Achievements Of Presidents j6td

Table of Contents I. II.

Introduction ---------------------------- i Achievements of the Philippine Presidents ------ii Emilio Aguinaldo ---------------------------- 1-2 Manuel L. Quezon ---------------------------- 2-3 Jose P. Laurel ---------------------------- 3-4 Sergio Osmenia ---------------------------- 5 Manuel Roxas ---------------------------- 6 Elpidio Quirino ---------------------------- 7 Ramon Magsaysay ---------------------------- 8 Carlos P. Garcia ---------------------------- 9 Diosdado Macapagal ---------------------------- 10 Ferdinand Marcos ---------------------------- 11 Corazon Aquino ---------------------------- 12-13 Fidel V. Ramos ---------------------------- 14 Joseph Estrada ---------------------------- 15-16 Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo -------------------- 17-18 Benigno Simeon Aquino III ------------------- 19

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not have been possible without the kind and help of my Professors and friends. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them. I am highly indebted to Mrs. Trifina G. Luna for her guidance and constant supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the project. I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents for their kind co-operation and encouragement which help me in completion of this project. My thanks and appreciations also to my colleague and the people who have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

INTRODUCTION The role of a president of a Country in simcountry is quite simple, survive and prosper. A president must be able to protect his country from invasion, unless the president has Secured Mode on their country. The most important job of a president is to build up the economy of his country, which will give the capital to finance military ventures, social programs, and financial growth in their country. Before Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, the archipelago was not a unified nation. Rather, it was splintered into different barangays headed by a datu. These barangays were independent of one another, although some barangays united to form a confederation. In the barangays, the datu was leader, lawmaker, and judge. Although he often had a council of elders as his advisers, the datu’s word was law. After the Spanish conquest, the King of Spain became the de jure head of state of the country, represented by his GovernorGeneral. After Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States of America for 20 million dollars, the head of state became the President of the United States, also represented by the American Governor-General. When the Filipinos fought for and achieved their independence, they elected their own Presidents. Counting of the order of and constitutional succession to the presidency starts with Manuel L. Quezon, the first President of the Philippine Commonwealth, although he led a nation still under American sovereignty. Two Presidents were deposed by EDSA Revolutions, but their successors are counted in the order of . Emilio Aguinaldo was the first to assume the title of President, but his Malolos Republic was not recognized by other nations at the time of its existence, so he is not considered to be in the line of Constitutional succession and not counted in the order of . Neither is Jose P. Laurel, who was considered to have been a puppet president of a puppet government of the Japanese occupation. Nevertheless, they are still recognized as Philippine Presidents, especially Aguinaldo, whom most Filipinos consider the first Filipino president.

Sorsogon State College Castilla Campus Mayon, Castilla, Sorsogon S.Y. 2011-2012

Submitted by:

Jude Borlagdatan BSVT-2

Submitted to:

Mrs. Trifina G. Luna Professor

General Emilio F. Aguinaldo (1869-1964), Filipino leader and independence fighter, born near Cavite, Luzon, and educated at the College of San Juan de Letran, Manila. Aguinaldo led a Filipino insurrection against Spanish rule in 1896, and two years later, during the Spanish-American War, he aided the American attack on the Philippine Islands. He was nominated president of the new republic after the Filipino declaration of independence in 1898. As head of the Filipino provisional government in 1899, he resisted American occupation; he continued to lead the struggle against the United States forces until March 1901, when he was captured. In April 1901 he took an oath of allegiance to the United States and retired to private life. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency of the new interim Filipino commonwealth government in 1935. Aguinaldo was taken into custody in 1945, during World War II, by invading American troops and held on suspicion of collaboration with the enemy during the Japanese occupation. He was subsequently exonerated and appointed to the Council of State in 1950. Philippine leader Emilio Aguinaldo led a rebellion against Spanish rule in 1896 and assisted the United States during the Spanish-American War in 1898. He subsequently resisted American occupation of the newly independent republic. In August 1896 he was mayor of Cavite Viejo and was the local leader of the Katipunan, a revolutionary society that fought bitterly and successfully against the Spanish. In December 1897 he signed an agreement called the Pact of Biac-na-Bató with the Spanish governor general. He agreed to leave the Philippines and to remain permanently in exile on condition of a substantial financial reward from Spain coupled with the promise of liberal reforms. While in Hong Kong and Singapore he made arrangements with representatives of the American consulates and of Commo. George Dewey to return to the Philippines to assist the United States in the war against Spain. Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines May 19, 1898, and announced renewal of the struggle with Spain. The Filipinos, who declared their independence of Spain on June 12, 1898, proclaimed a provisional republic, of which Aguinaldo was to become president; and in September a revolutionary assembly met and ratified Filipino independence. However, the Philippines, along with Puerto Rico and Guam, were ceded by Spain to the United States by the Treaty of Paris, Dec. 10, 1898. Relations between the Americans and the Filipinos were unfriendly and grew steadily worse. On Jan. 23, 1899, the Malolos Constitution, by virtue of which the Philippines was declared a republic and which had been approved by the assembly and by Aguinaldo, was proclaimed. Aguinaldo, who had been president of the provisional government, was elected president. On the night of February 4 the inevitable conflict between the Americans and Filipinos surrounding Manila was precipitated. Morning found the Filipinos, who had fought bravely, even recklessly, defeated at all points. While the fighting was in progress, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation of war against the United States, which immediately sent reinforcements to the Philippines. The Filipino government fled northward. In November 1899 the Filipinos resorted to guerrilla warfare, with all its devastating features. After three years of costly fighting the insurrection was finally brought to an end when, in a daring operation led by Gen. Frederick Funston, General Aguinaldo was captured in his secret headquarters at Palanan in northern Luzon on March 23, 1901. Aguinaldo took an oath of allegiance to the United States, was granted a pension from the U.S. government, and retired to private life. In 1935 when the commonwealth government of the Philippines was established in preparation for independence, Aguinaldo ran for president but was decisively beaten. He returned to private life until the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941. The Japanese used Aguinaldo as an anti-American tool. They caused him to make speeches, to sign articles, and to address a radio appeal to Gen. Douglas MacArthur on Corregidor to surrender in order to spare the flower of Filipino youth.

When the Americans returned, Aguinaldo was arrested and, together with others accused of collaboration with the Japanese, was held for some months in Bilibid Prison until released by presidential amnesty. As a token vindication of his honour, he was appointed by President Elpidio Quirino as a member of the Council of State in 1950. In the later years of his life, he devoted his major attention to veterans' affairs, the promotion of nationalism and democracy in the Philippines, and the improvement of relations between the Philippines and the United States.

Manuel L. Quezon (1878-1944), Philippine statesman, born in Baler, and educated at the University of San Tomás.. 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. In 1909 Quezon was appointed resident commissioner for the Philippines, entitled to speak, but not vote, in the U.S. House of Representatives; during his years in Washington, D.C., he fought vigorously for a speedy grant of independence by the United States. Quezon played a major role in obtaining Congress' age in 1916 of the Jones Act, which pledged independence for the Philippines without giving a specific date when it would take effect. The act gave the Philippines greater autonomy and provided for the creation of a bicameral national legislature modeled after the U.S. Congress. Quezon resigned as commissioner and returned to Manila to be elected to the newly formed Philippine Senate in 1916; he subsequently served as its president until 1935. In 1922 he gained control of the Nacionalista Party, which had previously been led by his rival Sergio Osmeña. Quezon fought for age of the Tydings-McDuffie Act (1934), which provided for full independence for the Philippines 10 years after the creation of a constitution and the establishment of a Commonwealth government that would be the forerunner of an independent republic. Quezon was elected president of the newly formulated Commonwealth on Sept. 17, 1935. As president he reorganized the islands' military defense (aided by Gen. Douglas MacArthur as his special adviser), tackled the huge problem of landless peasants in the countryside who still worked as tenants on large estates, promoted the settlement and development of the large southern island of Mindanao, and fought graft and corruption in the government. A new national capital, later known as Quezon City, was built in a suburb of Manila. Quezon was reelected president in 1941. After Japan invaded and occupied the Philippines in 1942, he went to the United States, where he formed a government in exile, served as a member of the Pacific War Council, signed the declaration of the United Nations against the Fascist nations, and wrote his autobiography, The Good Fight (1946). Quezon died of tuberculosis before full Philippine independence was established. He began to practise law in 1903 and was elected governor of his native province of Tayabas (now Quezon) two years later. He became a member of the first Philippine assembly in 1906. As resident commissioner to the United States Congress (1909-1916), he worked for Philippine independence. He was elected the first president of the newly formed transitional Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935 and re-elected in 1941. After the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II, he escaped to the United States, where he headed the Philippine government in exile until his death. Quezon City and Quezon Province are named after him.

Manuel Luis Quezón y Molina was President of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. Filipino nationalism began to surface at the end of the 19th century, but it was not until the 1920s and 1930s that American policy towards the independence of the islands changed. In 1941 the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established, with Quezon as its first president. A fully independent Republic of the Philippines was proclaimed in 1946.

The first Filipino president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under American rule. He was president of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. For advocating Filipino-language amendments to the 1935 Constitution, he is known as the "Father of the National Language." Awards and achievements 

4th Place, 1903 Bar Examinations

Jose P. Laurel (March 9, 1891 - November 5, 1959). Political career Laurel began his life in public service while a student, as a messenger in the Bureau of Forestry then as a clerk in the Code Committee tasked with the codification of Philippine laws. During his work for the Code Committee, he was introduced to its head, Thomas A. Street, a future Supreme Court Justice who would be a mentor to the young Laurel. Upon his return from Yale, Laurel was appointed first as Undersecretary of the Interior Department, then promoted as Secretary of the Interior in 1922. In that post, he would frequently clash with the American Governor-General Leonard Wood, and eventually, in 1923, resign from his position together with other Cabinet in protest of Wood's istration. His clashes with Wood solidified Laurel's nationalist credentials. In 1925 he was elected to the Philippine Senate. He would serve for one term before losing his re-election bid in 1931 to Claro M. Recto.[4] He retired to private practice, but by 1934, he was again elected to public office, this time as a delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention. Hailed as one of the "Seven Wise Men of the Convention", he would sponsor the provisions on the Bill of Rights.[5] Following the ratification of the 1935 Constitution and the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Laurel was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on February 29, 1936. Jurisprudence of Justice Laurel Laurel's Supreme Court tenure may have been overshadowed by his presidency, yet he remains one of the most important Supreme Court justices in Philippine history. He authored several leading cases still analyzed to this day that defined the parameters of the branches of government as well as their powers. Angara v. Electoral Commission, 63 Phil. 139 (1936), which is considered as the Philippine equivalent of Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), is Laurel's most important contribution to jurisprudence and even the rule of law in the Philippines. In affirming that the Court had jurisdiction to review the rulings of the Electoral Commission organized under the National Assembly, the Court, through Justice Laurel's opinion, firmly entrenched the power of Philippine courts to engage in judicial review of the acts of the other branches of government, and to interpret the Constitution. Held the Court, through Laurel:

"The Constitution is a definition of the powers of government. Who is to determine the nature, scope and extent of such powers? The Constitution itself has provided for the instrumentality of the judiciary as the rational way. And when the judiciary mediates to allocate constitutional boundaries, it does not assert any superiority over the other departments; it does not in reality nullify or invalidate an act of the legislature, but only asserts the solemn and sacred obligation assigned to it by the Constitution to determine conflicting claims of authority under the Constitution and to establish for the parties in an actual controversy the rights which that instrument secures and guarantees to them." Another highly influential decision penned by Laurel was Ang Tibay v. CIR, 69 Phil. 635 (1940). The Court acknowledged in that case that the substantive and procedural requirements before proceedings in istrative agencies, such as labor relations courts, were more flexible than those in judicial proceedings. At the same time, the Court still asserted that the right to due process of law must be observed, and enumerated the "cardinal primary rights" that must be respected in istrative proceedings. Since then, these "cardinal primary rights" have stood as the standard in testing due process claims in istrative cases. Calalang v. Williams, 70 Phil. 726 (1940) was a seemingly innocuous case involving a challenge raised by a private citizen to a traffic regulation banning kalesas from Manila streets during certain afternoon hours. The Court, through Laurel, upheld the regulation as within the police power of the government. But in rejecting the claim that the regulation was violative of social justice, Laurel would respond with what would become his most famous aphorism, which is to this day widely quoted by judges and memorized by Filipino law students: "Social justice is neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy," but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the State so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated. Social justice means the promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption by the Government of measures calculated to insure economic stability of all the competent elements of society, through the maintenance of a proper economic and social equilibrium in the interrelations of the of the community, constitutionally, through the adoption of measures legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying the existence of all governments on the time-honored principle of salus populi est suprema lex. Social justice, therefore, must be founded on the recognition of the necessity of interdependence among divers and diverse units of a society and of the protection that should be equally and evenly extended to all groups as a combined force in our social and economic life, consistent with the fundamental and paramount objective of the state of promoting the health, comfort, and quiet of all persons, and of bringing about "the greatest good to the greatest number." Presidency Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II, Laurel was instructed to remain in Manila by President Manuel L. Quezon, who fled to Corregidor and then to the United States to establish a government-in-exile. His prewar, close relationship with Japanese officials (a son had been sent to study at the Imperial Military Academy in Tokyo, and Laurel had received an honorary doctorate from Tokyo University), placed him in a good position to interact with the Japanese occupation forces. Laurel was among the Commonwealth officials instructed by the Japanese Imperial Army to form a provisional government when they invaded and occupied the country. It was because of his being wellknown to the Japanese as a critic of US rule, as well as his demonstrated willingness to serve under the Japanese Military istration, that he held a series of high posts in 1942-1943.

Awards and achievements 

2nd Place, 1915 Bar Examinations

Sergio Osmeńa (September 9, 1878 - October 19, 1961). Philippine independence leader and statesman, born on Cebu. Trained as a lawyer, he was elected to the first Philippine assembly, became its speaker (1907-1916), and later served as senator from Cebu. Osmeña headed several missions to the United States to argue for Philippine independence and was instrumental in gaining commonwealth status for the Philippines in 1935. Twice elected vice-president of the commonwealth (1935 and 1941), he became president of the government in exile when President Manuel Quezon died in 1944. He was, however, defeated (1946) in the first elections of an independent Philippines. He was the 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 istration 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 ed him in a coalition. Made speaker of the House of Representatives in 1916, he served until his election to the Senate in 1923. In 1933 he went to Washington, D.C., to secure age of the HareHawes-Cutting independence bill, but Quezon differed with Osmeña over the bill's provision to retain U.S. military bases after independence. The bill, vetoed by the Philippine Assembly, was superseded by the Tydings-McDuffie Act of March 1934, making the Philippines a commonwealth with a large measure of independence. The following year Osmeña became vice president, with Quezon as president. He remained vice president during the Japanese occupation, when the government was in exile in Washington, D.C. On the death of Quezon in August 1944, Osmeña became president. He served as president until the elections of April 1946, when he was defeated by Manuel Roxas, who became the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines. Awards and achievements     

2nd Place, 1903 Bar Examinations Medal of the Order of Civil Merit (Orden del Merito Civil, Spain), February 23, 1898 Grand Officer (Plaque), Order of the Republic (Spain), August 1, 1935 Presidential Medal of Merit (July 3, 1950) Chief Commander, Philippine Legion of Honor (posthumous), October 20, 1994

Manuel A. Roxas (January 1, 1892 - April 15, 1948). He was popularly known as the “First President of the Third Republic.” He was born in Capiz, and educated at the University of Manila. 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 ed by the Philippine legislature. In 1932 Roxas and Sergio Osmeña, the Nacionalista Party leader, led the Philippine Independence Mission to Washington, D.C., where they influenced the age of the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act. Roxas was later opposed by Quezon, who held that the act compromised future Philippine independence; the Nacionalista Party was split between them on this issue. In 1934, however, Roxas was a member of the convention that drew up a constitution under the revised Philippine Independence and Commonwealth Act (Tydings-McDuffie Act). Roxas also served as secretary of finance in the Commonwealth government (1938-40). During World War II Roxas served in the pro-Japanese government of José Laurel by acquiring supplies of rice for the Japanese army. Although a court was established after the war to try collaborators, Roxas was defended by his friend General Douglas MacArthur. 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. Although Roxas was successful in getting rehabilitation funds from the United States after independence, he was forced to concede military bases (23 of which were leased for 99 years), trade restrictions for Philippine citizens, and special privileges for U.S. property owners and investors. His istration was marred by graft and corruption; moreover, the abuses of the provincial military police contributed to the rise of the left-wing Hukbalahap (Huk) movement in the countryside. His heavy-handed attempts to crush the Huks led to widespread peasant disaffection. Roxas died in office in 1948 and was succeeded by his vice president, Elpidio Quirino. (see also Index: Hukbalahap Rebellion)

Elpidio Quirino (November 16, 1890 - February 28, 1956). President of the Philippines (1948-1953). He was born in Vignan on Luzon, studied law,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 age 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. After World War II, Quirino served as secretary of state and vice president under the first president of the independent Philippines, Manuel Roxas. When Roxas died on April 15, 1948, Quirino succeeded to the presidency. The following year, he was elected president for a four-year term on the Liberal Party ticket, defeating the Nacionalista candidate. President Quirino's istration faced a serious threat in the form of the Communist-led Hukbalahap (Huk) movement. Though the Huks originally had been an anti-Japanese guerrilla army in Luzon, the Communists steadily gained control over the leadership, and, when Quirino's negotiations with Huk commander Luis Taruc broke down in 1948, Taruc openly declared himself a Communist and called for the overthrow of the government. By 1950 the Huks had gained control over a considerable portion of Luzon, and Quirino appointed the able Ramon Magsaysay as secretary of national defense to suppress the insurrection. (see also Index: Hukbalahap Rebellion) 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 istration was tainted by widespread graft and corruption. The 1949 elections, which he had won, were among the most dishonest in the country's history. Magsaysay, who had been largely successful in eliminating the threat of the Huk insurgents, broke with Quirino on the issue of corruption, campaigning for clean elections and defeating Quirino as the Nacionalista candidate in the presidential election of 1953. Subsequently, Quirino retired to private life.

Ramon Magsaysay (August 31, 1907 - March 17, 1957). Philippine statesman, born in Iba, and educated at the University of the Philippines and José Rizal College. From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, he organized and led the guerrilla force that fought the Japanese. He was elected (1946) and re-elected (1949) on the Liberal party ticket to the Philippine House of Representatives. An advocate of stronger government action against the Communist-led Hukbalahap (Huk) guerrillas, he was appointed secretary of national defence in 1950. He reorganized and strengthened the army and the constabulary and intensified the campaign to crush Huk resistance, waging one of the most successful antiguerrilla campaigns in modern history by winning over the peasantry and preserving tight military discipline. In 1953 Magsaysay resigned his post as defence secretary and became the presidential candidate of the Nationalist party after criticizing the Liberal government. He was elected president of the Philippines in November 1953, but his efforts to reform the country were frustrated by wealthy landowner interests in the national congress. He died in a plane crash. In 1953 the government attempted unsuccessfully to end the Huk rebellion by a peace parley with the rebel leaders. In the presidential elections, held on November 10, former Defence Minister Ramón Magsaysay won a decisive victory over the incumbent Quirino, and because of his vigorous conduct of the campaign against the Huks, the back of the rebellion was broken, although it was not entirely suppressed. Congress approved, on August 11, 1955, legislation empowering President Magsaysay to break up large landed estates and distribute the land to tenant farmers. On September 6 the Philippines and the United States concluded a trade agreement on private US investment in Philippine enterprises. In the mid-1950s the United States and the Philippines tly acknowledged Philippine ownership of US military bases in the islands. The Philippine Senate also ratified the peace treaty with Japan and a Philippine-Japanese agreement providing for US$800 million in Japanese reparations. Magsaysay died on March 17, 1957, in an air crash, and the next day Vice-President Carlos P. Garcia was sworn in as President. In June a statute outlawing the Communist Party was promulgated. The statute provided a maximum sentence of death for active party hip but allowed surrender without penalty within 30 days after promulgation. Some 1,400 holdouts of the Huk movement surrendered. Garcia was subsequently elected president, and Diosdado Macapagal, an opposition Liberal Party candidate, was elected Vice-President. Macapagal was elected President in 1961, but in the elections of 1965 he lost to the Nationalist candidate, Ferdinand Marcos. Magsaysay was elected president of the Philippines in 1953 and served four years in office. Magsaysay was a strong opponent of the Communist-led Huk guerrillas, and he reorganized and strengthened the armed forces in a campaign to crush them. He was killed in a plane crash in 1957.

Carlos P. Garcia (November 4, 1896 - June 1, 1971). Carlos P. Garcia was the seventh president of the Philippines. He was born in Talibon, Bohol on November 4, 1896 to Policracio Garcia and Ambrosia Polistico. He began his studies at the Siliman University in Dumaguete and later transfered to the Philippine Law School where he finished his law degree in 1923. He took the bar examination and was among the top ten who ed it. It was at the Bohol Provincial School where he initially started teaching. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II, Garcia was active in the resistance movement. He started his entry into politics and public service when he was elected as Bohol's representative to the National Assembly. He served as congressman, governor of the province of Bohol for three , then and as senator. After the war, he participated in the formulation and drafting of the governing laws and policies of the United Nations. He was re-elected as Philippine senator in 1945 at subsequently elected as vice president during the Magsaysay istration in 1953. Pres. Magsaysay appointed him as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in concurrent capacity as his vice president. Garcia took over the presidency when Magsaysay died in an airplane accident in March, 1957. Garcia presided over the remaining eight months of Magsaysay's term and went on to win the 1957 presidential election. As president, he was instrumental in pursuing and implementing the "Filipino First" policy which was conceived to initiate economic independence and also bring back the pride of Filipinos in their country. During the period of his presidency, Garcia's istration campaigned and adhered to a program of austerity. He appealed for cooperation towards this effort. Once he said, austerity "as a policy means temperate spending. It signifies more work, more thrift, more productive investment and more efficiency. It means less imports and extravagant consumption." Garcia was defeated by Vice Pres. Diosdado Macapagal in the election of November 1961. He died after a heart attack in Quezon City on June 14, 1971 while serving as president of the Constitutional Convention.

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Diosdado Macapagal (September 28, 1910). He defeated Garcia in the presidential elections of November 14, 1961. Mapacagal – who styled himself as the “poor boy” from Lubao (Pampanga) – completed pre-law and Associate in Arts at UP; however, he was a law graduate of the University of Santo Tomas. He was the topnotcher of the Bar examinations in 1935. He then entered into a private law practice, teaching law at the side. In 1946, he was appointed Chief of the Legal Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and was eventually sent to the Philippine Embassy in Washington as Second Secretary. In 1949, he was elected as the congressman of the first district of Pampanga and reelected in 1953. In 1958, he was elected as Vice President of the Philippines. Macapagal’s istration (1961 - 1965) is best ed for resetting the date of the celebration of Philippine Independence Day – from July 4 when the U.S. turned over the reins of government in 1946 to the more correct date of June 12 when Aguinaldo declared independence in 1898. This single act overshadowed the other distinguishing features of his istration, namely: the promotion of the stability of the Philippine currency; the initiation of a socioeconomic program aimed at the betterment of the poor; efforts to combat misdeeds in government, and the launching of his version of agrarian reform. Filipino reformist president of the Republic of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965. After receiving his law degree, Macapagal was itted 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 president 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 corruption a principal element of his platform. He was elected by a wide margin. While president, Macapagal worked to suppress graft and corruption and to stimulate the Philippine economy. He placed the peso on the free currency-exchange market, encouraged exports, and sought to curb income tax evasion, particularly by the wealthiest families, which cost the treasury millions of pesos yearly. His reforms, however, were crippled by a House of Representatives and Senate dominated by the Nacionalistas, and he was defeated in the 1965 elections by Ferdinand Marcos. In 1972 he chaired the convention that drafted the 1973 constitution only to question in 1981 the validity of its ratification. In 1979 he organized the National Union for Liberation as an opposition party to the Marcos regime. Awards and achievements 

Congressional Press Club’ one of the Ten Outstanding Congressmen

Ferdinand E. Marcos (September 11, 1917 - September 28, 1989). was President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives (1949-1959) and a member of the Philippine Senate (1959-1965). He was Senate President in 1963. He claimed that during World War II he had been the leader of Ang Maharlika, a guerrilla force in northern Luzon. As Philippine president and strongman, his greatest achievement was in the fields of infrastructure development and international diplomacy. However, his istration was marred by massive authoritarian corruption, despotism, nepotism, political repression, and human rights violations. He benefited from a large personality cult in the Philippines during his regime. In 1983, his government was implicated in the assassination of his primary political opponent, Benigno Aquino, Jr.. The implication caused a chain of events, including a tainted presidential election that served as the catalyst for the People Power Revolution in February 1986 that led to his removal from power and eventual exile in Hawaii. It was later alleged that he and his wife Imelda Marcos had moved billions of dollars of embezzled public funds to the United States, Switzerland, and other countries, as well as into fictitious corporations during his 20 years in power. Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos was born September 11, 1917, in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte outside Laoag City to parents Mariano Marcos and Josefa Edralin. He was named after Ferdinand VII of Spain and baptized into the Philippine Independent Church. According to the Marcos family’s oral history, the family name was originally Taguktok, and their Ilokano roots have some Japanese and Chinese ancestry. Ferdinand was a champion debater at the University of the Philippines, where he also participated in boxing, swimming and wrestling. In December 1938, Mariano Marcos, his brother Pio, his son Julius, and his brother-in-law Ferdinand were prosecuted for the murder of Julio Nalundasan. On September 20, 1935, the day after Nalundasan for the second time defeated Mariano Marcos for the National Assembly seat for Ilocos Norte, Nalundasan had been shot and killed in his house in Batac. According to two witnesses, the four had conspired to assassinate Nalundasan, with Ferdinand Marcos eventually doing the killing. Late January 1939 they were denied bail,[3] and in the fall of 1939 they were convicted, Ferdinand and Lizardo receiving the death penalty for premeditated murder, while Mariano and Pio were found guilty only of contempt of court. The Marcos family took their appeal to the Supreme Court of the Philippines, which on October 22, 1940, overturned the lower court’s decision and acquitted them of all charges but contempt. In 1939, while incarcerated, Ferdinand Marcos graduated cum laude with a law degree from the U.P. College of Law and was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu international honor society. While in detention, Marcos reportedly studied for and ed the bar examination with one of the highest scores in history, while also writing an 800-page defense. Awards and achievements   

Placed First in the Bar Examinations of 1939 Gold Cross Distinguished Service Cross, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart

Corazon C. Aquino Corazon (Cory), born Corazon Cojuanco, was the daughter of a wealthy landed family and was educated in Manila and at Roman Catholic convent schools in the United States. She graduated from Mount St Vincent College in New York and studied law at Far Eastern University in Manila. She married Benigno Simeon Aquino (Ninoy) in 1954. She moved with her husband to the United States following his release from prison in 1980. After his assassination at Manila Airport in 1983, Corazon went to the Philippines for her husband’s funeral and stayed to work in the legislative election campaign. The opposition won one-third of the seats in 1984. Marcos called presidential elections for February 1986, and she became the opposition candidate for president. Marcos, declaring himself victor in the February 7 election, was inaugurated on February 25. An army revolt under Fidel Ramos and others, and demonstrations on her behalf, led to Aquino’s inauguration on the same day, in the so-called EDSA Revolution. Marcos accepted asylum in the United States, while Aquino formed a provisional government. She implemented a new constitution ratified by a landslide popular vote, and held legislative elections in 1987, but opposition within the military, a continuing Communist insurgency, and severe economic problems plagued her presidency. She declined to run for a second term in 1992, yielding the presidency to her favoured candidate Ramos. In 1995 she ran a “Never Again” campaign during national elections to prevent the election of Marcos’s son, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., and the former army colonel and coup plotter Gregorio Honasan. In 1996 she campaigned to prevent President Ramos from changing the constitution to permit a second presidential term. Aquino became President and won the enactment of a new constitution in February 1987. Although she won a vote of confidence in legislative elections that May, military unrest, coupled with popular discontent at the slow pace of economic reform, continued to threaten her government. US Air Force jets assisted Philippine government forces in suppressing a coup attempt in December 1989. In 1991 damage from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in central Luzon led the United States to abandon nearby Clark Air Base; the Philippine senate then refused to renew the lease on the lone remaining US base, Subic Bay Naval Station, which the United States closed in November 1992. Aquino declined to run in the May 1992 presidential election; instead, she endorsed the eventual winner, her former Defence Secretary, Fidel Valdez Ramos. Corazon Aquino became the first woman president of the Philippines in 1986 when she defeated Ferdinand E. Marcos. After she became president, she abolished the National Assembly and replaced the constitution with a new one that was adopted by popular vote in 1987. She had been married to Benigno Aquino, who was assassinated in 1983. Cory Aquino Awards and Achievements 1. 1986 Time Magazine Woman of the Year 2. 1986 Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award 3. 1986 United Nations Silver Medal 4. 1986 Canadian International Prize for Freedom 5. 1986 Nobel Peace Prize nominee 6. 1986 International Democracy Award from the International Association of Political Consultants 7. 1987 Prize For Freedom Award from Liberal International 8. 1993 Special Peace Award from the Aurora Aragon Quezon Peace Awards Foundation and Concerned Women of the Philippines 9. 1994 One of 100 Women Who Shaped World History (by G.M. Rolka, Bluewood Books, San Francisco, CA) 10. 1995 Path to Peace Award 11. 1996 J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding from the U.S. Department of State 12. 1998 Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding 13. 1998 Pearl S. Buck Award

14. 1999 One of Time Magazine's 20 Most Influential Asians of the 20th Century 15. 2001 World Citizenship Award 16. 2005 David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Awards 17. 2005 One of the World's Elite Women Who Make a Difference by the International Women's Forum Hall of Fame 18. 2006 One of Time Magazine's 65 Asian Heroes 19. 2008 One of A Different View's 15 Champions of World Democracy 20. EWC Asia Pacific Community Building Award 21. Women's International Center International Leadership Living Legacy Award 22. Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize 23. United Nations Development Fund for Women Noel Award for Political Leadership

Honorary doctorates 1. Doctor of International Relations, honoris causa, from: • Boston University in Boston • Eastern University in St. David, PA • Fordham University in New York • Waseda University in Tokyo 2. Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from: • University of the Philippines • University of Santo Tomas in Manila 3. Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from: • Ateneo de Manila University • College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York • Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan (Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines) 4. Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa, from: • San Beda College in Manila, 2000 • Seattle University, 2002 • Stonehill College in Massachusetts • University of Oregon, 1995 5. Doctor of Public istration, honoris causa, from: • Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of the City of Manila), June 1994 FACTS: 1. Corazon Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines (February 25, 1986 to June 30, 1992). - Prime Minister was Salvador H. Laurel - Vice President was Salvador H. Laurel - Preceded by Ferdinand E. Marcos - Succeeded by Fidel V. Ramos 2. Asia and Philippines first female president.

Fidel V. Ramos ((March 18, 1928). Ramos, Fidel Valdez (1928- ), Filipino soldier and politician, President from 1992 to 1998, and one of the leaders of the 1986 EDSA revolution in the Philippines that drove President Ferdinand Marcos from power. Fidel “Eddie” Ramos was the son of a diplomat and legislator who served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. After winning a government scholarship to the United States Military Academy at West Point and studying engineering at the University of Illinois, he saw active service in the Korean War and was Chief of Staff (1966-1968) to the Philippine Civil Action Group in Vietnam. His service to the state continued through the Marcos years, during which he headed the Philippine Constabulary (now the Philippine National Police) and served as Vice-Chief of Staff of the armed forces for five years. Ramos was also identified as one of the “Rolex Twelve”, the group of close associates of the president. However, he switched sides in the struggle for power in February 1986, aligning himself with Corazon Aquino and the “People Power” movement against Marcos. He and Juan Ponce Enrile led the resistance to Marcos centred on two military camps. He was rewarded with promotion to Chief of Staff and then, in January 1988, with the post of Defence Minister in Aquino’s government. He increased his popularity during these years by helping to defeat a series of coup attempts against Aquino. Aquino nominated Ramos as her choice for President in the 1992 elections. Ramos won a narrow victory to become the 12th president of the Philippine Republic. His immediate priorities were to deal with the energy crisis and the economy; he tackled economic problems through policies of fiscal transparency and deregulation, as well as less popular methods such as extending value added tax. Ramos also sought to end insurgencies by Communist and Muslim rebels, and formed a National Unification Commission in August 1992 to oversee this. In the same month he gave permission for the return of Ferdinand Marcos’s remains to the Philippines. Legislative elections held in June 1995 that were presented by Ramos as a referendum on his istration led to overwhelming victory for his ers; by this time, his policies had reformed the Philippine economy and lifted its growth rate closer to that of other Pacific Rim “tiger economies”. In October he took personal charge of the government’s campaign against organized crime. The withdrawal of the Lakas ng Edsa party from the ruling coalition weakened Ramos’s , but he was still able to put through an important economic liberalization package in March 1996. In September the government concluded a landmark agreement with the Muslim secessionist Moro National Liberation Front in Mindanao, ending the long-term insurgency there. Congressional opposition to suspected moves by Ramos to amend the constitution, allowing him to stand for a second term in 1998, led to the ousting in October 1996 of the Senate president Neptali Gonzales, a firm Ramos er. In March 1997 the Philippines Supreme Court rejected a campaign by Ramos ers to allow a second presidential term, confirming its decision in June. In September 1997 a mass rally in Manila, attended by Cardinal Jaime Sin and Corazon Aquino among others, demonstrated against all efforts to change the constitution to allow Ramos a second term. In December, Ramos duly endorsed his chosen presidential candidate. However, the presidential elections in May 1998 were won by Ramos’s former vice-president, Joseph Estrada. Endorsed by the outgoing president Corazon Aquino, former defence minister Fidel Ramos narrowly won the 1992 presidential elections in the Philippines. His government successfully enacted economic liberalization measures, invigorating the Philippines’ economy. He also negotiated a peace treaty with the Muslim rebel group in Mindanao, ending a long-standing uprising there.

Joseph Marcelo Ejercito, popularly known as Erap, 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 ten children of Emilio Ejercito, a government engineer, and his wife Maria Marcelo. He finished his primary studies at the Ateneo de Manila University, but was expelled in his sophomore year of high school for unruly behavior. He went to Mapúa Institute of Technology to continue schooling with an engineering course, but dropped out from studies altogether two years later. 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 istration of President Fidel Ramos. 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. However, allegations of corruption spawned an impeachment trial in the Senate, and in 2001 Estrada was ousted from power after the trial was aborted. In 2007, he was found guilty of plunder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua, but was later granted a pardon by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Estrada was inaugurated on June 30, 1998 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. 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 an impeachment trial in the Senate, and in 2001 Estrada was ousted from power after the trial was aborted. Early into his presidency President Estrada removed all sovereign guarantees which would require the sovereign Filipino people to assume the financial losses of private companies doing business with the government. His programs as president was under the name “Angat-Pinoy 2004″. On the day he took office, a new agency in government called the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), which institutionalizes the processes of the Social Reform Agenda (SRA) in order to sustain its gains, Joseph Estrada became its first chairman. The law also mandates the NAPC to enhance the programs, approaches and strategies to strengthen the partnership between government and the basic sectors. In of peace and order, President Estrada created the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) with the objective of minimizing, if not totally eradicating, car theft and kidnapping in Metro Manila. With the help of this task force, the Philippine National Police for the first time in history achieved a record-high trust rating of +53 percent. Panfilo Lacson was its first head. President Estrada also created the Presidential Commission for Mass Housing (PCMH) and with the help of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) provided 190,000 households with housing units, construction and improvement of roads and bridges, and construction of classrooms. The president also proposed improvements to the curricula to meet both global standards and local needs, and controlled the hiking prices of transportation fair, food and medicine. In 1999, President Estrada signed into law and implemented Republic Act no. 8749, better known as Clean Air Act, which “The State shall promote and protect the global environment to attain sustainable development while recognizing the primary responsibility of local government units to deal with environmental problems”. Also on September the same year, he issued Executive Order(EO) 151, also known as Farmer’s Trust Fund, which allows the voluntary consolidation of small farm operation into medium and large scale integrated enterprise that can access long-term capital. President Estrada launched the Magkabalikat Para sa Kaunlarang Agraryo or MAGKASAKA. The DAR forged into t ventures with private investors into agrarian sector to make FBs competitive. In 2000 he formed the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council (ITECC) by the virtue of Executive Order No. 264 with the objective to lead the Philippines’s ICT industry by providing . a clearly defined direction through strong and capable leadership

The Estrada istration upheld the foreign policy thrusts of the Ramos istration, focusing on national security, economic diplomacy, assistance to nationals, and image-building. The Philippines continued to be at the forefront of the regional and multilateral arena. It successfully hosted the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in July 1998 and undertook confidence-building measures with China over South China Sea issue through a meeting in March 1999. President Estrada strengthened bilateral ties with neighboring countries with visits to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. On 1999 a Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States, which was ratified in the Senate. The country also sent a delegation of 108 observers to the Indonesian parliamentary elections, and engaged in cooperative activities in the areas of security, defense, combating transnational crimes, economy, culture, and the protection of OFWs and Filipinos abroad. Achievements Awards And Recognition

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2007 -- The Outstanding Young Men TOYM Awardee for Government Service 1998 - Top Ten Newsmakers of the Year 1998 - Hosting National President, 53rd Junior Chamber International JCI World Congress 1998 - Most Outstanding National President for Asia and the Pacific of the JCI 1997 - Graduated from the 10th Junior Chamber International JCI Academy in Japan 1996 - Exemplary Leadership Award by the Metro Area Jaycees 1996 - Presidential Award for Leadership Excellence Outstanding NEW 1995 - Metro Area Jaycee Leadership Excellence Award 1995 - Metro East Region Distinguished Service Award 1995 - Metro East Region Leadership Award Kabataan ng Masang Pilipino KAMPIL, National Chairman Partido ng Masang Pilipino PMP - Youth Sector, National Chairman Estudyanteng Responsable para sa Aktibong Pamamahala/Batang E.R.A.P., National Chairman National Youth Commission NYC, Honorary Chairman/Adviser Mamamayan Ayaw sa Droga MAD, National Founder Junior Chamber of the Philippines Foundation, Inc. President Ang Bayang Makulay Foundation, Chairman Puwersa ng Masa San Juan Chapter, Chairman

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (born 1947) assumed presidency of the Philippines in 2001, after a corruption scandal forced her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, from the post. Her move into Malacanang Palace, the presidential residence, served as a homecoming. Macapagal-Arroyo's father, Diosdado Macapagal, served as president of the Philippines in the 1960s, and Macapagal-Arroyo told reporters she looked forward to sleeping in her old bedroom. The Macapagal-Arroyo presidency has not been without its share of problems. The island nation is plagued by economic depression, the government has been involved in battles with militant rebels, and Macapagal-Arroyo's istration has faced its own charges of impropriety.

Won with 12.7 million votes, the most number of votes for Vice-President in history. Had more than twice the votes of the nearest rival, and the margin between was the largest margin achieved for any position in Philippine electoral history - over seven million votes. NAMED OUTSTANDING SENATOR BY: • Trade Union Congress of the Philippines • SBN 336, Magna Carta for the Urban Poor • Philippine Graphic Weekly Magazine • Philippine Reporter Magazine • Public Eye Magazine • Emil Jurado, Manila Standard Columnist OUTSTANDING LEGISLATOR • Garnered the biggest number of votes in Philippine history (1995 elections) -- an unparalleled 16 million. Another record that was set is the margin of votes between the first and second placer, which is approximately 3.2 million. This record still stands in the senate. • Filed over 400 Senate Bills and Resolutions • Authored or co-authored 55 bills signed into law of socio-economic legislation. These laws constituted the core of the economic program of President Fidel Ramos -- laws that have brought our country to the status of Asia's next tiger. • Ranked No. 1 in a public opinion survey of performance and awareness among incumbent Senators • Cited by Asia Week as one of Asia's most powerful women • Selected Woman of the Year by the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines FOR A BETTER BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT • RA 7844, The Export Development Act • RA 7718, The Amended Build-Operate-Transfer Law • RA 7843, Strengthening the Anti-Dumping Provisions • RA 8179, Further liberalizing Foreign Investments • RA 7721, Liberalizing banking in the Philippines • RA 7651, Revitalizing and strengthening the Bureau of Customs • RA 7916, Creating the Philippine Economic Zone Authority • RA 7640, Constituting the Legislative-Executive Development Council • RA 1490, Investment Houses Act (ed on third reading) • RA 7661, Extending the Life of the Asset Privatization Trust • RA 7903, Creating the Zamboanga Special Economic Zone • SBN 345, Promoting the Development of Interisland Shipping • SBN 358, Development of Micro and Cottage Industries

FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT • RA 7882, Providing assistance to women engaging in micro and cottage business enterprises • Women's desk to provide assistance to battered wives and other victims of domestic violence • RA 7877, Declaring sexual harassment unlawful in the employment, education or training environment and for other purposes • SBN 356, Increasing penalties for wife-beating • SBN 362, Mandatory employment of women • Establishment of the Movement Against Sexual Abuse (MASA) FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT • OCW desk to provide assistance to OCWs and their families • RA 7833, Excluding the 13th Month Pay and Other Benefits from the Computation of Taxable Income • RA 7654, Allocating a Portion of the Incremental Revenue Collected for the Emergency Employment Program • RA 7637, Creating the Mt. Pinatubo Assistance, Resettlement and Development Commission • RA 7657, Appropriating 10 Billion Pesos for the victims of Mt. Pinatubo Eruption • RA 7906, Regulation of the Organization and Operations of Thrift Banks • RA 8182, Excluding the Official Development Assistance (ODA) from Foreign Debt Limit in order to facilitate the absorption and optimize the utilization of ODA resources • RA 7820, Creating the Partido Development istration in Bicol region • SBN 1176, Establishing Computer Literacy Program in all public schools at the secondary level • SBN 1175, Instituting a Public School Teachers Scholarship Program • SBN 1728, Ancestral Domain Bill • SBN 1044, Institutionalizing a National Strategy for Poverty Alleviation • SBN 336, Magna Carta for the Urban Poor FOR AGRICULTURE & THE ENVIRONMENT • RA 7900, Promoting the production, processing, marketing and distribution of high-value crops • RA 8175. Amending the Charter of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation in order to make more stable and beneficial to farmers and the national economy • RA 7942, Instituting a new system of mineral resources exploration, development, utilization and conservation • Co-host, "Dighay Bayan" TV program catering to farmers • Pres. Macapagal Awards for best rice farm cooperative • SBN 1282, Food Security Buffer Stock Bill • SBN 2046, Amending the Sugar Restitution Law • RA 7638, Creating the Department of Energy

Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Cojuangco Aquino III was born on February 8, 1960. His parents were former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and former President Corazon C. Aquino. Aquino finished his elementary, high school and college education at the Ateneo de Manila where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Economics in 1981. After college, his family left the Philippines to live in the United State of America, because his father, who was then detained for charges of rebellion by the government of President Ferdinand Marcos, was permitted to seek treatment in the United States. Aquino and his family returned to the Philippines in 1983, after his father was assassinated at Manila International Airport. In 1986, his mother became president after the historic "People Power Revolution". In 1983, after his return to the Philippines, Aquino worked in private corporations until 1993. From 1993 to 1998, Aquino worked for the Central Azucarera de Tarlac.In 1998 Aquino ran for Congressman and served as representative of the 2nd District of Tarlac until 2007. As Congressman, he ed laws enhancing the effectiveness of public offices and improving the rights of workers and consumers. In May 2007, Noynoy was elected Senator. When his mother died in 2009, there were calls for him to run for President of the Philippines. To convince him, a million signatures were gathered by Edgardo Roces. On May 10, 2010, Aquino won the Presidential elections. He took his oath of office on June 30, 2010.Some of the laws that he immediately signed were the banning of the use of siren or "wangwang" in the streets for no serious reason, and the voiding of "midnight appointments" in government positions. He also established the "Truth Commission" to investigate graft and corruption, and abuses of the government of Pres. Gloria Arroyo. Aquino is the third president to use his second given name, Simeon, as his middle initial, as Manuel L. Quezon and Jose P. Laurel. He is one of the younger elected presidents after Emilio Aguinaldo (29 years old when elected), Ramon Magsaysay (46 years old when elected) and Ferdinand Marcos (48 years old when elected). He is the third president who only holds office but does not reside in Malacañang Palace, following Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos. He is the first president to make Bahay Pangarap his official residence. He is the first elected president who does not have a wife and children. Although, he inherited huge anomalies from the past istration of former president-now congresswoman, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, he didn't lose hope to uplift the present situation of ordinary Filipinos. He was able to start the following: 1. 4 PS - Pantawid-Pangkabuhayan sa Pamilyang Pilipino being given by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to less fortunate households. Parent-beneficiaries are given P500 pesos plus three children -recipients of P300 pesos each for education stipends. 2. Pantawid Pampasada - for public utility vehicle drivers through ATM cards with amount of P1, 500 to them for their daily 'pasada'. This means additional stipend to buy their fuel for a certain period as oil prices increases or drops suddenly. 3. Additional budget for the Education sector as new curriculum started. K12 is patterned from the US Educational System that has its middle school (additional 2 years) for the students to graduate. 4. Steadfast decision over Spratly disputes.