Emilio Aguinaldo (1869 – 1964)

The president of the first Philippine republic (1899). He started as a member of the
Magdalo Chapter of the Katipunan in Cavite, then was elected president of the revolutionary
government at the Tejeros Convention on March 22,1897, and, later, Biak-na-Bato Republic. He
proclaimed Philippine independence at Kawit on June 12, 1898. His capture foreshadowed the
end of large-scale armed resistance to American rule.

Manuel L. Quezon (1878-1944)

The first Filipino president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under American rule.
He was president of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. For advocating Filipino-language
amendments to the 1935 Constitution, he is known as the “Father of the National Language.”
 Jose P. Laurel (1891 – 1939)

President of the Second Republic from 1943 to 1945. He had been secretary of the
interior (1923), senator (1925 – 1931), delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1934), and chief
justice during the commonwealth. When World War II broke out, he was instructed by Quezon to
stay in Manila and deal with the Japanese to soften the blow of enemy occupation. As
president, he defended Filipino interests and resisted Japanese efforts to draft Filipinos into the
Japanese military service. Upon return of the American forces, Laurel was imprisoned in Japan
when Douglas Macarthur occupied that country He was returned to the Philippines to face
charges of treason, but these were dropped when President Roxas issued an amnesty
proclamation. In the Third Republic, he was elected senator and negotiated the Laurel-Langley
Agreement

Sergio Osmeña, Sr. (1878 – 1961)

. He was Vice President under Manuel L. Quezon. Upon Quezon's sudden death in 1944,
Osmeña succeeded him, at age 65, becoming the oldest holder of the office (a record he held
until 71-year old Rodrigo Duterte was elected in 2016). A founder of the Nacionalista Party,
Osmeña was also the first Visayan to become President.
Prior to his accession in 1944, Osmeña served as Governor of Cebu from 1906 to 1907, Member
and first Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives from 1907 to 1922, and Senator from
the 10th Senatorial District for thirteen years, in which capacity he served as Senate President pro
tempore. In 1935, he was nominated to be the running-mate of Senate President Manuel L.
Quezon for the presidential election that year. The duo were overwhelmingly re-elected in 1941.
He was patriarch of the prominent Osmeña family, which includes his son, former Senator Sergio
Osmeña Jr., and his grandsons, senators Sergio Osmeña III and John Henry Osmeña), ex-
governor Lito Osmeña, and current Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Manuel Roxas (1892 – 1948)

Manuel Acuña Roxas (born Manuel Róxas Acuña; January 1, 1892 – April 15, 1948) was
the fifth President of the Philippineswho served from 1946 until his death in 1948. He briefly served
as the third and last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from May 28, 1946 to July
4, 1946, subsequently becoming the first President of the independent Third Philippine
Republic after the United States ceded its sovereignty over the Philippines.
 Elpidio Quirino (1890—1956)

A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered politics when he became a representative

of Ilocos Sur from 1919 to 1925. He was then elected as senator from 1925–1931. In 1934, he
became a member of the Philippine independence commission that was sent to Washington,
D.C., which secured the passage of Tydings–McDuffie Act to American Congress. In 1935, he
was also elected to the convention that drafted the 1935 constitution for the newly
established Commonwealth. In the new government, he served as secretary of the interior and
finance under President Manuel Quezon's cabinet.
After World War II, Quirino was elected vice-president in the 1946 election, consequently
the second and last for the Commonwealth and first for the third republic. After the death of the
incumbent president Manuel Roxas in 1948, he succeeded the presidency. He won the
president's office under Liberal Party ticket, defeating Nacionalista vice president and former
president José P. Laurel as well as fellow Liberalista and former Senate President José Avelino.
The Quirino administration was generally challenged by the Hukbalahaps, who
ransacked towns and barrios. Quirino ran for president again in 1953 but was defeated
by Ramon Magsaysay.
 Ramon Magsaysay (1907 – 1957)

President of the Philippines from 1953 to 1957. He had been President Quirino’s secretary
of defense who was instrumental is suppressing the HUK rebellion. As president, he persuaded
Congress to pass the Agricultural Tenancy Act (1954). It was during his term that the Retail Trade
Nationalization Act was passed. He secured revisions in the Bell Trade Act and was the first
president to revise the US Military Bases agreement to bring it more in line with Philippine interests.

Carlos P. Garcia (1896 – 1971)

President of the Philippines from 1957 to 1961. Remembered for his Filipino First Policy. He
was among the founders of the Association for Southeast Asia (1963), the precursor of the
Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
 Diosdado Macapagal (1910 – 1997)

President of the Republic of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965. He asked Congress to pass
the Agricultural Land Reform Code, which abolished share tenancy and installed a leasehold
system in its place; it finally passed on August 8, 1963. This was a significant step toward resolving
the agrarian problem. It was during his presidency that Independence Day was moved from July
4 to June 12, the date when General Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence in Cavite.

Ferdinand Marcos (1917 – 1989)

President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. Declared martial law on September 21,
1972. After the People Power revolution in February 1986, he was ousted from power and lived in
exile in Honolulu, Hawaii.
 Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (1933 –

President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. With Salvador Laurel as running mate, she
led the opposition that overthrew the authoritarian government of Marcos, who went into exile
after the successful People’s Power revolution of 1986. She first established a revolutionary
government under the Freedom Constitution, later replaced by the Constitution of 1987, which
served as the basis for reestablishing democracy

Fidel V. Ramos (1928 – )

President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1997. As head of the Constabulary under
President Marcos, he was instrumental in helping to design and implement martial law. Together
with General Ponce Enrile and the RAM, he defected from the government in 1986 and joined
the People’s Power revolution that ousted Marcos from power. His presidency is remembered for
better integrating the national economy in the global scheme.
 Joseph Estrada (1937 – )

President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001. During his term in office, he was arrested
and stood trial at a congressional impeachment hearing on charges of accepting bribes and
corruption. While this trial was aborted when the senators voted 11 to 10 not to open
incriminating evidence against him, he was ousted from power anyway as a peaceful People’s
Power II revolution arose and called for his resignation

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (1947 – )

President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2004. She served as vice president under
President Estrada and became president when he was forced to step down for malfeasance,
through the People’s Power II revolution. PGMA has confronted some of the same obstacles as
did her father, President Diosdado Macapagal, when he tried to clean up corruption in
government. Her government continues enjoy political legitimacy in the face of opposition.
 Benigno Aquino III (1960 – )

15th President of the Philippines from 2010 until 2016.

Aquino is a fourth-generation politician and is the chairman of the Liberal Party from 2010
to 2016. Born in Manila, Aquino finished his Bachelor of Arts (major in economics) from Ateneo de
Manila University in 1981 and joined his family in their exile in the United States shortly thereafter.
He returned to the Philippines in 1983 shortly after the assassination of his father and held several
positions working in the private sector. In 1998, he was elected to the House of
Representatives as Representative of the 2nd district of Tarlac province. He was subsequently re-
elected to the House in 2001 and 2004.[4] In 2007, having been barred from running for re-
election to the House due to term limits, he was elected to the Senate in the 14th Congress of
the Philippines.[4]
On September 9, 2009, Aquino officially announced he would be a candidate in
the 2010 presidential election and on June 30, 2010, at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park,
Manila,[4][9] Aquino was sworn into office as the fifteenth President of the Philippines,
succeeding Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and stepped down on June 30, 2016, succeeded
by Rodrigo Duterte.
In 2013, Time named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
 Rodrigo Duterte (1945 – )

Current president of the Philippines. Was elected to a six-year term in May 2016. Took
office on June 30. Known by the nickname Digong. A lawyer and politician of Visayan descent
from the southern island of Mindanao.

the first four months of his term, President Duterte has made impressive progress in
asserting Philippine sovereignty and dignity in the international arena, in aligning the country
with Asian values instead of Hollywood-manufactured cultural norms, in the fight against drugs,
in uplifting the status of indigenous peoples and of our Muslim brothers in the south, in putting an
end to endo, in putting on notice corrupt government officials, and in securing fishing privileges
for Filipinos in waters that China has been claiming as its own. He has also secured financial
support from Japan and promises from Russia.