Presidents Of The Philippines.docx

PRESIDENTS OF THE PHILIPPINES: THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS Since independence in 1898 and the ratification of the Philippine Constitution in the First Republic, there have been 15 presidents. Starting with General Emilio Aguinaldo all the way to current president Benigno Aquino, this article details each president's particular contributions and achievements while in office.

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FIRST REPUBLIC (Revolutionary government/The Philippines was still under Spanish rule)

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1. Emilio Aguinaldo 1899-1901 (Died in exile in the U.S.)

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Vice-President: Mariano C. Trias (elected VP during the Tejeros assembly)

first president elected through a national election first president under the Commonwealth created National Council of Education initiated women’s suffrage in the Philippines during the Commonwealth approved Tagalog/Filipino as the national language of the Philippines appears on the twenty-peso bill a province, a city, a bridge and a university in Manila are named after him his body lies within the special monument on Quezon Memorial Circle Philippines Sergio Osmeña, 1944-1946 (Assumed the presidency upon the death of Quezon while the Philippine Commonwealth government is in exile in the U.S.)

One way to remember the first president of the Philippines First Republic is to look at the five peso coin. Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo's face used to grace the five peso bill (which is not used anymore). The back of the bill shows him holding the Philippine flag at the celebration of the Philippine Independence Day.

Sergio Osmeña was the second president of the Commonwealth. During his presidency, the Philippines joined the International Monetary Fund.

Contributions and Achievements:

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first (and only) president of the First Republic (Malolo Republic) signed the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, creating a truce between the Spanish and Philippine revolutionaries known as the President of the Revolutionary Government led the Philippines in the Spanish-Philippine War and the American-Philippine War youngest president, taking office at age 28 longest-lived president, passing away at 94

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became president at 65, making him the oldest person to hold office first Visayan to become president joined with U.S. Gen. Douglas McArthur in Leyte on October 20, 1944 to begin restoration of Philippine freedom after Japanese occupation Philippine National Bank was rehabilitated and the country joined the International Monetary Fund during his presidency Bell Trade Act was approved by the U.S. Congress during his presidency appears on the 50-peso bill

SECOND REPUBLIC (Japanese Occupation)

COMMONWEALTH PERIOD (American Period)

4. José P. Laurel, 1943-1945

2. Manuel L. Quezon, 1935-1944

Vice-Presidents: Benigno Aquino, Sr. and Ramon Avancena

Vice-President: Sergio S. Osmeña, Sr. After 34 years of Insular Government under American rule, Philippine voters elected Manuel Luis Quezon first president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. He is known as the “Father of National Language” (Ama ng Wikang Pambansa). He died of tuberculosis in Saranac Lake, New York. Contributions and Achievements: 

first Senate president elected as President of the Philippines

José P. Laurel's presidency is controversial. He was officially the government's caretaker during the Japanese occupation of World War II. Criticized as a traitor by some, his indictment for treason was superseded later by an amnesty proclamation in 1948. Contributions and Achievements: 

since the early 1960s, Laurel considered a legitimate president of the Philippines

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organized KALIBAPI (Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas, or Association for Service to the New Philippines), a provisional government during Japanese occupation declared Martial Law and war between the Philippines and the U.S./United Kingdom in 1944 with his family, established the Lyceum of the Philippines

Vice-President: Carlos P. Garcia Ramon Magsaysay was born in Iba, Zambales. He was a military governor and an engineer. He died in an aircraft disaster while boarding the presidential plane. Contributions and Achievements: 

THIRD REPUBLIC

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5. Manuel Roxas, 1946-1948 (Died of a heart attack)

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Vice-President: Elpidio R. Quirino

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Manuel Roxas was the fifth president of the Philippines: the third (and last) president under the Commonwealth, and the first president of the Third Republic of the Philippines. He held office for only one year, 10 months, and 18 days.

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Hukbalahap movement quelled during his presidency chairman of the Committee on Guerrilla Affairs first president sworn into office wearing Barong Tagalog during inauguration presidency referred to as the Philippines' "Golden Years" for its lack of corruption Philippines was ranked second in Asia’s clean and well-governed countries during his presidency established National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA) among other agrarian reforms

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8. Carlos P. Garcia, 1957-1961 (Assumed the remaining term and re-elected)

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Vice-President: Diosdado P. Macapagal

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inaugurated as the first president of the new Republic after World War II reconstruction from war damage and life without foreign rule began during his presidency under his term, the Philippine Rehabilitation Act and Philippine Trade Act laws were accepted by Congress appears on the 100-peso bill

6. Elpidio Quirino, 1948-1953 (Assumed the remaining term & re-elected) Vice-President: Fernando H. Lopez Elpidio Quirino served as vice president under Manuel Roxas. When Roxas died in 1948, Quirino became president. Contributions and Achievements:    

Hukbalahap guerrilla movement active during his presidency created Social Security Commission created Integrity Board to monitor graft and corruption Quezon City became capital of the Philippines in 1948

7. Ramon Magsaysay, 1953-1957 (Magsaysay died in an airplane crash on March 16, 1957 on Mt. Manunggal in Cebu)

A lawyer, poet, and teacher, Carlos P. Garcia also served as a guerrilla leader during the Pacific War. Born in Bohol, Garcia serviced as vice president under Ramon Magsaysay and as secretary of Foreign Affairs for four years. He became president when Magsaysay died in 1957. Contributions and Achievements:     

known for “Filipino First Policy,” which favored Filipino businesses over foreign investors established the Austerity Program focusing on Filipino trade and commerce known as the “Prince of Visayan Poets” and the “Bard from Bohol” cultural arts was revived during his term was the first president to have his remains buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani

9. Diosdado Macapagal, 1961-1965 Vice-President: Emmanuel N. Pelaez Born in Lubao, Pampanga, Diosdado Macapagal was a lawyer and professor. His daughter Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the 14th, and second female, president of the Philippines. Contributions and Achievements:

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established the first Land Reform Law, allowing for the purchase of private farmland to be distributed in inexpensive, small lots to the landless placed the Philippine peso on the currency exchange market declared June 12, 1898 to be Philippines’ Independence Day signed the Minimum Wage Law created the Philippine Veteran’s Bank

The first woman president of the Philippines and the first woman to become president of an Asian country, Corazon Aquino was born in Paniqui, Tarlac. She was a prominent figure in the People Power Revolution that brought down Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship. Her husband, Benigno Aquino Jr., was a senator during the Marcos regime and its strongest critic. He was assassinated while Marcos was still in power. Contributions and Achievements:

10. Ferdinand Marcos, 1965-1986 (the first to win 2 presidential terms)

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Born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, Ferdinand Edralin Marcos was a lawyer and Senate President for three years. He was president for 21 years. He ruled under martial law and his dictatorship was known for its corruption and brutality. Marcos was removed from office after the People Power Revolution.

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first president to win a second term declared Martial Law on Sept. 22, 1972 increased the size of Philippine military and armed forces by 1980 the Philippine GNP was four times greater than 1972 by 1986 the Philippines was one of the most indebted countries in Asia built more schools, roads, bridges, hospitals, and other infrastructure than all former presidents combined the only president whose remains are interred inside a refrigerated crypt

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first woman to be president of the Philippines or any Asian country restored democracy abolished the 1973 Marcos Constitution and ushered in the new Constitution of the Philippines reorganized the structure of the executive branch of government signed the Family Code of 1987, a major civil law reform, and 1191 Local Government Code, which reorganized the structure of the executive branch of government initiated charitable and social activities helping the poor and the needy named “Woman of the Year” in 1986 by Time magazine on the new 500-peso bill together with her husband Benigno Aquino o Received honors and awards including: o 100 Women Who Shaped World History o 20 Most Influential Asians of the 20th Century o 65 Great Asian Heroes o J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding

12. Fidel V. Ramos, 1992-1998 FOURTH REPUBLIC (Martial Law, "The New Republic" & Parliamentary Government) Ferdinand Marcos (unseated by the People Power Revolution) (Marcos died in exile in Hawaii on September 28, 1989 of Lupus complications) Prime Minister Cesar E. A. Virata Vice-President: Arturo M. Tolentino (proclaimed but did not serve due to the revolt) FIFTH REPUBLIC (Under the new "People Power" Constitution) 11. Corazon Aquino, 1986-1992 Vice-President: Salvador H. Laurel

Vice-President: Joseph Ejercito Estrada Fidel V. Ramos was the chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines before he became president. He was also a civil engineer. As president, he restored economic growth and stability in the country, even during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. He is the first, and so far the only, non-Catholic president of the Philippines. Contributions and Achievements:   

oversaw Philippine economic growth presided over celebrations of Philippine Independence Centennial in 1998 received British Knighthood from the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II (Knight Grand

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Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George) hosted the fourth Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Leader's Summit in the Philippines in 1996 Philippine Stock Exchange became an international favorite during his presidency death penalty reinstated while he was in office signed peace agreement with the rebel Moro National Liberation Front

13. Joseph Estrada, 1998-2001 (Deposed by "People Power")

Arroyo faced additional charges of election fraud and misuse of state funds. Contributions and Achievements:     

Vice-President: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

second female president of the country first and only female vice-president of the Philippines so far first president to take oath outside Luzon former Economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, where current president Benigno Aquino III was one of her students ex-classmate of former U.S. President Bill Clinton at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where she maintained Dean’s list status oversaw higher economic growth than the past three presidents before her peso became the best-performing currency of the year in Asia in 2007 eVAT Law was implemented under her term currently on the 200-peso bill

Known as Erap, Joseph Estrada was the first president who had been a famous film actor. His presidency was controversial. During his years in office economic growth was slow and he faced impeachment proceedings. He was ousted from the presidency in 2001. He was later convicted of stealing from the government but was pardoned. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 2010.

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Contributions and Achievements:

Vice-President: Jejomar "Jojo" Cabauatan Binay

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during his presidency Moro Islamic Liberation Front headquarters and camps were captured joined other leaders and politicians to try to amend the 1987 Constitution cited as one of the Three Outstanding Senators in 1989 among the “Magnificent 12” who voted to terminate the agreement that allows for U.S. control of Clark Airbase and Subic Naval Base

14. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, 2001-2010 (Assumed Estrada's remaining term & re-elected) Vice-President: Teofisto T. Guingona (1st term of Arroyo) Vice-President: Manuel "Noli" Leuterio de Castro (2nd term of Arroyo) Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the 14th, president of the Philippines (and the second female president). The Oakwood Mutiny occurred during her term. Arroyo oversaw road and infrastructure improvements and higher economic growth that presidents before her, but there was also controversy. The so-called "Hello Garci" controversy involved recordings that allegedly captured Arroyo ordering the rigging of the election that put her in office. In 2005 Arroyo faced impeachment proceedings related to the recordings but the impeachment failed. After she had left office

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15. Benigno Aquino III, 2010-2016

Benigno Aquino III joined the House of Representatives and the Senate before his presidency. He is the first president who is a bachelor; he is unmarried and has no children. Contributions and Achievements:  

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created the no "wang-wang" (street siren) policy appointed statesman Jesse Robredo to serve as secretary of Interior and Local Government in 2010, where Robredo served until his death in 2012 initiated K-12 education in the Philippines renamed the Office of the Press Secretary to Presidential Communications Operations Office and appointed new officers suspended allowances and bonuses to Government Owed and Controlled Corporation and Government Financial Institution board members oversaw 7.1% growth of the Philippine economy in 2012

16. Rodrigo Duterte, 2016-present Vice-President: Maria Leonor "Leni" Santo Tomas Gerona-Robredo 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. In 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. The Opening of the Suez Canal The Suez Canal, which connected the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, was inaugurated in 1869. It was built by a French engineer named Ferdinand de Lesseps. By passing through the Canal, vessels journeying between Barcelona and Manila no longer had to pass by the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of Africa. Thus, they were able to shorten their traveling time from three months to 32 days. Thanks to the Suez Canal, trading in the Philippines became increasingly profitable. More and more foreign merchants and businessmen came to the colony, bringing with them a lot of progressive ideas. The Filipinos not only gained more knowledge and information about the world at large; they also gained the desire for freedom and improvement in their lives. The Secularization Controversy Two kinds of priests served the Catholic Church in the Philippines. These were the regulars and the seculars. Regular priests belonged to religious orders. Their main task was to spread Christianity. Examples were the Franciscans, Recollects, Spanish church in Cavite circa 1899Dominicans, and Augustinians. Secular priests did not belong to any religious order. They were trained specifically to run the parishes and were under the supervision of the bishops.

Conflict began when the bishops insisted on visiting the parishes that were being run by regular priests. It was their duty, they argued, to check on the administration of these parishes. But the regular priests refused these visits, saying that they were not under the bishop’s jurisdiction. They threatened to abandon their parishes if the bishops persisted. In 1774, Archbishop Basilio Santa Justa decided to uphold the diocese’s authority over the parishes and accepted the resignations of the regular priests. He assigned secular priests to take their place. Since there were not enough seculars to fill all the vacancies the Archbishop hastened the ordination of Filipino seculars. A royal decree was also issued on November 9, 1774, which provided for the secularization of all parishes or the transfer of parochial administration from the regular friars to the secular priests. The regulars resented the move because they considered the Filipinos unfit for the priesthood. Among other reasons they cited the Filipinos’ brown skin, lack of education, and inadequate experience. The controversy became more intense when the Jesuits returned to the Philippines. They had been exiled from the country because of certain policies of the order that the Spanish authorities did not like. The issue soon took on a racial slant. The Spaniards were clearly favouring their own regular priest over Filipino priests. Monsignor Pedro Pelaez, ecclesiastical governor of the Church, sided with the Filipinos. Unfortunately, he died in an earthquake that destroyed the Manila Cathedral in 1863. After his death, other priests took his place in fighting for the secularization movement. Among them were Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora. The Death of Gomburza & The Propaganda Movement In February 17, 1872, Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jocinto Zamora (Gomburza), all Filipino priest, was executed by the Spanish colonizers on charges of subversion. The charges against Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora was their alleged complicity in the uprising of workers at the Cavite Naval Yard. The death of Gomburza awakened strong feelings of anger and resentment among the Filipinos. They questioned Spanish authorities and demanded reforms. The martyrdom of the three priests apparently helped to inspire the organization of the Propaganda Movement, which

aimed to seek reforms and inform Spain of the abuses of its colonial government. The illustrados led the Filipinos’ quest for reforms. Because of their education and newly acquired wealth, they felt more confident about voicing out popular grievances. However, since the illustrados themselves were a result of the changes that the Spanish government had been slowly implementing, the group could not really push very hard for the reforms it wanted. The illustrados did not succeeded in easing the sufferings of the Filipinos; but from this group arose another faction called the intelligentsia. The intelligentsia also wanted reforms; but they were more systematic and used a peaceful means called the Propaganda Movement. Goals of the Propaganda Movement Members of the Propaganda Movement were called propagandists or reformists. They worked inside and outside the Philippines. Their objectives were to seek: ▪ Recognition of the Philippines as a province of Spain ▪ Equal status for both Filipinos and Spaniards ▪ Philippine representation in the Spanish Cortes ▪ Secularization of Philippine parishes. ▪ Recognition of human rights The Propaganda Movement never asked for Philippine independence because its members believed that once Spain realized the pitiful state of the country, the Spaniards would implement the changes the Filipinos were seeking. The Propagandists The Filipinos in Europe were much more active in seeking reforms than those in Manila. They could be divided into three groups: The first included Filipinos who had been exiled to the Marianas Islands in 1872 after being implicated in the Cavite Mutiny. After two many years in the Marianas, they proceeded to Madrid and Barcelona because they could no longer return Noli Me Tangere Book by Jose Rizalto the Philippines. The second group consisted of illustrados in the Philippines who had been sent to Europe for their education. The third group was composed of Filipinos who had fled their country to avoid punishment for a crime, or simply because they could not stand Spanish atrocities any longer. Still, not all Filipinos living in Spain were

members of the Propaganda Movement. Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena and Marcelo H. del Pilar were it most prominent members. Lopez Jaena was a brilliant orator who wrote such pieces as "Fray Botod," "Esperanza," and "La Hija del Fraile," which all criticized the abuses of Spanish friars in the Philippines. Del Pilar was an excellent writer and speaker who put up the newspaper Diarion Tagalog in 1882. His favorite topic was the friars. Some of his most popular writings included "Caiingat Cayo", "Dasalan at Tocsohan," and "Ang Sampung Kautusan ng mga Prayle". "Caingat Cayo" was a pamphlet answering the criticisms received by Jose Rizal’s novel Noli Me Tangere. "Dasalan…" was parody of the prayer books used by the Church, while "Ang Sampung Kautusan…" was a satirical take on the Ten Commandments, which highly ridiculed the Spanish friars. Jose Rizal was recognized as the great novelist of the Propaganda Movement. He was the first Filipino become famous for his written works. He wrote a poem entitled “Sa Aking mga Kababata” when he was only eight years old. His novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, clearly depicted the sufferings of the Filipinos and the rampant abuses committed by the friars in the colony. Because of his criticisms of the government and the friars, Rizal made a lot of enemies. He was executed at Bagumbayan (later renamed Luneta Park and now called Rizal Park) on December 30, 1896. The writings produced by the Propaganda Movement inspired Andres Bonifacio and other radicals to establish the Katipunan and set the Philippine Revolution in place.