Presidents
of the
Philippine Republic
Submitted by:
Stefanie A. Garrovillo
Emilio Aguinaldo was born on March 22, 1869, in
Kawit, Cavite, Philippines. Nicknamed Miong, Aguinaldo
was the seventh of eight children. His parents were of
Chinese and Tagalog descent. His father, Carlos, died
when Aguinaldo was just nine years old. Widowed, his
mother, Trinidad, sent him to attend public school in
Manila. After graduating from the University of Santo
Thomas in Manila, Aguinaldo returned home to Kawit,
where he developed a growing awareness of Filipino
frustration with Spanish colonial rule. While serving as
the head of barter in Manila, he joined the Pilar Lodge
chapter of the Freemasonry in 1895. The Freemasonry
was a government- and church-banned resistance
group. It was through his role as municipal captain of
this fraternity that Aguinaldo met Andres Bonifacio, a
key figure in the fight to overthrow Spanish rule.
Contributions:
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
Born Aug. 19, 1878 in Baler died Aug. 1, 1944
Quezon was the son of a schoolteacher and small
landholder of Tagalog descent on the island of Luzon.
He cut short his law studies at the University of Santo
Tomás 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), and practiced law for a few years.
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 a
representative in 1907 to the newly established
Philippine Assembly.
Contributions
First Senate president elected as President of the
Philippines
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
His body lies within the special monument on
Quezon Memorial Circle
José P. Laurel, in full José Paciano Laurel, (born
March 9, 1891, Tanauan, Luzon, Philippines—died
November 6, 1959, Manila), Filipino lawyer, politician,
and jurist, who served as president of the Philippines
(1943–45) during the Japanese occupation during
World War II.
Laurel was born and raised in a town south of Manila.
His father served in the cabinet of Emilio Aguinaldo in
the late 1890s. The younger Laurel received a law
degree from the University of the Philippines in 1915
and an advanced jurisprudence degree in 1919 before
earning a doctorate in civil law from Yale University in
the United States in 1920. He entered politics and was
elected to the Philippine Senate in 1925, serving there
until he was appointed an associate justice of the
Supreme Court in 1936.
Contributions:
Since the early 1960s, Laurel considered a
legitimate president of the Philippines
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.
Sergio Osmeña, (born Sept. 9, 1878, Cebu City, Phil.—
died Oct. 19, 1961, Manila), Filipino statesman, founder of
the Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista) and president
of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. Osmeña received a
law degree from the University of Santo Tomás, Manila, in
1903. He was also editor of a Spanish newspaper, El Nuevo
Día, in Cebu City. In 1904 the U.S. colonial administration
appointed him governor of the province of Cebu and fiscal
(district attorney) for the provinces of Cebu and Negros
Oriental. Two years later he was elected governor of Cebu.
In 1907 he was elected delegate to the Philippine National
Assembly and founded the Nationalist Party, which came
to dominate Philippine political life. Osmeña remained
leader of the Nationalists until 1921, when he was
succeeded by Manuel Quezon, who had joined him in a
coalition. Made speaker of the House of Representatives in
1916, he served until his election to the Senate in 1923.
Contributions:
Became president at 65, making him the oldest person
to hold office
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
Manuel Roxas, (born Jan. 1, 1892, Capiz, Phil.—died
April 15, 1948, Clark Field, Pampanga), political leader
and first president (1946–48) of the independent
Republic of the Philippines.
After studying law at the University of the Philippines,
near Manila, Roxas began his political career in 1917 as
a member of the municipal council of Capiz (renamed
Roxas in 1949). He was governor of the province of
Capiz in 1919–21 and was then elected to the Philippine
House of Representatives, 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.
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.
Contributions
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
Elpidio Quirino, (born Nov. 16, 1890, Vigan, Phil.—died
Feb. 28, 1956, Novaliches), political leader and second
president of the independent Republic of the Philippines.
Tydings-McDuffie Act, signing of After obtaining a law
degree from the University of the Philippines, near Manila,
in 1915, Quirino practiced law until he was elected a
member of the Philippine House of Representatives in
1919–25 and a senator in 1925–31. 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. 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.
Contributions
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
Ramon Magsaysay, (born Aug. 31, 1907, Iba, Phil.—died
March 17, 1957, near Cebu), president of the Philippines
(1953–57), best known for successfully defeating the
communist-led Hukbalahap (Huk) movement.
The son of an artisan, Magsaysay was a schoolteacher in
the provincial town of Iba on the island of Luzon. Though
most Philippine political leaders were of Spanish descent,
Magsaysay was of Malay stock, like most of the common
people. Working his way through José Rizal College near
Manila, he obtained a commercial degree in 1933 and
became general manager of a Manila transportation
company. After serving as a guerrilla leader on Luzon
during World War II, he was appointed military governor of
his home province, Zambales, 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.
Contributions:
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 wellgoverned countries during his presidency
Established National Resettlement and Rehabilitation
Administration (NARRA) among other agrarian reforms
Carlos P. Garcia, in full Carlos Polestico Garcia, (born
November 4, 1896, Talibon, Philippines—died June 14,
1971, Quezon City), fourth president of the Republic of the
Philippines. After graduating from law school in 1923, he
became, successively, a schoolteacher, representative in
the Philippine Congress, governor of his province (Bohol),
and then (1941–53) senator. 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 (1953–57). He
became president of the Philippines in March 1957, upon
the death of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay, and was elected to a
full four-year term the same year. He maintained the
strong traditional ties with the United States and sought
closer relations with noncommunist Asian countries. In the
election of November 1961 he was defeated by Vice Pres.
Diosdado Macapagal.
Contribution:
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
Diosdado Macapagal, (born September 28, 1910,
Lubao, Philippines—died April 21, 1997, Makati), reformist
president of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965.
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 he 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
to 1961 Macapagal was a member of the Liberal Party and
vice president under Nacionalista Pres. Carlos Garcia. In
the 1961 elections, however, he ran against Garcia, forging
a coalition of the Liberal and Progressive parties and
making a crusade against political corruption a principal
element of his platform. He was elected by a wide margin.
Contributions:
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
Ferdinand Marcos, in full Ferdinand Edralin Marcos,
(born September 11, 1917, Sarrat, Philippines—died
September 28, 1989, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.), Philippine
lawyer and politician who, as head of state from 1966 to
1986, established an authoritarian regime in the
Philippines that came under criticism for corruption and
for its suppression of democratic processes.
Marcos attended school in Manila and studied law in the
late 1930s at the University of the Philippines, near that
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 and won acquittal a year
later. He became a trial lawyer in Manila. During World War
II he was an officer with the Philippine armed forces.
Marcos’s later claims of having been a leader in the
Filipino guerrilla resistance movement were a central
factor in his political success, but U.S. government
archives revealed that he actually played little or no part
in anti-Japanese activities during 1942–45.
Contributions:
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
Corazon Aquino, in full Maria Corazon Aquino, née Maria
Corazon Cojuangco, (born January 25, 1933, Tarlac province,
Philippines—died August 1, 2009, Makati), Philippine political
leader who served as the first female president (1986–92) of
the Philippines, restoring democratic rule in that country
after the long dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
Corazon Cojuangco was born into a wealthy, politically
prominent family based in Tarlac province, north of Manila.
She graduated from Mount St. Vincent College in New York
City in 1954 but abandoned further studies in 1955 to marry
Benigno Simeon Aquino, Jr., who was then a promising young
politician. Corazon remained in the background during her
husband’s subsequent career, rearing their five children at
home. Her husband, who had become a prominent opposition
politician, was jailed by Marcos for eight years (1972–80), and
Corazon accompanied him into exile in the United States in
1980. Benigno was assassinated upon his return to the
Philippines in August 1983. This event galvanized opposition
to the Marcos government.
Contribution:
First woman to be president of the Philippines or any
Asian country
Restored democracy
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
Fidel Ramos, in full Fidel Valdez Ramos, byname Eddie
Ramos, (born March 18, 1928, Lingayen, Philippines—died
July 31, 2022, Makati, Philippines), military leader and
politician who was president of the Philippines from 1992
to 1998. He was generally regarded as one of the most
effective presidents in that nation’s history.
Ramos was educated at the U.S. Military Academy at West
Point, New York, and at the University of Illinois, U.S. He
then entered the Philippine army, serving in Korea and
Vietnam. In 1972 President Ferdinand Marcos (who was
Ramos’s second cousin) appointed him chief of the
Philippine Constabulary, and when Marcos imposed
martial law later that year Ramos was responsible for
enforcing it; the Constabulary arrested thousands of
political dissidents. In 1981 Ramos became deputy chief of
staff of the armed forces.
Contribution:
Oversaw Philippine economic growth
Presided over celebrations of Philippine Independence
Centennial in 1998
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
Joseph Estrada, original name Joseph Ejercito, (born
April 19, 1937, Manila, Philippines), Filipino actor and
politician who served as president of the Philippines
(1998–2001) and later mayor of Manila (2013–19).
The son of a government engineer, Estrada entered the
Mapua Institute of Technology with the intention of
following in his father’s footsteps, but he eventually
dropped out to become a film actor. Forbidden by his
parents to use the family name, he adopted the screen
name Erap Estrada. He played the lead in more than 100
movies, usually portraying a swashbuckling tough guy who
defends the poor against the corrupt establishment. He
also produced some 75 films. Estrada’s tenure as
president was short-lived, however, as a corruption
scandal erupted in October 2000 when a fellow politician
claimed that Estrada had accepted millions of dollars
worth of bribes. In November the Philippine Senate began
an impeachment trial, but it was abandoned after some
senators blocked the admission of evidence.
Contributions:
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
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, (born April 5, 1947, San
Juan, Philippines), Filipino politician who was president of
the Philippines (2001–10).
Arroyo’s father, Diosdado P. Macapagal, was president of
the Philippines from 1961 to 1965. Arroyo studied
economics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.,
where she began a lasting friendship with classmate and
future U.S. president Bill Clinton. After returning to the
Philippines and graduating magna cum laude from
Assumption College in Manila in 1968, Arroyo earned a
master’s degree in economics (1978) from Ateneo de
Manila University and a doctorate in economics (1986)
from the University of the Philippines in Quezon City.
Arroyo was a university professor when Pres. Corazon
Aquino appointed her undersecretary of trade and
industry in 1986. She won a seat in the Senate in 1992 and
was reelected in 1995 by a record 16 million votes. She
was elected vice president in 1998, garnering more votes
than the winner of the presidency, Joseph Estrada, who
named Arroyo secretary of social welfare and
development.
Contribution:
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
Benigno Aquino III, in full Benigno Simeon Cojuangco
Aquino III, also called Noynoy, (born February 8, 1960, Manila,
Philippines—died June 24, 2021, Manila), Filipino politician
who served as president of the Philippines (2010–16) and was
the scion of a famed political family. He was the son of
Corazon Aquino, who served as president of the Philippines
(1986–92), and political leader Benigno Simeon Aquino, Jr.—
themselves the children of politically connected families. The
elder Benigno, an opposition figure to Pres. Ferdinand Marcos
who was imprisoned when the younger Benigno was a child,
was released and allowed to go to the United States in 1980.
The following year the younger Benigno, after graduating
from Ateneo de Manila University with a bachelor’s degree in
economics, followed his family to Boston. His father returned
to the Philippines in 1983 intending to challenge Marcos for
the presidency but was assassinated immediately on arrival.
The family nevertheless returned to the country soon
afterward, and there the young Aquino worked for companies
including Philippine Business for Social Progress and Nike
Philippines.
Contributions:
Created the no "wang-wang" (street siren) policy
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
Oversaw 7.1% growth of the Philippine economy in 2012
Rodrigo Duterte, also called Digong, (born March 28, 1945,
Maasin, Philippines), Filipino politician who was president of the
Philippines from 2016 to 2022. Duterte earned a political
science degree (1968) from Lyceum of the Philippines
University in Manila and a law degree (1972) from San Beda
College. In 1977 he joined the Davao City prosecutor’s office,
where he remained until he was appointed (1986) vice mayor of
that city. On June 30, 2016, Duterte was inaugurated as
president of the Philippines. In his first six months in office,
more than 6,000 people were killed in Duterte’s “war on drugs.”
A fraction of those deaths occurred during police operations.
The overwhelming majority were extrajudicial killings by death
squads. Metro Manila’s funeral parlours were strained beyond
capacity, and hundreds of unidentified or unclaimed bodies
were interred in mass burials.
Contributions:
A bill for Federalism was filed. Still in the works but targeted
for 2020. Data and feedback collection from provinces
already dispersed.
A hotline for corruption complaints against government
personnel was installed (8888), and national emergency
hotline (911)
EO’s for Freedom of Information and a Task force for Media
Killings were Implemented.
An Eo to streamline developmental goals and DAR opens
gates to farmers
5 Generals were named as protectors of drug syndicates.
And the expose continues. Thousands of kilogram of
Meth/Shabu were confiscated.
Generals surrenders to PNP Chief Bato, investigation
continues. Thousands of drug users have surrendered for
rehabilitation programs.
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. born
September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the
initials PBBM or BBM, is a Filipino politician who is the
17th and current president of the Philippines. He
previously served as a senator from 2010 to 2016. He is
the second child and only son of 10th president and
dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and former first lady
Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
Marcos first studied at the Institución Teresiana
and La Salle Green Hills in Manila, where he obtained his
kindergarten and elementary education, respectively.
In 1970, Marcos was sent to England where he lived and
studied at Worth School, an all-boys Benedictine
institution in West Sussex.[3][35] He was studying there
when his father declared martial law throughout the
Philippines in 1972.
On June 30, 2022, at 12:00 noon PST, Marcos Jr.
took the oath of office as the 17th President of the
Philippines at the National Museum of the Philippines
and was administered the oath by Chief Justice
Alexander Gesmundo. At concurrent capacity, Marcos
appointed himself as Secretary of Agriculture, in order
to address inflation and personally monitor the food
and agricultural sectors, while enacting efforts boost
farm outputs through various loan programs, affordable
pricing measures, and machinery assistance. Marcos'
first executive order as president were abolishing two
offices, the Presidential Anti Corruption Commission
and the Office of the Cabinet Secretary.