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Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy
President of the First
Republic
January 23, 1899 – April
1,1901
First President of the
Philippines
General Emilio
Aguinaldo, a leader of the
Katipunan in the
province of Cavite, went on to
become the undisputed
head of the Philippine
Revolution, and consequently,
on January 23,
1899, was a elected the
first President of the
Philippines by the
Malolos Congress of the First
Republic. After having
exiled himself to Hong
Kong in accordance with
the Pact of Biac-na-Bato
that had ended the first
phase of the Revolution,
he had returned to the
archipelago to resume the
fight against Spain with
the help of the United
States of America,
proclaiming independence on
June 12, 1898. The
outbreak of the Philippine-
American War eventually
led, after many bloody
conflicts, to
Aguinaldo’s capture and surrender in
Palanan in the province
of Isabela on March 23,
1901. He formally
surrendered on April 1, made
an oath of allegiance to
the United States,
enjoined all his forces
to lay down their arms, and
dissolved the Republic
of the Philippines.
Manuel Luis Quezón y Molina
President of the
Commonwealth
November 15, 1935 –
August 1, 1944
Second President of the
Philippines
Famously described as
the “Paladin of Philippine
Freedom”, Quezon was
instrumental in the
passage of the
Tydings-McDuffie Act of the
United States Congress
which paved the way for
transition to an ultimately
independent Philippine
Republic. Resident
Commissioner in Washington
and founding President
of the Philippine Senate,
Quezon was elected
President of the transitory
Philippine Commonwealth
in 1935, and
re-elected in 1941. With
his government,
President Quezon was
forced to go into exiled in
the United States during
the imperial Japanese
occupation of the
country. The man who had
over his lifetime become
the dominant Philippine
political personality
for an entire generation then
served as a member of
the Pacific War Council
until his death in 1944.
José Paciano Laurel y García
President of the
Second Republic
October 14.1943 –
August 17, 1945
Third President
of the Philippines
After serving the
country in various elective
and appointive
posts before and during the Quezon
administration,
including Secretary of the Interior and
Justice of the
Supreme Court, Laurel was instructed
by Quezon to
remain in the Philippines during the
wartime
occupation. The Japanese Military
Administration
created the Executive Commission of
which Laurel was
a member, and when the Second
Republic of the
Philippines was proclaimed in 1943,
Laurel was
elected President by the National
Assembly, an opportunity
which he used to
ameliorate the
plight of his people under occupation.
With the
liberation of the country by the Allied forces
underway in
August 1944, Laurel and the seat of
government were
transferred to Baguio on
December 21.
Brought to Japan with the Japanese
retreat,
President Laurel proclaimed the dissolution
of the Second
Republic on August 17 during the
period of the
Japanese surrender to the Allies. After
the war, Jose P.
Laurel was elected Senator of the
Third Republic.
Sergio Osmeña y Suico
Second President
of the Commonwealth
August 1, 1944 –
May 28, 1946
Fourth President
of the Philippines
A lawyer and
newspaper editor, Osmeña became
the Governor of
Cebu in 1904. He resigned in 1906
and was elected
to the new Philippine Assembly,
where he served
as founding Speaker until his
election to the
Senate in 1922. He also founded
the Nacionalista
Party, which went on to dominate
domestic
politics. In 1935, he was elected
Vice-President of
the Philippine Commonwealth.
In exile with
Quezon, he succeeded as President
of the
Commonwealth upon the latter’s death in
1944. He famously
“returned” with General Douglas
MacArthur and
worked towards the rehabilitation
of the war-torn
country.
Manuel Acuña Roxas
Third President of the
Commonwealth
May 28, 1946 – July 4, 1946
First President of the
Third Republic
July 4, 1946 – April 15,
1948
Fifth President of the
Philippines
Roxas started his
political career in 1917 as
a member of the
municipal council of Capiz.
He then served as
governor from 1919 to
1921, after which he won
election to the
House of Representatives
and to the post of
Speaker. Roxas worked
closely with
Quezon and Osmeña in
leading the
campaign for national
independence. In
1934, Roxas became a
member of the
Constitutional
Convention that produced
the 1935 Constitution,
and during the
Pacific War, he was
forced to serve under
the Japanese-sponsored
government.
Defeating Osmeña in the
1946 elections,
Roxas became the last
Commonwealth
President and, only July
4, 1946, President of
the Third Republic.
Elpidio Rivera Quirino
Second President
of the Third Republic
April 17, 1948 –
December 30, 1953
Sixth President
of the Philippines
Quirino was
practicing lawyer until he
was elected as a
member of the House of
Representatives
in 1919, and in 1925,
Senator. He
collaborated with President
Quezon in
securing the passage of the
Tydings-McDuffie
Act in 1934. After serving
in the
Constitutional Convention of the
same year, he
became Secretary of
Finance and of
the Interior in the Common-
wealth
Government. After the war, in
which most of his
immediate family were
massacred, he was
elected Vice-President,
and becoming
President after Roxas’ sudden
death in 1948.
Quirino saw his mission as
restoring the
people’s faith in government,
as well as
solving problems of agrarian
unrest.
Ramón del Fierro Magsaysay
Third President
of the Third Republic
December 30, 1953
– March 17, 1957
Seventh President
of the Philippines
An automatic
mechanic, Magsaysay was
appointed
military governor of the province
of Zambales after
his outstanding service
as a guerilla
leader during the Pacific War.
He then served to
terms as Liberal
Party congressman
for Zambales before
being appointed
as Secretary of National
Defense by
President Quirino. He won the
Presidency under
the Nacionalista Party
during the
elections of 1953, running
against his
former boss. As President, he
was empowered to
purchase large estates
and distribute
land to tenant farmers.
Wildly popular as
a leader, Magsaysay
tragically died
in a plane crash on March
17, 1957 at the
age of 49.
Carlos Polistico Garcia
Fourth
President of the Third Republic
March
18,1957 – December 30, 1961
Eight
President of the Philippines
Garcia
was instrumental in pressing the
Philippine
case in the United States for war
damage
claims arising from the Pacific
War.
A former schoolteacher and wartime
guerilla
leader, he served as a governor of
the
province of Bohol, as well as Senator,
before
being elected Vice President in
1953.
He was concurrently appointed
Secretary
of Foreign Affairs. Garcia
succeeded
Magsaysay as President after
the
latter’s death, and was elected as
President
in his own right later that same
year.
Known for his austerity program, he
popularized
economic nationalism
through
the “Filipino First Policy.” President
Garcia
is also remembered for being a
poet
and a keen chess player.
Diosdado Pangan Macapagal
Fifth President
of the Third Republic
December 30 1961 –
December 30, 1965
Ninth President
of the Philippines
Known as the “poor
boy from Lubao” in the
province of
Pampanga , Macapagal was first
elected
Congressman in 1949. In the elections
of 1957, he became
Vice President under the
Liberal Party
ticket. Though not given a cabinet
portfolio by
President Garcia, who was from the
rival
Nacionalista Party, Macapagal worked to
familiarized himself
intimately with the concerns
of ordinary
people all over the country. In 1961,
he was elected as
President. During his term,he
famously
enacted comprehensive land reform.
He was affectionately
called the “Champion of
the Common Man”
because of his many
achievements in improving the
plight of the
masses and the poor.
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos
Sixth President
of the Third Republic
December 30, 1965
– June 30, 1981
First President
of the Fourth Republic
June 30, 1981 - February
25, 1986
Tenth President
of the Philippines
Marcos began his political
career as a technical
assistant to
President Manuel Roxas, after which he
served as a
member of the House of Representatives
for three terms
from 1949 to 1959. He also served as
Senator and later
Senate President from 1959, before
being elected as
President in 1965. In 1969 he won
re-election to an
unprecedented second full term.
Noted for his
focus on improving the country’s
infrastructure
with his wife, Imelda Romualdez
Marcos, President
Marcos later, invoking subversion
and rebellion,
placed the whole country under martial
law on September
21, 1972 and suspended
Congress. A new
constitution drafted by a
constitutional
convention was ratified in a referendum
in January 1973.
The amendments to this
Republic of the
Philippines in 1981 and a further term
for Marcos. From
1982 till 1986, the country
experienced
virtually absolute rule, which, after the
assassination of
opposition leader Benigno Aquino
Jr. in 1983,
ultimately led to the EDSA People Power
Revolution and,
on February 25, 1986, the
President was
overthrown and exiled to Hawaii,
where he died in
1989.
Maria Corazon Sumulong "Cory"
Cojuangco-Aquino
Second President of the Fourth
Republic
February 25, 1986 – March 25, 1986
President of the Provisional
Government
March 25, 1986 – February 2, 1987
First President of the Fifth
Republic
February 2, 1987 – June 30, 1992
Eleventh President of the
Philippines
The widow of Benigno Aquino Jr, was
suddenly cast into politics when
Ferdinand
Marcos called for snap elections in
1986,
which “Cory” is generally believed
to have
won, despite massive fraud against
her. She
was sworn into office after the
dramatic
events at EDSA and forced Marcos to
leave the
Philippines. Despite facing six
coup attempts,
domestic insurgency, disagreements
with the
United States over military bases,
and huge
foreign debts, President Aquino was
credited
primarily for restoring democracy
and human
rights in the Philippines,
safeguarding these
freedoms and rights as well as the
national
interest in a new constitution
promulgated on
February 2, 1987, which established
the Fifth
Republic of the Philippines.
Fidel
"Eddie" Valdez Ramos
Second President of the Fifth Republic
June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1998
Twelfth President of the Philippines
The President during the centennial of
Philippine Independence was also like
Aguinaldo. In 1986, General Ramos turned
his back on repressive autocracy and
embraced the democratic forces of EDSA,
with the help of others, bringing a critical
mass of the military along with him. Under
President Aquino, he became the Chief of
Staff of the Armed Forces and later Secretary
of National Defense. Nominated by Aquino,
he narrowly won the presidency in the
1992 elections. The energetic Ramos
proceeded to negotiate peace with Commu-
nist and Muslim rebels, tackle the prevailing
electric power crisis, and successfully effect
many social and economic reforms that
liberalized key sectors, boosted growth and
lifted the country’s international profile.