A DOZEN AND ONE PHILIPPINE PRESIDENTS
Twelve have passed, one is yet to make history…...
General Emilio F. Aguinaldo was only 29 years old when he became the head of the state.
Upon hid return to Cavite in May 1898 from voluntary exile in Hong Kong, he established a
dictatorship, only to change it a month later to a revolutionary government upon the advice of
Perhaps because of his youth or perhaps because of the innate weaknesses of his class,
he failed to storm Manila after marching from Kawit to Bacoor, thereby giving the American
invaders a chance to grow in strength. He is generally remembered only for the proclamation
of the Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite, on June 12, 1898. Of course, his short
term also marked the establishment of the Malolos Republic, which had its congress,
Nearly four decades later in 1935 he, and another contender, Bishop Gregorio Aglipay,
lost resoundingly in the polls to Manuel L. Quezon. Quezon thereby became president of the
Commonwealth Government; a government made possible by the Tydings-McDuffie Law,
Quezon, in his nine years as president--- three of which was spent in Washington, safely
away from Japanese hands--- is chiefly known for instituting Tagalog-based Pilipino as the
national language. Aside from this, however, he had to contend with nagging problems
handed down by the Spanish and American colonial periods. The programs he instituted tried
to bring about political stability, shore up national defense against the threat of Japanese
militarism, and strengthen and economy extremely dependent on the United States. His term
In 1943, in the middle of the Japanese colonizers in Manila convened a national assembly
created under a constitution they had earlier instructed Filipino officials to prepare and
ratify. This national assembly elected Jose P. Laurel President of the Republic that many
would come to call the Japanese Puppet Republic. Laurel’s greatest achievement as President
of that republic was to use his position to make life for compatriots, oppressed by a harsh
Sergio Osmeña, elected Vice President in 1935, succeeded Quezon to the Presidency
of the exiled government when the latter died in 1944. Osmeña returned by way of the
famous Leyte Landing with General Douglas MacArthur on October 20, 1944, but it was
only in February 1945 that MacArthur turned over the reins of the government to him,
Confronted with a country that was physically and economically debilitated, Osmeña’s
immediate task was to begin to rebuild. Food distribution centers were set up, price ceilings
instituted and, characteristically, financial aid sought from the United States. The pre-war
Osemña ran for re-election in 1946 but, relying too heavily in his record of 40 years of
honest and faithful service, refused to campaign. Consequently, he lost by a slim margin to
Unabashedly pro-American, Roxas’ greatest achievements were the ratification of the
Bell Trade Act, the inclusion of the Parity Amendment in the constitution, and the singing
When Roxas died at a heart attack at Clark Airbase in 1948, his Vice President,
Elpidio Quirino, took over. Quirino managed to retain the presidency after clobbering Laurel
Aside from breaking the back of the Huk movement with the aid of a ferocious military
machinery and the suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus, the Quirino administration
is known for the ratification of the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty, the growth of industrial
ventures, expanding irrigation, improvement of the road system, establishment of rural
banking and setting up of the Central Bank. Despite his avowed aim of regaining the people’s
faith and confidence in government, he was roundly defeated in his election bid in 1953 by
Ramon F. Magsaysay, called ‘the Guy’ by an adoring public, is credited for the
success of Quirino’s peace and order campaign, which strangled a Huk dissidence rooted in
agrarian unrest in Central Luzon. When he died in a plane crash in 1957, his Vice President,
Carlos P. Garcia, took over. Garcia went on to win the 1957 election, anchoring his
administration on a program of austerity. His administration was noted for its Filipino First
Policy, an attempt to initiate economic independence through dollar exchange controls,
Garcia, much maligned in the press due to his perceived anti-American policy, was thwarted
Macapagal is principally remembered for the resetting the celebration of Independence
Day from July 4th to the more politically appropriate June 12th, when Aguinaldo declared
Philippine Independence from Spain. Aside from this, however, his administration is marked
by the initiation of a socio-economic program to improve the lot of the poor, the launching of
his version of Agrarian reform, efforts to combat misdeeds in government, and lastly, a partial
In 1965, he lost his reelection bid to Ferdinand E. Marcos. Marcos stayed in power
for a full of twenty years. Many will remember his term for it’s stupendous infrastructure
development; others for hounding his countrymen out of the country or into the countryside.
Scheming at least four times during his 20-year rule to perpetuate not only himself but also
his dynasty and cronies in the comfort and largesse of overweening power, he finally lost out
Corazon C. Aquino ‘s main qualification for the presidency was being the widow of
Benigno Aquino, Jr., the presidential hopeful whose body had been blotted out of the
political roll in one fell swoop one fretful day in 1983. In her own words the year before she
gracefully ---indeed Thankfully --- bowed out of power, she summarized her administration’s
In 1992, Fidel V. Ramos won the presidential election, the twelfth president is known for
his vision of the Philippines 2000. He also raised the Philippinesas a Tiger economy in Asia.
The recently elected President Joseph E. Estrada, on its way making history...
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