BRYAN ARELLANO

PROFESSOR CHRISTOPHER FIGUERROA

READINGS IN PHILLIPINE HISTORY
SCHEDULE: TH 1:00PM – 4:00PM
III. SUCCEDING PAGES

PHILIPPINE PRESIDENTS

1. Ramon Magsaysay
-(August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957) was a Filipino politician who was the
seventh President of the Philippines, serving from December 30, 1953 until
his death in an aircraft disaster. An automobile mechanic, Magsaysay was
appointed military governor of Zambales after his outstanding service as a
guerilla leader during the Pacific War. He then served two terms as Liberal
Party congressman for Zambales before being appointed as Secretary of National Defense by
President Elpidio Quirino. He was elected president under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.
He was the first Philippine president born during the 20th century and the first to be born after
the Spanish colonial era. n early August 1950, he offered President Elpidio Quirino a plan to
fight the Communist guerillas, using his own experiences in guerrilla warfare during World
War II. After some hesitation, Quirino realized that there was no alternative and appointed
Magsaysay Secretary of National Defence on August 31, 1950. He intensified the campaign
against the Hukbalahap guerillas. This success was due in part to the unconventional methods
he took up from a former advertising expert and CIA agent, Colonel Edward Lansdale. In the
counterinsurgency the two utilized deployed soldiers distributing relief goods and other forms
of aid to outlying, provincial communities. Prior to Magsaysay's appointment as Defense
Secretary, rural citizens perceived the Philippine Army with apathy and distrust. However,
Magsaysay's term enhanced the Army's image, earning them respect and admiration.[7] In June
1952, Magsaysay made a goodwill tour to the United States and Mexico. He visited New York,
Washington, D.C. (with a medical check-up at Walter Reed Hospital) and Mexico City where he spoke
at the Annual Convention of Lions International. By 1953, President Quirino thought the threat of the
Huks was under control and Secretary Magsaysay was becoming too weak. Magsaysay met with
interference and obstruction from the President and his advisers, in fear they might be unseated at the
next presidential election. Although Magsaysay had at that time no intention to run, he was urged from
many sides and finally was convinced that the only way to continue his fight against communism, and
for a government for the people, was to be elected president, ousting the corrupt administration that, in
his opinion, had caused the rise of the communist guerrillas by bad administration. He resigned his post
as defense secretary on February 28, 1953, and became the presidential candidate of the Nacionalista
Party, disputing the nomination with senator Camilo Osías at the Nacionalista national convention.His
term was considered the Golden Years of the country. People trusted the military, and the
government had the least amount of corruption during his time. The first President to wear a
Barong tagalog during his inaguration, and opened the gates of Malacanang to the people. He
also led the South East Asia Treaty Organization that fought Cold War Marxist Communism.

2. Manuel L. Quezon
(born Manuel Luís Quezon y Molina; August 19, 1878 – August 1, 1944)
was a Filipino statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. He was the first
Filipino to head a government of the entire Philippines (as opposed to the
government of previous Philippine states), and is considered to have been the
second president of the Philippines, after Emilio Aguinaldo (1899–1901).
During his presidency, Quezon tackled the problem of landless peasants in the
countryside. His other major decisions include the reorganization of the
islands' military defense, approval of a recommendation for government
reorganization, the promotion of settlement and development in Mindanao,
dealing with the foreign stranglehold on Philippine trade and commerce, proposals for land reform, and
opposing graft and corruption within the government. He established a government-in-exile in the U.S.
with the outbreak of the war and the threat of Japanese invasion. It was during his exile in the U.S. that
he died of tuberculosis at Saranac Lake, New York. He was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery
until the end of World War II, when his remains were moved to Manila. His final resting place is the
Quezon Memorial Circle. In 2015, the Board of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation
approved a posthumously bestowal of the Wallenberg Medal upon President Quezon and to the people
of the Philippines for having reached out, between 1937 and 1941, to the victims of the Holocaust.
President Benigno Aquino III, and then 94-year-old María Zeneida Quezon Avanceña, who is the
daughter of the former President, were informed about this recognition. Upon the creation of the
Commonwealth, the economic condition of the nation was stable and promising.[9] With foreign trade
reaching a peak of four hundred million pesos, the upward trend in business was accentuated and
assumed the aspect of a boom. Exports crops were generally good and, with the exception of tobacco,
they were all in high demand in foreign trade markets. Indeed, the value of the Philippine exports
reached an all high of 320,896,000 pesos, the highest since 1929.[9] Manuel Quezon signing
documents.Additionally, government revenues amounted to 76,675,000 pesos in 1936, as compared
with the 1935 evenue of 65,000,000 pesos. Even the government companies, with the exception of the
Manila Railroad, managed to earn profits. Gold production increased about 37% and iron nearly 100%,
while cement production augmented by some 14%.[9] Notwithstanding this prosperous situation,[9] the
government had to meet certain economic problems besetting the country. For this purpose, the
National Economic Council was created. This body advised the government in economic and financial
questions, including promotion of industries, diversification of crops and enterprises, tariffs, taxation,
and formulation of an economic program in the preparation for the future independent Republic of the
Philippines.[9] Again, a law reorganized the National Development Company; the National Rice and
Corn Company (NARIC) was created and was given a capital of four million pesos.[9] Upon the
recommendation of the National Economic Council, agricultural colonies were established in the
country, especially in Koronadal, Malig, and other appropriate sites in Mindanao. The government,
moreover, offered facilities of every sort to encourage migration and settlement in those places.[9] The
Agricultural and Industrial Bank was established to aid small farmers with convenient loans on easy
terms.[14] Attention was also devoted to soil survey, as well as to the proper disposition of lands of the
public domain. These steps and measures held much promise for improved economic welfare.[9] Dealt
with a mixed hand the economy was stable during his term, but had to reorganize the
government quickly in order to comply with the Tydings-McDuffie Law to take advantage. He
focused on agrarian, and educational reforms, established the official language, as well as
initiating women's suffrage in the Philippines.

3. Emilio Aguinaldo
March 22, 1869 – February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, politician,
and military leader who is officially recognized as the first and the youngest
President of the Philippines (1899–1901) and first president of a
constitutional republic in Asia. He led Philippine forces first against Spain in
the latter part of the Philippine Revolution (1896–1898), and then in the
Spanish–American War (1898), and finally against the United States during
the Philippine–American War (1899–1901). In 1935, Aguinaldo ran
unsuccessfully for president of the Philippine Commonwealth against Manuel Quezon. Emilio
Famy Aguinaldo Sr. was born on March 22, 1869 [c] in Cavite el Viejo (present-day Kawit), in
Cavite province, to Carlos Jamir Aguinaldo and Trinidad Famy-Aguinaldo,[d] a Tagalog
Chinese mestizo couple who had eight children, the seventh of whom was Emilio Sr. The
Aguinaldo family was quite well-to-do, as his father, Carlos J. Aguinaldo was the community's
appointed gobernadorcillo (municipal governor) in the Spanish colonial administration and his
grandparents Eugenio K. Aguinaldo and Maria Jamir-Aguinaldo. He studied at Colegio de San
Juan de Letran but wasn't able to finish his studies due to outbreak of cholera in 1882. Emilio
became the "Cabeza de Barangay" In 1895 the Maura Law that called for the reorganization of
local governments was enacted. At the age of 25, Aguinaldo became Cavite el Viejo's first
"gobernadorcillo capitan municipal" (Municipal Governor-Captain) while on a business trip in
Mindoro. The first President of the country, his career was soaked in warfare, and though many
historians blame his term with country's initial ill-fated allegiance with the United States, he
was one of the few revolutionaries of his time to succeed in his goal of overthrowing an
occupying power.
 4. Jose P. Laurel
March 9, 1891 – November 6, 1959) was a Filipino politician and judge. He
was the president of the Second Philippine Republic, a Japanese puppet state
when occupied during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. Since the
administration of President Diosdado Macapagal (1961–1965), Laurel has
been officially recognized by later administrations as former president of the
Philippines. osé Paciano Laurel y García was born on March 9, 1891 in
the town of Tanauan, Batangas. His parents were Sotero Laurel I and
Jacoba García. His father had been an official in the revolutionary
government of Emilio Aguinaldo and a signatory to the 1898 Malolos
Constitution.
While a teen, Laurel was indicted for attempted murder when he almost killed a rival suitor of the girl
he stole a kiss from with a fan knife. While studying and finishing law school, he argued for and
received an acquittal.
Laurel received his law degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1915, where
he studied under Dean George A. Malcolm, whom he would later succeed on the Supreme Court. He
then obtained a Master of Laws degree from University of Santo Tomas in 1919. Laurel then attended
Yale Law School, where he obtained his J.S.D. degree.
Laurel began his life in public service while a student, as a messenger in the Bureau of Forestry then as
a clerk in the Code Committee tasked with the codification of Philippine laws. During his work for the
Code Committee, he was introduced to its head, Thomas A. Street, a future Supreme Court Justice who
would be a mentor to the young Laurel.[2]
Upon his return from Yale, Laurel was appointed first as Undersecretary of the Interior Department,
then promoted as Secretary of the Interior in 1922. In that post, he would frequently clash with the
American Governor-General Leonard Wood, and eventually, in 1923, resign from his position together
with other Cabinet members in protest of Wood's administration. His clashes with Wood solidified
Laurel's nationalist credentials. This is my wild card pick. Perhaps the most maligned President
next to Marcos, Laurel was a leader appointed by the occupying Japanese forces in WWII. It's
understandable why people wouldn't like him or the puppet government he represented, but he
wasn't the collaborator most people think he is. Though he acted upon instruction from the
Japanese, he did everything in his power to aid the Philippine fighters. Using Executive Orders
to delay executions, and passing information through back channels in his administration. The
Philippines didn't have it easy during the war, but it could have been much worse if Laurel
wasn't the President at the time.
 5. Diosdado Macapagal
September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was the ninth President of the
Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice-President,
serving from 1957 to 1961. He also served as a member of the House
of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970.
He is the father of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was the 14th
President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010.
A native of Lubao, Pampanga, Macapagal graduated from the University of
the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas, both in Manila, after which
he worked as a lawyer for the government. He first won election in 1949 to the House of
Representatives, representing a district in his home province of Pampanga. In 1957, he became Vice-
President under the rule of President Carlos P. Garcia, whom he defeated in the 1961 polls.
Diosdado Macapagal was also a reputed poet in the Chinese and Spanish language, though his poetic
oeuvre was eclipsed by his political biography.
As President, Macapagal worked to suppress graft and corruption and to stimulate the Philippine
economy. He introduced the country's first land reform law, placed the peso on the free currency
exchange market, and liberalized foreign exchange and import controls. Many of his reforms, however,
were crippled by a Congress dominated by the rival Nacionalista Party. He is also known for shifting
the country's observance of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, commemorating the day
President Emilio Aguinaldo unilaterally declared the independence of the First Philippine Republic
from the Spanish Empire in 1898. He stood for re-election in 1965, and was defeated by Ferdinand
Marcos, who subsequently ruled for 21 years.
Under Marcos, Macapagal was elected president of the Constitutional Convention which would later
draft what became the 1973 Constitution, though the manner in which the charter was ratified and
modified led him to later question its legitimacy. He died of heart failure, pneumonia, and renal
complications, in 1997, at the age of 86.

The reason why macapagal makes the top five is the vast scope of his achivements during his
term. He signed five landmark laws that spanned moving the Philippine Independence Day;
establishing minimum wage, the veteran's bank, the fisheries commission, as well as a Land
reform code. The administration had a few major controversies with businessmen such as Harry
Stonehill, Fernando Lopez, and Eugenio Lopez as part of the Anti-Corruption Drive. He was
also one of the few Presidents to push for the claim of the Sabah region, and even proposed the
establishment of a Maphilindo region as a solution.
 6. Carlos P. Garcia
This administration is known first and foremost for its Filipino First Policy.
A measure that looks like a liability today, allowed local businesses an
advantage over foreign investors. He also focused on Austerity measures
that were, at the time, hailed as a the solution to alleviate the standing
problems of the Republic. The Gracia administration also signed the
Bohner-Serrano Agreement which shortened the lease of the American
bases from 99 years to 25, renewable every five years.(November 4, 1896
– June 14, 1971) was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political
economist, organized guerrilla and Commonwealth military leader, who was the eighth
President of the Philippines. (November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971) was a Filipino teacher, poet,
orator, lawyer, public official, political economist, organized guerrilla and Commonwealth
military leader, who was the eighth President of the Philippines. Garcia entered politics in
1925, scoring an impressive victory to become Representative of the Third District of Bohol.
He was elected for another term in 1928 and served until 1931. He was elected Governor of
Bohol in 1933, but served only until 1941 when he successfully ran for Senate, but he was
unable to serve due to the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during the World War II. He
assumed the office when Congress re-convened in 1945 after Allied liberation and the end of
the war. When he resumed duties as senator after the war, he was chosen Senate majority floor
leader.[2] The press consistently voted him as one of the most outstanding senators.
Simultaneously, he occupied a position in the Nacionalista Party.Garcia refused to cooperate
with the Japanese during the war. He did not surrender when he was placed on the wanted list
with a price on his head. He instead and took part in the guerilla activities and served as adviser
in the free government organized in Bohol
 7 . Corazon Aquino -(25 January 1933 – 1 August 2009)
was a Chinese Filipino politician who served as the 11th President
of the Philippines, becoming the first woman to hold that office.
The first female president in the Philippines, Aquino was the most
prominent figure of the 1986 People Power Revolution, which
ended the 21-year rule of President Ferdinand Marcos. She was
named Time magazine's Woman of the Year in 1986. Prior to this,
she had not held any elective office. A self-proclaimed "plain
housewife",[2] she was married to Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., the
staunchest critic of President Marcos. She emerged as leader of the
opposition after her husband was assassinated on 21 August 1983
upon returning to the Philippines from exile in the United States. In
late 1985, Marcos called for snap elections, and Aquino ran for
president with former senator Salvador Laurel as her running mate for vice president. After the
elections were held on 7 February 1986, the Batasang Pambansa proclaimed Marcos and his running
mate Arturo Tolentino as the winners; allegations were made of electoral fraud, with Aquino calling for
massive civil disobedience actions. Defections from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the
support of the local Catholic hierarchy led to the People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos and
secured Aquino's accession on 25 February 1986. As President, Aquino oversaw the promulgation of
the 1987 Constitution, which limited the powers of the Presidency and re-established the bicameral
Congress. Her administration provided strong emphasis on and concern for civil liberties and human
rights, and on peace talks to resolve the ongoing Communist insurgency and Islamist secession
movements. Her economic policies centered on restoring economic health and confidence and focused
on creating a market-oriented and socially responsible economy. In 1987, she became the first Filipino
to be bestowed with the prestigious Prize For Freedom Award.[3] Several coup attempts were made
against Aquino's government; it also faced various natural calamities until the end of her term in 1992.
She was succeeded as President by Fidel Ramos, and returned to civilian life while remaining public
about her opinions on political issues. In recognition for her role in the world's most peaceful
revolution to attain democracy, she was awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1998.
Aquino was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2008; she died on 1 August 2009. Her monuments of
peace and democracy were established in the capital Manila and her home province of Tarlac after her
death. Her son Benigno Aquino III became President of the Philippines from 30 June 2010 to 30 June
2016. Throughout her life, Aquino was known to be a devout Roman Catholic, and was fluent in
French, Japanese, Spanish, and English aside from her native Tagalog and Kapampangan.[4] She is
highly regarded by the international diplomatic community as the Mother of Asian and Philippine
Democracy. JUST to be clear, I am not a fan of 'Tita Cory", the only reason she's this high up the list is
because she had to face difficulties no other President other than the post-war leaders did. The country
had a $ 26 billion debt to the US, the government was in shambles, cronyism and courrption was
rampant, and she had no training as a politician. There was also the unnatural number of calamities that
hit the country, as well as the multiple coup attempts to deal with. She had her faults for sure, her
failure to establish effective land reform, even becoming the poster child for the failed program, and
unwittingly shielding corrupt officials. Someone with more experience in governance would arguably
have performed better with the support she had, but she was the only person the country trusted at the
time.

8.Elpidio Quirino – (born Elpidío Quiríno y Rivera; November 16, 1890 –

February 29, 1956) was a Filipino politician of ethnic Ilocano descent who served as the sixth President
of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quiríno 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, Quiríno 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 Quiríno
administration was generally challenged by the Hukbalahaps, who ransacked towns and barrios.
Quiríno ran for president again in 1953 but was defeated by Ramon Magsaysay. lpidío Quiríno was a
native of Caoayan, Ilocos Sur although born in Vigan, Ilocos Sur to Don Mariano Quebral Quirino of
Caoayan, Ilocos Sur and Doña Gregoria Mendoza Rivera of Agoo, La Union. He was baptized on
November 19, 1890.[1] Quiríno spent his early years in Aringay, La Union. He studied and graduated
from his elementary education to his native Caoayan, where he became a barrio teacher. He received
secondary education at Vigan High School, then went to Manila where he worked as junior computer
technician at the Bureau of Lands and as property clerk in the Manila police department. He graduated
from Manila High School in 1911 and also passed the civil service examination, first-grade.[citation
needed]
Quiríno attended the University of the Philippines in Manila. In 1915, he earned his law degree from
the university's College of Law, and was admitted to the bar later that year. He was engaged into the
private practice of law. During his early years as an adult he was inducted into the Pan Xenia Fraternity,
a professional trade fraternity in the University of the Philippines, in the year 1950
Though he was an incredibly intelligent man the achievements of the Quirino administration
simply paled in comparison to the Presidents higher up on this list. The one bright spot only he
can claim was his ability in foreign diplomacy. Many of his contemporaries praised Quirinon
for representing the country with flying colours to visiting dignitaries from America, Europe,
and neighbouring SEA nations.
9. Ferdinand Marcos - another controversial pick, Marcos will easily rank as the worst
President in many people's lists, but if it weren't for the controversies of his later career he
would easily be in the top five. His administration mainly focused on infrastructure as the road
to reform, which is a good strategy, and was favoured enough by the people to earn him a
second elected term, the first and only President to do so. But, as history shows, it all went
downhill from there.
10. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo - another much maligned leader, Gloria's tenure as President is
becoming rosier with each passing year. Her efforts of stabilizing the economy created positive
domino effects that are still being felt today. She averaged a 4.5% quarterly growth, which was
greater than three of her predecessors. The Philippine economy grew at its fastest pace at 7%
real GDP growth, and was one of the few economies in the world to avoid contraction during
the 2008 Financial Crisis that crippled the US and most of Europe. Arroyo's handling of the
economy earned praise from other world leaders, putting the country back in shape despite
persistent poverty, a high population growth rate, and uneven income distribution. Accusations
of her cheating the 2004 elections, however, dogged her to the final day of her term and
beyond.
11. Fidel V. Ramos - Ramos' tenure is famous for starting on a high, but ending on a low. The
first few years of the administration saw booms in technology, economy, and political stability.
But, this came at the cost of privatizing utilities such as electricity and telecommunications. A
situation that's causing much of the financial burden of modern citizens. His term ended with
the Asian Financial Crisis, which nearly neutralized almost all of the good his administration
achieved.
12. Sergio Osmena - though the circumstances of his Presidency were against him after WWII,
his situation wasn't impossible. He became President upon Quezon's death and it was at this
time that American influence truly began to grow. He didn't make the same initiatives his
predecessor did, making him look like a stooge of the U.S., which played out in his rival,
Manuel Roxas', favour in the 1946 elections.
13. Benigno Simeon Aquino III - Though this administration is credited with the highest rise
in the country's economic profile, many observers (including myself) credit much of the earlier
programs to the foundations laid by his predecessor Gloria Arroyo. In fact, economists even say
the economy is slowing down because of decisions he made to stop spending on infrastructure.
The biggest upside to this Presidency is that it proves how indispensible a good PR campaign
can be.
Pres. Aquino probably won't face the same scrutiny his two predecessors faced at the end of
their terms. But, his inability to act as a leader during times of crisis such as the Yolanda
typhoon, the Quirino Bus tragedy, the SAF 44 debacle, the Lumad killings, and the Kidapawan
massacre are huge black marks on his administration.
There are also issues regarding his administrations failure in handling the worsening state of
public transport, vetoing the SSS pension bill, pushing for the DAP, and lagging on the FOI
bill.
Another frustrating point of his term is the constant finger pointing to the Arroyo
administration for all the ills of the country (even on his last year), while collecting all the
positive credit for his own. All of this is made worse by the fact that this Presidency began with
one of the most united show of optimism the country saw in years.
14. Joseph Ejercito Estrada - another President that could be lower on this list, because of his
conviction on corruption charges, as well as helping inflate the national debt from a low of P48
billion to P100 billion in the space of a year. Estrada gets a few points for his military
campaigns against the rebel factions in Mindanao. His all-out war strategy arguably got closer
to achieving peace than sixty years of negotiations ever did. The only reason his admnistration
wasn't able to finish the campaign was because he was ousted by People Power II near the end
of his term.
15. Manuel Roxas - the reason why Roxas is so low on this list is the fact that most people were
behind this Presidency following the country's independence. Given the euphoria of the people,
it was during this time that American influence was stronger than ever in government, which
didn't sit well with many people. The Roxas administration also went through controversies and
failures. Most notable of these was the graft and corruption of the Surplus War property
Scandal, the Chinese immigration scandal, the School Supplies Scandal, and the failure to
defeat the communist HUKBALAHAP.