Philippine Presidential Inaugurations Quick Facts

On June 30, 2016 is the 16th Presidential Inauguration and Oath Taking of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as well as the 14th Vice-Presidential Inauguration and Oath Taking of Vice-President Maria Leonor Gerona Robredo.

Here are some quick facts about Philippine Presidential Inauguration:

1

   * This is the first time a president-elect and vice president-elect will be sworn into office separately.
   * There has been one inauguration held in front of the Rizal Monument: 1946, July. This was the Roxas inauguration; he re-took his oath as part of independence ceremonies.
   * Only one president delivered his inaugural address on a day other than the day of his swearing in: Osmeña delivered his inaugural address before the Cabinet on August 10, 1944; he was sworn in on August 1, 1944.
   * Only one president took his oath in Spanish: Emilio Aguinaldo in 1899.

2

   * Inaugurals held in Rizal Ceremonial Hall
         - Marcos in 1986 and Duterte in 2016; three decades apart.
   * Inaugurals held in Malolos
         - Aguinaldo in 1899 and Estrada in 1998.
   * Inaugural addresses delivered at the Quirino the Grandstand, while the swearing-in took place elsewhere
         - Estrada in 1998, after being sworn in at Malolos, Arroyo in 2004, before being sworn in at Cebu City.
    * Times the president took the oath of office abroad: Quezon in November 1943, when the government-in-exile was extended by congressional resolution; Sergio Osmeña in August 1944, when he succeeded to the presidency of the government-in-exile.
    * Presidents who took their oath on two bibles
        - Magsaysay and Marcos took their oath on two bibles each, in 1953 and 1965. Magsaysay’s came from his mother’s and father’s families; Marcos’ were from his father and the other, a gift of his wife.

3

    * Inaugurals held in front of the Legislative Building (now National Museum)
        - 1935 (Quezon), 1943 (Laurel), 1946 (Roxas, in May)
    * Presidents who attended the inaugural of their duly-elected successor:
        - Osmeña (1946, the first handover of power from one administration to its elected successor); C. Aquino (1992, to signify the completion of the restoration of the democratic process); Ramos (1998 as part of the Centennial celebrations)
    
     Rodrigo Roa Duterte will be the third president to be sworn in by a Filipino associate justice of the Supreme Court.

4

    * Number of presidents who took their oaths either on June 30 or December 30
    * Times presidents have been sworn in at the Palace: 1948 (Quirino, after Roxas died), 1957 (Garcia, after Magsaysay died), 1986 (Marcos, after Snap Election), 2016 (Duterte)
    * Most number of inaugural addresses: Marcos (1965, 1969, 1981, 1986). Second-most is Quezon (1935, 1941, 1943); Quirino (1948 and 1949), Garcia (March and December, 1957), Arroyo (2001 and 2004) each delivered two inaugural addresses each.
    * Four vice presidents who succeeded to the presidency also took their oaths on dates different from the traditional inaugural date: Osmeña (August 1, 1944); Quirino (April 17, 1948), Garcia (March 18, 1957), Arroyo (January, 2001).
    * Most number of times a president has taken the oath of office: four, for Marcos (1965, 1969, 1981 and 1986);  followed by three, for Quezon (1935 in Manila, 1941 in Corregidor, 1943 in Washington, D.C., also before three different individuals); Quirino (1948 in Malacañan Palace, 1949 at the Independence Grandstand); Garcia (1957, twice: upon succession in March in Malacañan Palace and in December at the Independence Grandstand); Arroyo (2001 in Quezon City, 2004 in Cebu).

5

    * Republics (1899, 1943, 1946, 1981 and 1987) and 1 Commonwealth (1935)
    Presidents who did not attend the inaugural of their duly-elected successor
        The tradition of the outgoing chief executive departing from the inaugural of his or her successor after the ride together from Malacañan Palace to the inaugural venue, began with President Quirino and continued for the premartial law era; it was restored in 2010. Thus: Quirino (1953), Garcia (1961), Macapagal (1965), Arroyo (2010), B. Aquino III (2016: If the 2010 practice is observed)
    * Rodrigo Roa Duterte will be the fifth president not sworn in by a chief justice (Quezon in 1943, Osmeña in 1944, C. Aquino in 1986, B. Aquino III in 2010, and Rodrigo Roa Duterte in 2016.
    * Laurel, Marcos, Ramos, Estrada, B. Aquino III took their oath in Tagalog/Filipino.

6

    * Inaugurals held outside Manila
        - 1899 Aguinaldo (Malolos); 1941 Quezon (Corregidor); 1986 C. Aquino (San Juan), 1998 Estrada (Malolos), 2001 Arroyo (EDSA Shrine), 2004 Arroyo (Cebu)
    * Times a Chief Justice has not administered oath of office
        - 1899 (Aguinaldo: oath administered by Speaker), 1943 (Quezon, administered by U.S. Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter), 1944 (administered by U.S. Associate Justice Hugo Jackson) 1986 (administered by Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee), 2010 (administered by Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales), 2016 (administered by Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes)
    * Presidents inaugurated on December 30
        - Six presidents (Quezon (1941), Quirino (1949), Magsaysay (1953), Garcia (1957), Macapagal (1961), Marcos (1965 and 1969) had inaugurals on December 30. Starting with Quezon’s second inaugural in 1941 until Marcos’ second inaugural in 1969 (with the exception of the special election called in 1946), presidents were inaugurated on Rizal Day, December 30. President Marcos in 1981 began the practice of inaugurals on June 30.
    * Rodrigo Roa Duterte will be the sixth president to take his oath of office on June 30: Marcos, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo, B. Aquino III being the others.

7

    * The number of presidents-elect who fetched their predecessors from Malacañan Palace for the drive to the inaugural venue (Roxas and Osmeña in 1946; Magsaysay and Quirino in 1953; Macapagal and Garcia in 1961; Marcos and Macapagal in 1965; Ramos and C. Aquino in 1992; Estrada and Ramos in 1998; B. Aquino III and Arroyo in 2010).

8

    * Shortest inaugural address at a regular inaugural
        - Eight (8) minutes is the shortest delivery length of an inaugural address at a regular inaugural. This was delivered by President Ramon Magsaysay in 1953. The addresses of Quirino and Garcia upon the death of their predecessors, and C. Aquino’s address in 1986 were very brief but not regular inaugurals.
    * Presidents elected to a six-year term
        - Quezon, C. Aquino, Marcos (1981), Estrada, Arroyo, Ramos, B. Aquino III, Duterte
    * Decades since first ceremonial climbing of the stars at Malacañan Palace
        - It has been 81 years, to be exact, since the first ceremonial climbing of the stairs at Malacañan Palace–signifying that the chief executive was the freely-elected head of the Filipino people, one pledged to govern them with justice in contrast to the appointed colonial governors who formerly inhabited the Palace.
    * Number who did not swear on a bible
        - Aguinaldo (1899), Quezon (1935, 1941, 1943), Laurel (1943), Osmeña (1944), Roxas (May and July, 1946), Quirino [1949: But in the swearing-in after their predecessors died, Quirino (April 1948) and Garcia (March 1957) did not use a bible, either], and Marcos (1986).

9

    * Inaugurals at Quirino Grandstand (formerly known as Independence Grandstand)
       - 1949 (Quirino), 1953 (Magsaysay), 1957 (Garcia), 1961 (Macapagal) , 1965, 1969, 1981 (Marcos), 1992 (Ramos), 2010 (B. Aquino III)
    * Number of Presidents who swore on a bible
        - Magsaysay (1953), Garcia (1957), Macapagal (1961), Marcos (1965, 1969, 1981 but not in 1986), C. Aquino (1986), Ramos (1992), Estrada (1998), Arroyo (2001, 2004), B. Aquino III (2010: the same bible used by his mother in 1986).

10

    * Rodrigo Roa Durterte is the tenth to have been proclaimed president-elect by the legislature: the first was Manuel L. Quezon, followed by Manuel Roxas, Ramon Magsaysay, Diosdado Macapagal, Ferdinand E. Marcos, Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Benigno S. Aquino III. While Congress certified the election of Elpidio Quirino and Carlos P. Garcia, they had succeeded into office previously, and were already serving as president when elected to a full term: thus, were not referred to as presidents-elect. Aguinaldo and Laurel were not elected president in a national election, they were made president by a vote of the national assembly and thus never president-elect. Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency by means of the People Power Revolution and was not proclaimed by the Batasan Pambansa.
    * Rodrigo Roa Duterte, if he takes his oath on a bible, will be the tenth president to swear on a bible. Magsaysay was the first to take his oath on a bible: Garcia, Macapagal, Marcos, C. Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo, B. Aquino III, followed suit. Aguinaldo, Quezon, Laurel, Osmeña, Roxas and Quirino (belonging to generations closer to the revolutionary era, did not take their oaths on a bible). Magsaysay and Marcos took their oath on two bibles each in 1953 and 1965.
    * Presidents who took their oath of office in English: Quezon, Osmeña, Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia, Macapagal, Aquino, and Arroyo took their oath in English. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is also expected to take his oath in English.

11

    * Number of Presidents who were sworn in by a Chief of Justice
         - Quezon (1935 and 1941), Laurel (1943), Roxas (1946, May and July), Quirino (1948 and 1949), Magsaysay (1953), Garcia (1957 March and December), Macapagal (1961), Marcos (1965, 1969, 1981 and 1986), Ramos (1992), Estrada (1998), Arroyo (2001 and 2004)
    * Number of Presidents inaugurated in Manila
        - Quezon (1935), Laurel (1943), Roxas (1946), Quirino (1949), Magsaysay (1953), Garcia (1957), Macapagal (1961), Marcos (1965), etc.), Ramos (1992), Aquino (2010), Duterte (2016)

12

    * Time of day the President-elect takes his oath as President
        - The President-elect takes his oath as President at 12:00 p.m. on the 30th day of June. Ideally, as per tradition, the incumbent would already be at home by the time the oath is taken to mark his reverting to being an ordinary citizen.
    * Presidents who undertook the ritual climbing of the stairs of Malacañan Palace: Quezon, Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia, Macapagal, Marcos, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo, B. Aquino III. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is also expected to undertake this ritual. Four did not: Aguinaldo (no such ritual, and his inaugural was not in Manila) Laurel (to avoid comparisons to the Commonwealth), Osmeña (succeeded into office overseas), C. Aquino (assumed office under revolutionary circumstances).

14

    * Administrations have followed the model of inaugural established in 1935. Exceptions would be Aguinaldo (before the model was introduced).
    * Robredo is 14th Vice President because neither Aguinaldo nor Laurel had a vice presidency under their constitution.

15

    * The final official act of the 15th Congress was when the Senate President read the proclamation announcing the results of the 2010 elections, a practice last previously undertaken in 1969.

16

    * Duterte is 16th president because we count the administrations as starting with Aguinaldo in 1899 and including the Commonwealth and the 2nd Republic.

19

    * Number of times a Chief Justice has administered the presidential oath of office
        1935, 1941, 1943, 1946 (twice, in May and July), 1948, 1949, 1953, 1957 (twice, March and December), 1961, 1965, 1981, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2001, 2004


To view the photos of the past Philippine Presidential Inaugurations, check out the link below:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/govph/albums/72157655443855516

Information Taken From:

Philippine Presidential Museum and Library - http://malacanang.gov.ph/77352-quick-facts-on-inaugurals/


Photo Source:

The Quadrate Wordpress Blog - https://thequadrate.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/president-benigno-noynoy-aquino-iii-is-philippines-15th-president-photos/ 

Presidency and Vice-Presidency By The Numbers: Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Maria Leonor Gerona Robredo

Here's are the things you need to know about our upcoming 16th President and 14th Vice-President of the Philippines.

President Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte

From the time Congress proclaims a candidate as the duly-elected president, the candidate becomes known as the President-elect.

The Constitution is clear and specific: the title of the chief executive is “President of the Philippines,” and takes his oath of office as such, although in certain cases involving formal diplomatic usage, “President of the Republic of the Philippines” is used for diplomatic documents. The honorific for the President of the Philippines is “His/Your Excellency,” but the proper form of address is “Mr. President.”

Duterte’s winning margin was at 38.6% as of May 13, 2016. He was the sixth to win by plurality in presidential history since the restoration of democracy, and under the 1987 Constitution.  The biggest first-term landslide was Magsaysay in 1953 (68.9%), followed by Quezon in 1935 (67.99%). The biggest second term landslide was Quezon in 1941 (81.78%) followed by Marcos in 1969 (61.5%).


Fifth Republic President                 Percentage of Votes Won

Fidel V. Ramos                                         23.58%
Joseph Ejercito Estrada                            39.86%
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo                        39.99%
Benigno S. Aquino III                              42.08%                  



Aside from being the oldest duly elected President in the history of the Philippines at age 71 and making the biggest leap from City Mayor to President, here are some more statistical facts about the Philippines' next President:

Rodrigo Roa Duterte is the first:


First (1st):

    - President from Mindanao and Davao del Sur. Luzon has produced the most number of presidents at 12: Emilio Aguinaldo (Cavite), Manuel L. Quezon (Tayabas), Jose P. Laurel (Batangas), Elpidio Quirino (Ilocos Sur), Ramon Magsaysay (Zambales), Diosdado Macapagal (Pampanga), Ferdinand Marcos (Ilocos Norte), Corazon C. Aquino (Tarlac), Fidel V. Ramos (Pangasinan), Joseph Ejercito Estrada (San Juan, Metro Manila), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (Pampanga), and Benigno S. Aquino III (Tarlac). Visayas has produced three: Sergio Osmeña (Cebu), Manuel Roxas (Capiz), and Carlos P. Garcia (Bohol).
    - Agusanon to become Philippine President (her mother is from Agusan del Norte)
    - President born in Maasin, Leyte.
    - City Mayor to become the President. Davao has been a chartered city since 1936.
    - President to be elected in his 70s. He is 71 years old, the oldest to assume the Presidency.
    - President to be nationally elected without a previous national position. Emilio Aguinaldo was not popularly elected, as he was only elected by the Malolos Congress in September 1898.
    - City prosecutor (fiscal) to become President. He was Special Counsel for the City Prosecution Office of Davao City (1977 – 1979), Fourth Assistant City Prosecutor (1979 – 1981), Third Assistant City Prosecutor (1981 – 1983), and Second Assistant City Prosecutor (1983 – 1986). He was, however, the third fiscal elected to the presidency. Manuel L. Quezon served as Provincial Fiscal of Mindoro in 1903 and Provincial Fiscal of Tayabas in 1904. Sergio Osmeña was Provincial Fiscal of Cebu from 1904 to 1905.
    - President who previously served as a vice mayor (OIC in 1986 and elected in 2010).
    - President to have studied in San Beda College of Law. He obtained his Law degree in 1972.
    - President to have studied in the Lyceum of the Philippines University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, Major in Political Science in 1968.
    - President to have his marriage annulled. He was married to Elizabeth Abellana Zimmerman from 1973 to 2001. His current partner is Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña.
    - President from Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-LABAN).
    - Duterte and Robredo form the first geographically “balanced” (North-South or Luzon-Visayas/Mindanao) President and Vice President in the Fifth Republic, with Duterte, who is from Davao City, representing the South while Robredo, a native of Camarines Sur, represents the North. However, they ran on different party tickets. The last geographically balanced pair was the Nacionalista Party ticket of Ferdinand E. Marcos (Ilocos Norte) and Fernando Lopez (Iloilo) in 1965.
    - President who rides motorcycles.

Second (2nd):

    - Cebuano to become President: his father, Vicente G. Duterte, was a lawyer from Cebu, while his mother Soledad Roa was a teacher and activist from Agusan del Norte. The last time the Philippines had a Cebuano President was 70 years ago, when Osmeña’s term ended in 1946.  He had assumed presidency in 1944 when he succeeded to the presidency following Quezon’s death from tuberculosis.
    - Non-resident of Metro Manila to be President. The first was Emilio Aguinaldo, who never resided in Provincia de Manila (Metro Manila area), having been occupied by the Americans since the early days of the American Colonial Period in 1898. All the others presidents actually lived in Metro Manila.

If he is inaugurated in the Ceremonial Hall:

    - President to be inaugurated in the Ceremonial Hall. The first was Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1986, before he fled to the United States.

Third (3rd):

    - Mayor to be elected President. Emilio Aguinaldo was the first, as capitan municipal of Cavite El Viejo (now Kawit, Cavite) in 1896, and the second was Joseph Ejercito Estrada, who was Mayor of San Juan from 1969 to 1986. Duterte was mayor of Davao City from 1986 to 1998, from 2001 to 2010, and from 2013 to 2016.

Fourth (4th):

    - President to have a March birthday (Mar. 28). The other three were Laurel (Mar. 9), Ramos (Mar. 18), and Aguinaldo (Mar. 22). Two presidents were born in January: Roxas (Jan. 1) and C. Aquino (Jan. 25); one in February: B. Aquino (Feb. 8); two in April: Arroyo (Apr. 5) and Estrada (Apr. 19); two in August: Quezon (Aug. 19) and Magsaysay (Aug. 31); three in September: Osmeña (Sep. 9), Marcos (Sep. 11), and Macapagal (Sep. 28); two in November: Garcia (Nov. 4) and Quirino (Nov. 16).
    - President to have children in government positions while he is the President. Inday Sara Duterte, the presidential daughter, was reelected as Mayor of Davao for 2016 to 2019. The first president to have children in a government post was Ferdinand E. Marcos, who had Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the governor of Ilocos Norte from 1983 to 1986 under his presidency. At the same time, Marcos’ wife, Imelda Marcos, was also governor of Metro Manila from 1975 to 1986. Joseph Ejercito Estrada had his son  Jinggoy Estrada as Mayor of San Juan from 1998- 2001. Gloria Macapagal – Arroyo had his son Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo as Representative of the 2nd District of Pampanga from 2004 – 2010 and Vice Governor of Pampanga from 2001- 2004.
    - Single President upon entering office. The other single Presidents were: Elpidio Quirino, Corazon Aquino and Benigno S. Aquino III.

Fifth (5th):

    - President to enroll in the Ateneo school system. Other presidents who studied in the Ateneo were: Ramos (Master in Business Administration, 1980), Estrada (Ateneo de Manila High School, attended until 1953), Macapagal- Arroyo (Master of Arts in Economics, 1978), and Aquino III (Bachelor of Arts in Economics, 1981). Duterte attended the Ateneo de Davao University High School.

Sixth (6th):

    - President of the Fifth Republic. Aguinaldo was the lone President of the First Republic; Quezon was the first President of the Commonwealth and Roxas was the last; Laurel was lone President of the Second Republic; Roxas was the first President of the Third Republic and Marcos, the last; Marcos was the first President of the Fourth Republic and Corazon Aquino, briefly served under the Fourth Republic but proclaimed a revolutionary government. The Fifth Republic came into being with the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, and Corazon Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo, and Aquino III have been presidents of the Fifth Republic.
    - The previous republics are the First (Malolos, 1899-1901); Second (The Japanese Occupation, 1943- 1945); the Third (from independence in 1946 to 1972); the Fourth (the “New Republic” proclaimed in 1981).
    - President to be elected by plurality. Chronologically, the first was Garcia in 1957 with 41.3%. The rest were Ramos with 23.58% (the lowest plurality ever) in 1992; Estrada, 39.86% in 1998; Arroyo, 39.99% in 2004; and B. Aquino, 42.08% in 2010.
    - President to take his oath of office on 30th of June. Other Presidents include Ferdinand E. Marcos (1981), Fidel V. Ramos (1992), Joseph Ejercito Estrada (1998), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (2004) and Benigno S. Aquino III (2010).
    - He received almost 16 million votes (38.6%); his winning margin was over 6 million (15.2%).
    - President who does not smoke. The other non-smoking Presidents were: Sergio Osmeña, Elpidio Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay, Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino. Presidents Manuel L. Quezon, Manuel Roxas, Carlos P. Garcia, Joseph Estrada and Benigno S. Aquino were public smokers while Presidents Emilio Aguinaldo, Jose P. Laurel, Fidel V. Ramos, Diosdado Macapagal and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo were occasional smokers.

Seventh (7th):

    - President whose father served in a Philippine government post. His father Vicente Duterte was Mayor of Danao in Cebu (1946), Governor of Davao (1958-1969), and was Cabinet Secretary for General Services for President Ferdinand E. Marcos (1967). Other presidents who have had fathers in Philippine government posts were: Jose P. Laurel (father: Sotero Laurel, Malolos Congress, 1898); Ferdinand Marcos (father: Mariano Marcos, Congressman, 1925-1931); Corazon Aquino (father: Jose Cojuangco, Congressman, 1934-1946); Fidel Ramos (father: Narciso Ramos, Assemblyman later Congressman, 1934-1946, and Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 1965-1968), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (father: Diosdado Macapagal, Congressman, 1949-1957; Vice President, 1957-1961; President, 1961-1965); Benigno Aquino III (father: Benigno Aquino Jr., Special Assistant to President Ramon Magsaysay, 1954; Special Assistant to President Carlos P. Garcia, 1957; Special Assistant to President Diosdado Macapagal, 1965; Mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac, 1955-1959; Vice Governor of Tarlac, 1959-1961; Governor of Tarlac, 1961-1967; Senator, 1967-1972).

Eighth (8th):

    - President to be elected in a six-year term in accordance with the constitutions that empowered them. The other presidents are Manuel L. Quezon (November 15, 1935 – 1941), Corazon Aquino (February 25, 1986 – June 30, 1992), Fidel V. Ramos (June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1998), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (June 30, 2004 – June 30, 2010), and Benigno S. Aquino III (June 30, 2010 to June 30, 2016). The presidents who were elected in a six-year term but did not get to finish them, were Ferdinand E. Marcos, who under the amended 1973 Constitution in 1981 would have served until 1987 but shortened his term to run in 1986 and was ousted in 1986 by the EDSA People Power Revolution, and Joseph Ejercito Estrada who, under the 1987 Constitution, would have served until 2004, when he stepped down under pressures from EDSA II.

Ninth (9th):

    - Lawyer president in history and the first lawyer president in the Fifth Republic. Other lawyer presidents include Manuel L . Quezon, who passed the Philippine Bar Exam in 1903, Jose P. Laurel in 1915, Sergio Osmeña in 1903, Manuel Roxas in 1913, Elpidio Quirino in 1915, Carlos P. Garcia in 1923, Diosdado Macapagal in 1936, and Ferdinand Marcos in 1939. Duterte passed the Bar in 1972.

Tenth (10th):

    - To be proclaimed President-elect by the Legislature.
    - Congressman to become President. The other presidents who served as Representatives in the Lower House were: Manuel L. Quezon (1907-1909), Osmeña (1907-1922), Roxas (1922-1934), Quirino (1919-1922), Magsaysay (1946-1950), Garcia (1925-1931), Macapagal (1949-1957), Marcos (1949-1959), and B. Aquino III (1998-2007). Arroyo is the only President to serve as Representative in the Lower House after her presidency (2010-2016).
    - President who was inaugurated into office without having been Vice President first. Aguinaldo was first and only President of the First Republic, Quezon was first President of the Commonwealth, Laurel was the first and only President of the Second Republic, Roxas was first president of the Third Republic, Magsaysay was Secretary of National Defense before becoming president, C. Aquino was a Housewife , F. Ramos was Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and B. Aquino III was a Senator.

Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo

Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo is the fourteenth vice president of the Philippines. The vice-presidency was constitutionally established under the 1935 Constitution, and the line of vice-presidents begins with Sergio Osmena, elected to the position in 1935 and again in 1941. The vice-presidency was abolished under the 2nd Republic and during martial law, and then formally restored in the 4th and 5th Republics.

The list of vice-presidents is therefore 14: Sergio Osmeña, Elpidio Quirino, Fernando Lopez, Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal, Emmanuel Pelaez, Fernando Lopez, Salvador H. Laurel, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Teofisto Guingona Jr., Manuel de Castro Jr., Jejomar Binay, and Leni Robredo. Lopez was the third and seventh vice-president because he was elected to the position under two different administrations (in 1949 and 1965 and again in 1969).

Here are some more statistical facts about the Philippines' next Vice President:

Leni Gerona Robredo is the first:


First (1st):

    - Vice President to hail from the Bicol Region (Camarines Sur).
    - Vice President to have studied in the University of Nueva Caceres College of Law. She obtained her Law Degree in 1992.

Second (2nd):

    - Widow who was elected as Vice President. Elpidio Quirino was the first widower to be elected in the post.
    - Woman vice president. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the first, under the Estrada presidency from 1998 to 2001.
    - Vice President who held both Degrees in Law and Economics. Leni Robredo finished her Economics Degree from the University of the Philippines in 1986 and obtained her Law Degree from the University of Nueva Caceres in 1992. The first Vice President who was both lawyer and economist was Diosdado Macapagal who finished his Law Degree (1936), Master of Laws (1941), Doctor of Civil Laws (1947) and his Doctorate in Economics (1957) from the University of Santo Tomas.
    - Robredo won by the second narrowest margin of victory ever recorded for a national post in Philippine electoral history, beating Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. by 0.5% or around 200,000 votes (based on the partial and unofficial count of PPCRV). The slimmest margin of victory ever recorded was during the 1965 vice presidential elections, when Nacionalista candidate Fernando Lopez won against Liberal ticket Gerardo “Gerry” Roxas by 0.4% or less than 27,000 votes.

Third (3rd):

    - Vice President to obtain an economics degree. Leni Robredo finished her Economics Degree from the University of the Philippines in 1986. The other Vice Presidents who held a Degree in Economics were:  Diosdado Macapagal who finished his doctorate of economics from the University of Santo Tomas in 1957. And his daughter, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who obtained her economics degree from the  Assumption College (1968); Masters of Arts in Economics from the  Ateneo de Manila University (1978) and her Doctorate in Economics from the University of the Philippines (1985).
    - Vice President to be nationally elected without a previous national position prior to the vice presidency, Robredo was elected Representative of the 3rd District of Camarines Sur (2013- 2016), Binay was Mayor of Makati City (2007 – 2010), and Macapagal was Representative of the First District of Pampanga (1949-1957).

Fourth (4th):

    - Vice President who was born in the month of April. Leni Robredo was born on April 23, 1965. The other Vice Presidents who were born in the month of April were: Fernando Lopez (April 13, 1904), Joseph Estrada (April 19, 1937), and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (April 5, 1947).
    - Youngest Vice President in Philippine history. The youngest person to be elected in the Vice Presidency was Fernando Lopez at the age of 45 in 1949. He was followed by Emmanuel Pelaez (46), Diosdado Macapagal (47), and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Leni Robredo at the age of 51. The oldest to have been Vice President was Teofisto Guingona Jr., when he was appointed to the Vice Presidency in 2001 at the age of 72.

Fifth (5th):

    - Vice President who was not the running mate of an elected President. The first was Diosdado Macapagal, the Liberal Vice President of Nacionalista President Carlos P. Garcia back in 1957. The other pairs were Fidel V. Ramos (Lakas-NUCD) and Joseph Ejercito Estrada (NPC), Estrada (PMP) and Arroyo (Lakas-NUCD), and Benigno S. Aquino III (LP) and Jejomar Binay (PDP-Laban)
    - Vice President from the Liberal Party. The other Liberal Party members who have won the Vice Presidency were: Elpidio Quirino (1946), Fernando Lopez (1949), Diosdado Macapagal (1957) and Emmanuel Pelaez (1961).
    - Vice President elected who was not the running mate of the elected President. The other Vice Presidents elected who were not the running mates of the President-elect were: Diosdado Macapagal, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Jejomar Binay.

Sixth (6th):

    - Vice President who served previously as member of the House of Representatives. Other vice presidents were: Osmeña (Representative of the 2nd District of Cebu, 1907 – 1922), Quirino (Representative of the 1st District of Ilocos, 1919 – 1922), Garcia (Representative of the third district of Bohol, 1925-1931), Macapagal (Representative of the 1st District of Pampanga, 1949 -1957), and Pelaez (Representative of Misamis Oriental, 1949 – 1953). Robredo was elected Representative of the 3rd District of Camarines Sur from 2013  to 2016.

Seventh (7th):

    - Vice president who graduated from the University of the Philippines System. Other vice presidents from the UP were: Quirino (Bachelor of Laws, 1915), Macapagal (Associate in Arts,1933), Pelaez (Associate in Arts, 1933). Laurel (Bachelor of Laws, 1952), Macapagal-Arroyo (Doctorate in Economics, 1985), Binay (Bachelor of Laws, 1967). Robredo graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1986 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.
    Vice President to be elected to a six-year term. The other Vice Presidents were: Sergio Osmeña, Salvador Laurel, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Manuel de Castro Jr. and Jejomar Binay.

Eighth (8th):

    - Vice President to win by plurality. Chronologically, the first was Diosdado Macapagal (46.6% in the 1957 Elections), followed by Pelaez with 38% in 1961, Lopez with 48.1% in 1965, Estrada with 33% in 1992, Macapagal-Arroyo with 50% in 1998, de Castro with 49.8% in 2004, and Binay with 41.7% in 2010.
    Eight months after her declaration of candidacy, Leni Robredo will be inaugurated as the 14th Vice President of the Philippines on June 30, 2016.

Ninth (9th):

    - Lawyer vice president in history and the fourth lawyer vice president in the Fifth Republic. Other lawyer vice presidents were: Sergio Osmeña (University of Santo Tomas 1903),  Elpidio Quirino (University of the Philippines, 1915), Fernando Lopez (University of Santo Tomas, 1925), Carlos P. Garcia (Philippine Law School, 1923), Diosdado Macapagal (University of Santo Tomas, 1936), Emmanuel Pelaez (University of Manila, 1938), Salvador Laurel (University of the Philippines, 1952), Teofisto Guingona Jr. (Ateneo de Manila University, 1953), Jejomar Binay (University of the Philippines, 1967. Robredo obtained her law degree from the University of Nueva Caceres in 1992.

    - Vice President who was born in Luzon. The other Vice Presidents from Luzon were: Elpidio Quirino (Ilocos Sur), Diosdado Macapagal (Pampanga), Salvador Laurel (Manila), Joseph Estrada (Manila), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (Manila), Teofisto Guingona (Rizal), Manuel de Castro (Oriental Mindoro) and Jejomar Binay (Manila).

Tenth (10th):

    Vice President to be proclaimed Vice President-elect by the legislature: the first was Sergio Osmeña, followed by Elpidio Quirino, Fernando Lopez, Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Manuel de Castro Jr. and Jejomar Binay.


Information Taken From:

Philippine Presidential Museum and Library - http://malacanang.gov.ph/77212-presidency-and-vice-presidency-by-the-numbers-duterte-robredo/


Photo Source:

Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/140660295978242/photos/?tab=album&album_id=368030976574505

Malacañan Palace Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/153052724723009/photos/?tab=album&album_id=289115291116751

Filipino Presidents

Benigno Simeon Toribio Cojuangco Aquino III

15th President of the Philippines

(born 1960; president 2010 - present)

The Bachelor President; The Abnormal President

        Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III[1] (pronounced /bɛˈnigno aˈkino/ in most Philippine languages, /bɛˈnɪgnoʊ əˈkinoʊ/ in English); also known as Noynoy Aquino or PNoy, is the fifteenth and current President of the Philippines. Aquino is a fourth-generation politician: his great-grandfather, Servillano "Mianong" Aquino, served as a delegate to the Malolos Congress; his grandfather, Benigno Aquino, Sr., held several legislative positions from 1919–44; and his parents were former President Corazon Aquino and former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. Aquino is a member of the Liberal Party.In the Liberal Party, Aquino held various positions such as Secretary General and Vice President for Luzon. Aquino is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Liberal Party. He is the first and only bachelor President and also the only autistic and mentally challenged President elected into office.

       Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Cojuangco Aquino III was born on February 8, 1960 in Manila. Aquino is the third of the five children of Benigno Aquino, Jr., who was then the Vice Governor of Tarlac province, and Corazon Aquino. He has four sisters, Maria Elena (Ballsy) Aquino-Cruz, Aurora Corazon (Pinky) Aquino-Abellada, Victoria Eliza (Viel) Aquino-Dee, and Kristina Bernadette (Kris) Aquino-Yap.

        From 1965 to 1981, Aquino attended Ateneo de Manila University from elementary to college. Eleven months after Aquino's father, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr., was arrested and detained for "advocating the overthrow of the government by force or violence", Ninoy was brought before a military tribunal in Moran Hall, Fort Bonifacio in August 1973. On August 25, 1973, Ninoy wrote a letter to his son, Noynoy from Fort Bonifacio at 11:10 p.m., giving advice to his son;

"The only advice I can give you: Live with honor and follow your conscience.

There is no greater nation on earth than our Motherland. No greater people than our own. Serve them with all your heart, with all your might and with all your strength.

Son, the ball is now in your hands."

       In 1981, Aquino graduated from Ateneo de Manila University, earning a Bachelor's degree in Economics. Shortly after graduation, he joined his family in Newton, Massachusetts, in exile.

       In 1983, after two years in exile in the United States, Aquino returned to the Philippines with his family, shortly after the assassination of his father on August 21, 1983. He had a short tenure as a member of the Philippine Business for Social Progress, working as an assistant of the executive director of PBSP. He later joined Mondragon Industries Philippines, Inc. as an assistant Retail Sales Supervisor and assistant promotions manager for Nike Philippines, Inc.

      From 1986 to 1992, during the presidency of his mother, Aquino joined the Intra-Strata Assurance Corporation, a company owned by his uncle Antolin Oreta Jr., as vice president.

     On August 28, 1987, eighteen months into the presidency of Aquino's mother, rebel soldiers led by Gregorio Honasan staged an unsuccessful coup attempt, attempting to siege Malacañang Palace. Aquino was two blocks from the palace when he came under fire. Three of Aquino's four security escorts were killed, and the last was wounded protecting him. He himself was hit by five bullets, one of which is still embedded in his neck.

     From 1993 to 1998, Aquino worked for Central Azucarera de Tarlac, the sugar refinery in charge of the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita, as the executive assistant for administration from 1993 to 1996, then he worked as manager for field services from 1996 to 1998

     Born in Manila, Aquino graduated from Ateneo de Manila University in 1981 and joined his family in their exile in the United States shortly thereafter. He returned to the Philippines in 1983 shortly after the assassination of his father and held several positions working in the private sector. In 1998, he was elected to the House of Representatives as Representative of the 2nd district of Tarlac province. He was subsequently re-elected to the House in 2001 and 2004. In 2007, having been barred from running for re-election to the House due to the term limit, he was elected to the Senate in the 14th Congress of the Philippines.

         Following the death of his mother on August 1, 2009, many people began calling on Aquino to run for president. On September 9, 2009, Aquino officially announced he would be a candidate in the 2010 presidential election, held on May 10, 2010.

        On June 9, 2010, the Congress of the Philippines proclaimed Aquino the winner of the 2010 presidential election.

        On June 30, 2010, at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila, Aquino was sworn into office as the fifteenth President of the Philippines, succeeding Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Conchita Carpio-Morales.

      Despite the official residence of the President being Malacañang Palace, his actual residence is the Bahay Pangarap (English: House of Dreams), located within the Palace grounds.

Source: Wikipedia

Filipino Presidents

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

14th President of the Philippines

(born 1947; president 2001 - 2010)

Transition and Iron Lady President

        Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a Filipino politician who served as the 14th President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010, as the 12th Vice President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, and is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of Pampanga. She was the country's second female president (after Corazón Aquino), and the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal.

      She was born as María Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal on April 5, 1947 in San Juan formerly a town that is a part of the Rizal province, to politician Diosdado Macapagal and his wife, Evangelina Macaraeg-Macapagal. She is the sister of Dr. Diosdado "Boboy" Macapagal, Jr. & Cielo Macapagal-Salgado. She spent the first years of her life in Lubao, Pampanga with her two older siblings from her father's first marriage. At the age of four, she chose to live with her maternal grandmother in Iligan City. She stayed there for three years, then split her time between Mindanao and Manila until the age of 11. She is fluent in English, Tagalog, Spanish and several other Philippine languages, most importantly, Kapampangan, Ilokano, and Cebuano.

      In 1961, when Arroyo was just 14 years old, her father was elected as president. She moved with her family into Malacañang Palace in Manila. A municipality was named in her honor, Gloria, Oriental Mindoro. She attended Assumption Convent for her elementary and high school education, graduating valedictorian in 1964. Arroyo then studied for two years at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. where she was a classmate of future United States President Bill Clinton and achieved consistent Dean's list status. She then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Assumption College, graduating magna cum laude in 1968.

      In 1968, Arroyo married lawyer and businessman Jose Miguel Arroyo of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, whom she had met while still a teenager. They had three children, Juan Miguel (born 1969), Evangelina Lourdes (born 1971) and Diosdado Ignacio José María (born in 1974). She pursued a Master's Degree in Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University (1978) and a Doctorate Degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines (1985). From 1977 to 1987, she held teaching positions in several schools, notably the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University. She became chairperson of the Economics Department at Assumption College.

      In 1987 she was invited by President Corazón Aquino to join the government as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry. She was promoted to Undersecretary two years later. In her concurrent position as Executive Director of the Garments and Textile Export Board, Arroyo oversaw the rapid growth of the garment industry in the late 1980s.

      A professor of economics, Arroyo entered government in 1987, serving as assistant secretary and undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry upon the invitation of President Corazón Aquino.

Arroyo entered politics in the 1992 election, running for senator. At the first general election under the 1987 Constitution, the top twelve vote-getting senatorial candidates would win a six-year term, and the next twelve candidates would win a three-year term. Arroyo ranked 13th in the elections, earning a three-year term. She was re-elected in 1995, topping the senatorial elections with nearly 16 million votes.As a legislator, Arroyo filed over 400 bills and authored or sponsored 55 laws during her tenure as senator, including the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, the Indigenous People's Rights Law, and the Export Development Act. The 1995 Mining Act, which allows 100% foreign ownership of Philippine mines, has come under fire from left-wing political groups. After serving as a senator from 1992 to 1998, she was elected to the vice presidency under President Joseph Estrada, despite having run on an opposing ticket.Arroyo considered a run for the presidency in the 1998 election, but was persuaded by President Fidel V. Ramos and leaders of the administration party Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats to instead seek the vice-presidency as the running mate of its presidential candidate, House Speaker José de Venecia, Jr. Though the latter lost to popular former actor Joseph Ejército Estrada, Arroyo won the vice presidency by a large margin, garnering more than twice the votes of her closest opponent, Estrada's running mate Senator Edgardo Angara.

        After Estrada was accused of corruption, she resigned her cabinet position as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development and joined the growing opposition to the president, who faced impeachment. Estrada was soon forced from office by the EDSA Revolution of 2001, and Arroyo was sworn into the presidency by Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. on January 20, 2001.Arroyo considered a run for the presidency in the 1998 election, but was persuaded by President Fidel V. Ramos and leaders of the administration party Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats to instead seek the vice-presidency as the running mate of its presidential candidate, House Speaker José de Venecia, Jr. Though the latter lost to popular former actor Joseph Ejército Estrada, Arroyo won the vice presidency by a large margin, garnering more than twice the votes of her closest opponent, Estrada's running mate Senator Edgardo Angara.

       Arroyo began her term as Vice President on June 30, 1998. Historically, she was the first and only to date female Vice President of the Philippines. She was appointed by Estrada to a concurrent position in the cabinet as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development.

       Arroyo resigned from the cabinet in October 2000, distancing herself from President Estrada, who was accused of corruption by a former political supporter, Chavit Singson, Governor from Ilocos Sur. She had initially resisted pressure from allies to speak out against Estrada, but eventually joined calls for Estrada's resignation. She was elected to a full six-year presidential term in the controversial May 2004 Philippine elections, and was sworn in on June 30, 2004. Following her presidency she was elected to the House of Representatives, making her the second Philippine president - after Jose P. Laurel - to pursue a lower office after their presidency.
            In November 2009, Arroyo formally declared her intention to run for a seat in the House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of Pampanga, making her the second Philippine President – after Jose P. Laurel – to pursue a lower office after the expiration of their presidency. A petition seeking to disqualify Arroyo from the race was dismissed by the Comelec for lack of merit, a decision which was later affirmed by the Supreme Court. With little serious competition, she was elected to congress in May 2010 with a landslide victory. After receiving final military honors at the inauguration ceremony of incoming President Benigno Aquino III, she headed straight to Pampanga for her own oath-taking as congresswoman.
       On November 18, 2011, Arroyo was arrested following the filing of criminal charges against her for electoral fraud. She was held at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City under charges of electoral sabotage. but released on bail in July 2012. She was rearrested while in the hospital on charges of misuse of $8.8 million in state lottery funds in October 2012.
       While still confined in the Veterans Medical Centre, Arroyo successfully earned a second term as congresswoman for Pampanga's second legislative district at the conclusion of the 2013 Philippine mid-term elections on 13 May 2013, defeating the ruling Liberal Party's Vivian Dabu who was the provincial administrator under priest-turned-politician former Governor Among Ed Panlilio.

Source: Wikipedia

Filipino Presidents

Joseph E. Estrada

13th President of the Philippines

(born 1937; president 1998 - 2001)

President of the Poor and the Underprivileged

     Joseph "Erap" Estrada was the 13th President of the Philippines, serving from 1998 until 2001. Estrada was the only president to have resigned from office and was the first person in the Post-EDSA era to be elected both to the presidency and vice-presidency.

    Jose Marcelo Ejercito was born on April 19, 1937 in Tondo, the poorest district of Manila. He belonged to an upper middle class family, and was the eighth of 10 children of Emilio Ejercito, a government engineer, and his wife Maria Marcelo.He finished his primary studies at the Ateneo de Manila University. He went to Mapúa Institute of Technology to continue schooling with an engineering course, but dropped out from studies altogether two years later.

     In his twenties, he began a career as a film actor. He adopted the screen name "Joseph Estrada", as his father objected to his chosen career and his decision to quit schooling. He also acquired the nickname "Erap" (a play on the Tagalog word "pare", meaning buddy) from his good friend Fernando Poe, Jr..

     Estrada gained popularity as a film actor, playing the lead role in over 100 films in an acting career spanning 33 years. He leveraged his popularity as an actor to make gains in politics, serving as mayor of San Juan for seventeen years, as Senator for one term, then as Vice President of the Philippines under the administration of President Fidel Ramos.

    He played the lead role of Jesse Mcchesky in more than 100 movies, and was producer of over 70 films. He was the first FAMAS Hall of Fame recipient for Best Actor (1981) and also became a Hall of Fame award-winner as a producer (1983). He often played heroes of the downtrodden classes, which gained him the admiration of a lot of the nation's many unschooled and impoverished citizens. This later proved advantageous to his political career.

     In 1974 he founded the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation (MOWELFUND) which helps movie makers through medical reimbursements, hospitalization, surgery and death benefits, livelihood, and alternative income opportunities and housing. Its educational arm, the MOWELFUND Film Institute, has produced some of the most skilled and respected producers, filmmakers, writers and performers in both the independent and mainstream sectors of the industry since its inception in 1979. He also founded, together with Dr. Guillermo De Vega, the first Metro Manila Film Festival in 1975.

     Estrada entered politics in 1967 when he ran for mayor of San Juan, a municipality of Metro Manila and succeeded in only 1969 after winning an electoral protest against Dr. Braulio Sto. Domingo. When Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency in 1986, all elected officials of the local government were forcibly removed and replaced by appointed officers-in-charge including then Mayor Estrada.

    The following year, he won a seat in the Senate under the Grand Alliance for Democracy (GAD) placing 16th in the elections (out of 24 winners). As senator, Erap denounced the presence of US military bases in the country. He became chairman of the senate committee on cultural minorities and passed a bill on commission on ancestral domain.

     In 1992, Joseph Estrada ran for vice-president as the running mate of Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. under the Nationalist People's Coalition party. Though the latter lost to former National Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos, Estrada won the vice-presidency garnering more votes than his closest opponent, Ramon Mitra, Jr.'s running mate, Marcelo Fernan.

     As Vice-President, he was the chairman of President Ramos' Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC). Estrada arrested criminal warlords and kidnapping syndicates. He resigned as chairman of the PACC on 1997. In 1997 Vice-President Estrada, together with former President Corazon Aquino, Cardinal Jaime Sin, Senator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and other political leaders, led an anti-charter change rally brought in an estimated half a million people to Rizal Park against the charter change moves by supporters of President Fidel Ramos.

     The 1998 presidential election campaign, like most presidential election campaigns in the Philippines, had hardly anything to do with a contest between political platforms and programs. Estrada’s political strategists and financial backers were aware that a large share of the Philippine electorate, the "masa" (the poor and undereducated masses), were looking for a leadership they could relate to. Estrada’s financial backers designed a campaign strategy that reflected Estrada’s pro-poor image that he had built up throughout his movie career. Central in the was the slogan "Erap para sa Mahirap"(Erap for the poor) that inspired the masses in the hope that Estrada would be the President of and for the masses. Estrada's running mate,   Edgardo Angara, was defeated by Gloria Macapacal-Arroyo.

    Estrada was elected President in 1998 with a wide margin of votes separating him from the other challengers, and was sworn into the presidency on June 30, 1998. Estrada was inaugurated in the historical town of Malolos in Bulacan province in paying tribute to the cradle of the First Philippine Republic. That afternoon the new president delivered his inaugural address at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta. He assumed office amid the Asian Financial Crisis and with agricultural problems due to poor weather conditions, thereby slowing the economic growth to -0.6% in 1998 from a 5.2% in 1997. The economy recovered by 3.4% in 1999 and 4% in 2000.[12] In 2000 he declared an "all-out-war" against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and captured it's headquarters and other camps. However, allegations of corruption spawned a railroaded impeachment trial in the Senate courtesy of house speaker Manuel Villar, and in 2001 Estrada was ousted from a coup after the trial was aborted.

In his Inaugural Address, Estrada said:

     "One hundred years after Kawit, fifty years after independence, twelve years after EDSA, and seven years after the rejection of foreign bases, it is now the turn of the masses to experience liberation. We stand in the shadow of those who fought to make us free- free from foreign domination, free from domestic tyranny, free from superpower dictation, free from economic backwardness."

      In 2000 he declared an "all-out-war" against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and captured its headquarters and other camps. However, allegations of corruption spawned an impeachment trial in the Senate, and in 2001 Estrada was ousted from a power grab after former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. allowed the prosecution to walk out of the impeachment court when the Senator Judges voted no in the opening of the second envelope which is not part of the impeachment complaint.

     In 2007, he was sentenced by the special division of the Sandiganbayan to reclusion perpetua for plunder, but was later granted pardon by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
     In 2013, he became the mayor of the city of Manila. 

Source: Wikipedia

Filipino Presidents

Fidel V. Ramos

12th President of the Philippines

(born 1928; president 1992 - 1998)

Most Travelled President

       Fidel "Eddie" Valdez Ramos popularly known as FVR, was the 12th President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. During his six years in office, Ramos was widely credited and admired by many for revitalizing and renewing international confidence in the Philippine economy.

      Fidel Ramos was born on March 18, 1928 in Lingayen, Pangasinan. His father, Narciso Ramos (1900–1986), was a lawyer, journalist and 5-term legislator of the House of Representatives, who eventually rose to the position of Secretary of Foreign Affairs. As such, Narciso Ramos was the Philippine signatory to the ASEAN declaration forged in Bangkok in 1967 and was one of the founding fathers of the Liberal Party. His mother, Angela Valdez-Ramos (1905–1977), was an educator, woman suffragette and daughter of the respected Valdez clan of Batac, Ilocos Norte making him a second degree cousin to Ferdinand Marcos.

Ramos was educated at the United States Military Academy and University of Illinois, where he earned a master's degree in civil engineering. He also holds a master's degree in National Security Administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines and a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from the Ateneo de Manila University.

       Ramos went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, and he graduated in 1950. Ramos, along with the Philippines' 20th Battalion Combat Team and his fellow West Point graduates of the 1950s, fought in the Korean War. Ramos was one of the heroes of the Battle of Hill Eerie, where he led his platoon to sabotage the enemy in Hill Eerie. He was also present in the Vietnam War as a non-combat civil military engineer and commanding officer of the Philippine Civic Action Group (PHILCAGV). It is during this assignment where he forged his life-long friendship with his junior officer Maj. Jose T. Almonte, who went on to become his National Security Advisor all through out during his administration from 1992-1998.

       Ramos has received several military awards including the Philippine Legion of Honor, the Distinguished Conduct Star, Philippine Military Merit Medal, the United States Legion of Merit, the French Legion of Honor and the U.S. Military Academy Distinguished Graduate Award.

       After Aquino assumed the Presidency, she appointed Ramos Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and later Secretary of National Defense. During this time, Ramos personally handled the military operations that crushed nine coup attempts against the Aquino government. During Ramos' presidency, the National Unification Commission was created, and its chairman Haydee Yorac, together with Ramos, recommended to President Aquino that she grant amnesty to the rebel military officers of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) led by Col. Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan.

       In December 1991, Ramos declared his candidacy for President. He however, lost the nomination of the dominant party Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) to House Speaker Ramon Mitra, Jr. Days later, he bolted LDP and founded the Partido Lakas Tao (People Power Party), inviting Cebu Governor Emilio Mario Osmeña as his Vice President. The party formed a coalition with the National Union of Christian Democrats (NUCD) of Senator Raul Manglapus and the United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines (UMDP) of Ambassador Sanchez Ali. Ramos and Osmeña, together with Congressman (later House Speaker) Jose de Venecia, campaigned for economic reforms and improved national security and unity.

      He won the seven-way race on May 11, 1992, narrowly defeating populist Agrarian Reform Secretary Miriam Defensor Santiago. Despite winning, he garnered only 23.58% of the vote, the lowest plurality in the country's history. The election results were marred by allegations of fraud, though cheating on a large scale has not been proven. However, his running mate, Governor Osmeña, lost to Senator Joseph Estrada as Vice President.

      Prior to his election as president, Ramos served in the Cabinet of President Corazon Aquino first as chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and, later on, as Secretary of National Defense from 1986 to 1991.

      During the historic 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, Ramos, along with then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, was hailed as a hero by many Filipinos for his decision to breakaway from the administration of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and pledge allegiance and loyalty to the newly-established revolutionary government of President Aquino, following the downfall of Marcos from power in February 1986. Previously, he was the AFP vice chief-of-staff under President Marcos.

     Under Ramos' leadership, the Philippines experienced a period of political stability and rapid economic growth and expansion, as a result of his policies and programs designed to foster national reconciliation and unity. Ramos was able to secure major peace agreements with Muslim separatists, communist insurgents and military rebels, which renewed investor confidence in the Philippine economy. Ramos also aggressively pushed for the deregulation of the nation's major industries and the privatization of bad government assets. As a result of his hands-on approach to the economy, the Philippines was dubbed by various international magazines and observers as Asia's Next Economic Tiger.

      However, the momentum in the economic gains made under the Ramos Administration was briefly interrupted during the onset of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Nevertheless, during the last year of Ramos' term, the economy managed to make a rebound since it was not severely hit by the crisis as compared to other Asian economies.

      To date, Ramos is the first and only non-Catholic President of the Philippines. He belongs to the Protestant United Methodist Church.

Source : Wikipedia

Filipino Presidents

Corazon C. Aquino

11th President of the Philippines

(1933-2009; president 1986 - 1992)

Mother of Democracy

          Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office. Aquino was also the first popularly and democratically-elected female president and head of state in Asia. She is best remembered for leading the 1986 People Power Revolution, which toppled the authoritarian regime of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and restored democracy in the Philippines. "Tita (Auntie) Cory", as she was affectionately known, is revered by many Filipinos as an icon of democracy and was hailed by TIME Magazine in 1986 as its 'Woman of the Year.

         Corazon Cojuangco was born on January 25, 1933 in the town of Paniqui in the province of Tarlac. Cory Aquino was the 6th child of Jose Cojuangco (Don Pepe), nephew of the legendary Ysidra Cojuangco (Doña Sidra), and Demetria Sumulong (Doña Metring), a daughter of ex-Cojuangco family lawyer turned senator Juan Marquez Sumulong of Antipolo City, Rizal province. The Cojuangcos were big landowners while the Sumulongs were influential politicians in both Lower and Upper Chambers of the Philippine Congress. She, like her sisters Josephine, Teresita ("Terê") and Maria Paz, as well as their uncle Eduardo's wife Josephine "Nene" Murphy, studied in Saint Scholastica's College, Manila, an all girl's Catholic school run by German nuns in pre-war Manila. Unlike her siblings, the young Cory was unassuming and simple. She wore hand-me-down uniforms used by her sister Terê. Her favorite subject was Mathematics, and upon graduating from elementary school, she received the highest honors. Her studies were interrupted when the Japanese invaded Manila. After World War II, she and her siblings as well as her cousins Ramon Cojuangco and Lourdes (now Mrs. Luis Tirso Rivilla) was sent by her father to the United States. The young Ms. Cory divided her time between the Cojuangco homes in New York (USA), Pasay, Ermita, Punta in Santa Ana district, Dasmarinas Village (in Makati), the northern city of Baguio, the Hacienda Luisita and their hometown of Paniqui, Tarlac. For some summers in the United States, she was treated by her father, Don Pepe, to excursions to Washington, DC and trans-Atlantic voyages aboard the RMS Queen Mary. While studying in New England, she would develop a love of the French language. Besides English, Tagalog, and Kapampangan, she would also remain fluent in French for the rest of her life. Upon her own choosing, her secluded and easy years ended with her marriage to the grandson of Genera Servillano Aquino, Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.

         A self-proclaimed "plain housewife",Aquino was married to Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., the popular opposition leader and staunchest critic of then President Ferdinand Marcos. Senator Aquino was assassinated on August 21, 1983 upon returning to the Philippines after three years in exile in the United States.

After her husband's assassination, the widowed Aquino became the reluctant leader of the opposition against the authoritarian rule of the Marcos regime. She united the fragmented opposition and strengthened its moral crusade against the abuses and excesses of President Marcos' martial rule. In late 1985, when President Marcos called for a snap election, Cory Aquino challenged his regime. Aquino thrust herself into the political arena after one million signatures urging her to run for president were presented to her.

        Despite having no prior political experience, Aquino proved to be an effective leader, inspiring orator and skilled campaigner. She ran for president with former senator Salvador Laurel as her vice-presidential running mate. After the elections were held on February 7, 1986, the Marcos-controlled Batasang Pambansa proclaimed him the winner in the elections, Aquino called for massive civil disobedience protests against him, declaring herself as having been cheated and as the real winner in the elections. Filipinos enthusiastically heeded her call and rallied behind her. These series of events eventually led to the ouster of Marcos and the installation of Aquino as President of the Philippines on February 25, 1986 through the People Power Revolution.

        As President, Aquino oversaw the restoration of democracy in the Philippines and the promulgation of a new constitution, which limited the powers of the presidency and established a bicameral legislature. Her administration gave strong emphasis and concern for civil liberties and human rights, peace talks and dialogues with communist insurgents and Muslim secessionists. Aquino's economic policies, meanwhile, centered on bringing back economic health and confidence and focused on creating a market-oriented and socially-responsible economy. Despite these achievements, Aquino's presidency was not smooth-sailing as she had to face series of coup attempts against her administration and destructive natural calamities and disasters until the end of her term in 1992.

      Succeeded by Fidel V. Ramos as President in 1992, Aquino returned to private life although she remained active in the public eye, constantly voicing her views and opinions on the pressing political issues in the country. In 2008, Aquino was diagnosed with colon cancer and after a one-year battle with the disease, died on August 1, 2009.

Source: Wikipedia