later, secretary of foreign affairs) and
Angela Valdez Ramos. Fidel V. Ramos have two sisters, Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani and
Gloria Ramos de Rodda, a diplomat.
Become a Valedictorian of his graduating class at the Lingayen Elementary School in Maniboc,
Lingayan, Pangasinan, he was the consistent valedictorian of his class, through his elementary
grades and through his high school at the University of the Philippines.
In the year 1950, Fidel V. Ramos graduated in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New
York, a well know military school in the U.S.A. He also acquired his master in Civil Engineering
course at the University of Illinois in the year 1951. Another course in associate Infantry
Company Officers at Fort Benning at Fort Bragg. In the year 1960 he was the topnotcher of all
the 21 graduated for the "Special Forces/Pay Operations/Airborne." Aside from those courses, he
took up Command and General Staff at Fort Santiago year 1965, where he became the topnotcher
of all 48 graduating students.
During the administration of President Marcos, Fidel V. Ramos became the Presidential assistant
of military tactics. (1968-1969); Assistant to the head of State of the Civil Defense July 1, 1969Nov. 6, 1970. Head of the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and
Deputy Chief of Staff for Home Defense Activities (1971-1981).
Moreover, he become a delegate of the Philippines to other countries such as: Delegation for the
third conference of the Association fo Southeast Asian Nations, held at Malaysia (1969) and the
Ministerial conference of Southeast Asian Nations held at Kuala Lumpur (Nov. 1971).
According to his record, FVR receives award, medal and honor for his achievements in Korea
and Vietnam. Known for his disciplinarian method in his troop but has a good faith in his heart.
In his administration the good President look forward the dream for the Philippines as an
industrialized country towards the year 2000. He also emphasizes for the rebels who are willing
to surrender, to achieved the real peace and order in the country.
The Ramos Administration intensify to complete the Program such as; school buildings, roads
and bridges, country wide development, country's infrastructure program for Luzon, Visayas and
Mindanao and inviting foreign investors to put up business in the country to help the Filipino

People.
Ramos married Amelita Martinez on October 21, 1953. They had five children.

Joseph Ejercito Estrada

(Born- April 19, 1937)

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9th President of the Third Republic of the Philippines

(Term- June 30, 1998-January 20, 2001)

Joseph Ejercito Estrada was born on April 19, 1937 in Tondo, Manila. He is the eight of the ten
children of Emilio Ejercito and Maria Marcelo. His family later moved to San Juan, Rizal (now
part of Metro Manila) where he grew up.
Estrada studied at Ateneo de Manila University. He took up engineering at the Mapua Institute of
Technology, on his second year he moved to the Polytechnic College of the Philippines in Sta.
Mesa, Manila. Before he could finish engineering he quit school and decided to try the movies.
Displeased with his decision to drop out of college, his parents forbade him to use his family
name, which forced him to adopt "Estrada" as a screen name and "Erap" ("pare" or friend spelled
backward) as a nickname.
During his movie career, he played the lead role in more than hundred movies and produced more
then 70 films. In 1974, he founded the Movie Workers Welfare Fund (MOWELFUND) that
provides movie industry workers with financial and professional assistance. He was the first
FAMAS Hall of Fame awardee for Best Actor (1981) and also became a Hall of Fame awardee as
a Producer(1983).
Estrada entered politics when he ran for mayor of San Juan in 1968. He was only proclaimed
mayor in 1969, after he won an electoral protest against Dr. Braulio Sto. Domingo. As mayor
(1969-1986), Estrada was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in Public
Administration (1972). He was also named Most Outstanding Mayor and Foremost Nationalist
(1972), and most outstanding Metro Manila Mayor (1972). He won a seat in the Senate in 1987.
At the Senate, he chaired a Committee on Cultural Minorities and Rural Development and cochaired the committees on Health, Natural Resources and Ecology, and Urban Planning. On
September 16, 1991, he voted for the rejection of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and
Security, which ended the stay of the United States military bases in the Philippines.
He was elected Vice President in 1992. He was appointed chairman of the Presidential AntiCrime Commission (PACC).
He was elected President of the Philippines in 1998 but the EDSA II Revolution cut his 6-year

term short on January 20, 2001.

He is married to Luisa Pimentel, with whom he has three children.

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

(Born- April 5, 1947)

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Tenth President of the Republic of the Philippines

(Term- January 20, 2001)

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo or GMA was born on April 5, 1947. His parents were former President
Diosdado Macapagal and Dr. Eva Macaraeg. She grew up in Iligan City.
GMA finished high school as Valedictorian at the Assumption College. She studied college at the
Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. but she stopped during her third year, when she got
married to Jose Miguel Tuazon Arroyo.
She finished her course in Commerce at Assumption College, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She
got her Masters Degree in Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University and her Doctorate at the
University of the Philippines. She worked as an assistant secretary for President Cory Aquino in
1986, and was later appointed as Undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry.
GMA was elected Senator in 1992, and was re-elected in 1995. In 1998, She was elected vicepresident of the Philippines, with Joseph Estrada as President. She was appointed as Secretary of
Social Welfare and Development but gave up the position in October 2000 when there was a
public clamor for the resignation of President Estrada. when some of the top officials of
government and Armed Forces of the Philippines withdrew its support for government and
President Estrada was forced to leave Malacaang on January 21, 2001. GMA was sworn in as
the new President. She chose Senator Teofisto Guingona to be Vice-President.
GMA's administration was welcomed by the people and by the business sector, as they believed
in her capability as an economist. She immediately activated economic programs to prepare the
Philippines towards globalization.
Meanwhile, Estrada criticized the legitimacy of GMA's presidency, however it was affirmed by
the Supreme Court. She served the unfinished term of Estrada. In 2004, she ran for President and
won against the popular actor, Fernando Poe Jr. Her vice-president is Noli de Castro, a radio and
TV commentator and news broadcaster.
GMA married Jose Miguel Tuazon Arroyo in 1968. They have three children Mikey, Luli and
Dato. Mikey and Dato also became politicians.

Source: The Presidents, Republic of the Philippines by Rheno A. Velasco. 1996. National Book
Store 2009.