FIRST REPUBLIC

(Revolutionary Government/The Philippines under Spanish rule)

(1899-1901) President: Emilio F. Aguinaldo)

COMMONWEALTH PERIOD (American Period)

(1935-1944) President Manuel L. Quezon (Died in exile in the U.S.)

(1936-1944) Vice-President: Sergio S. Osmea, Sr.

(1944-1946) President: Sergio S. Osmea, Sr. (Assumed the presidency upon

the death ofQuezon while the Philippine Commonwealth government is in exile in
the U.S.)

SECOND REPUBLIC (Japanese Occupation)

(1943-1945) President: Jose P. Laurel

(1943-1945) Vice-Presidents: Benigno Aquino, Sr. and Ramon Avancena

THIRD REPUBLIC

(1946-1948) President: Manuel L. Roxas (Died of a heart attack)

(1946-1948) Vice-President: Elpidio R. Quirino

(1948-1953) President: Elpidio R. Quirino (Assumed the remaining term & reelected)
(1949-1953) Vice-President: Fernando H. Lopez

(1953-1957) President: Ramon F. Magsaysay

(Magsaysay died in an airplane crash on March 16, 1957 on Mt. Manunggal in
Cebu)
(1953-1957) Vice-President: Carlos P. Garcia

(1957-1961) President: Carlos P. Garcia (Assumed the remaining term and reelected)
(1957-1961) Vice-President: Diosdado P. Macapagal

(1961-1965) President: Diosdado P. Macapagal

(1961-1965) Vice-President: Emmanuel N. Pelaez

(1965-1972) President: Ferdinand E. Marcos (the first to win

2 presidential terms)
(1965-1972) Vice-President: Fernando H. Lopez

FOURTH REPUBLIC (Martial Law, "The New Republic" & Parliamentary Government)
(1972-1986) President: Ferdinand E. Marcos (unseated by the People Power
Revolution)
(Marcos died in exile in Hawaii on September 28, 1989 of Lupus complications)
(1981-1986) Prime Minister Cesar E. A. Virata
(1986) Vice-President: Arturo M. Tolentino (proclaimed but did not serve due
to the revolt)

FIFTH REPUBLIC (Under the new "People Power" Constitution)

(1986-1992) President: Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino

(1986-1992) Vice-President: Salvador H. Laurel

(1992-1998) President Fidel V. Ramos

(1992-1998) Vice-President: Joseph Ejercito Estrada

(1998-2001) President: Joseph Ejercito Estrada (Deposed by "People Power")

(1998-2001) Vice-President: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

(2001-2010) President: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (Assumed Estrada's remaining

term & re-elected)
(2001-2004) Vice-President: Teofisto T. Guingona (1st term of Arroyo)
(2004-2010) Vice-President: Manuel "Noli" Leuterio de Castro (2nd term of
Arroyo)

(2010-Present) President: Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Cojuangco Aquino III

(2010-Present) Vice-President: Jejomar "Jojo" Cabauatan Binay

List of Presidents[edit]
President

Took

Left

(BirthDeath)

office

office

Party

Ter

President

Era

None;

Emilio
Aguinald January
1

Vice

formerly

March

theMagdalo

23,

23,

(1869

1899[L 1]

1901[L 2]

1964)

faction of

First
None[L 4]

theKatipuna

Republic
(Malolos
Republic)

n[L 3]

Defunct; executive power exercised by the Governor General of the

Philippines under the American colonial Insular Government until November
15, 1935.

Ma

Insular
Government

nue
l L.
Qu
2

ezo
n
(187
8
194
4)

Novemb August
er 15,
1935

1, 1944
5]

[L

Nacionalista

American

Sergio

Commonwe

Osmea
2

alth

Jos
P.
Lau
3

rel
(189
1

KALIBAPI[L 7]
October

August

14,

17,

1943

1945[L 6]

195

(Caretaker
government
under

None[L 8]

Vacant

Second
Republic

Japanese
occupation)

9)

Ser
gio
Os
me
4

a
(187

August

May 28,

1, 1944

1946

Nacionalista

American
Commonwe
alth

(Restored)

196
1)

Ma
nue
l
Rox
5

as
(189

May 28, April 15,

1946

1948[L 9]

Liberal

Elpidio
Quirino
3

Republic

194
8)

Elpi April 17, Decemb

Third

Liberal

Vacant

dio
Qui
rino
(189

1948

er 30,

Fernando

1953

Lopez

195
6)

Ra
mo
n
Ma
gsa Decemb
7

March

ysa

er 30,

17,

1953

1957[L 10]

Nacionalista

Carlos P.
Garcia
5

(190
7
195
7)

Car

Vacant

los
P.
Gar March
8

Decemb

cia

18,

er 30,

(189

1957

1961

6
197
1)

Nacionalista

Diosdado
Macapag
al

Dio
sda
do
Ma
cap Decemb Decemb
9

aga

er 30,

er 30,

1961

1965

Liberal

Emmanu
el Pelaez

(191
0
199
7)

Nacionalista

Fernando

Lopez

Fer
din

Second

and

Mar Decemb February

1
0

cos

er 30,

25,

(191

1965

1986

Dictatorship
"The New

Vacant

Society"

[L 11]

KBL

10

198
9)

Fourth

Arturo

Republic

Tolentino

Cor
1

azo

n
Aqu
ino

11
Februar
y 25,
1986[L 12]

June 30, PDP-LABAN

1992

/UNIDO

Salvador
Laurel

Fifth
Republic

(193
3
2009

Fid

12

el
V.
1

Ra

mo
s
Jos
(192
eph

June
30,
1992

June 30,
1998

Lakas

Joseph
Estrada
13

June

January

30,

20,

1998

2001[L 13]

al-Arroyo

Glo January June 30, Lakas /KAM

Vacant

ria

20,

Ma

2001

8 )
Estr

ada
(193

Gloria
LAMP

Macapag

7 )

2010

PI
Teofisto

cap

Guingon

aga

a, Jr.

lArr
oyo

Noli de

(194

Lakas-

7 )

Ben

14

Castro

Kampi

June

Incumbe

Liberal

Jejomar

15

ign
o
Aqu
5

ino
III
(196
0 )

nt
30,
2010

(Term
expires Ju
ne 30,
2016)

Binay

General Emilio F. Aguinaldo (March 22, 1869 - February 6, 1964). He was 29 years
old when he became Chief of State, first as head of the dictatorship he thought should be
established upon his return to Cavite in May 1898 from voluntary exile in Hongkong, and
then a month later as President of the Revolutionary Government that Apolinario Mabini had
persuaded him should instead be instituted.
Aguinaldo's presidential term formally began in 1898 and ended on April 1, 1901, when he
took an oath of allegiance to the United States a week after his capture in Palanan, Isabela.
His term also featured the setting up of the Malolos Republic, which has its own Congress,
Constitution, and national and local officialdom -- proving Filipinos also had the capacity to
build.
Aguinaldo is best remembered for the proclamation of Philippine Independence on June 12,
1898, in Kawit, Cavite.
Manuel L. Quezon (August 19, 1878 - August 1, 1944). He won the elections held in
September 1935 to choose the head of the Commonwealth Government. It was a
government made possible by the Tydings-McDuffie Law, which Quezon secured from the
U.S.
Quezon had emerged as the acknowledged leader of Philippine politics and possessed the
kind of background and experience that appealed to Filipinos. He had a bachelor of arts
degree, studied law, and landed fourth place in the 1903 Bar examinations. He served in the
revolution, fighting in Tarlac, Pampanga, and Bataan, and ended up with the rank of major.
He was appointed provincial fiscal of Mindoro and Tayabas, his home province. He was
elected governor of Tayabas in 1905 and in 1907, first assemblyman from the province to
the First Philippine National Assembly. In 1909, he was appointed resident commissioner to
the U.S. and when he finished his term after eight years, he returned to the Philippines to
become President of the Philippine Senate, created by the Jones Law. He was also top man
of the ruling Nacionalista Party.
Quezon's term (1935 - 1944), though chiefly known for making Pilipino the national
language, tried to solve nagging problems inherited from the Spanish and American
administrations. He directed his main efforts to bring about political stability, build up
national defense against the threat of Japanese militarism, and strengthen an economy that
was extremely dependent upon the U.S. He was also remembered for taking executive and
legislative actions to implement his "social justice" program aimed at the underprivileged.
The Commonwealth Government was interrupted by the Japanese invasion of 1941.
Quezon and his government were forced to go into exile in the U.S. He died on August 1,
1944, in New York.

Jose P. Laurel (March 9, 1891 - November 5, 1959). He was elected by the National
Assembly as President of the Republic on September 25, 1943 and inducted on October 14,
1943. This unicameral assembly was created through the sponsorship of the Japanese
authorities.
Laurel's controversial Presidency during the Japanese Occupation (1943 - 1945)
overshadowed his achievements as legislator, jurist, writer, and administrator in the pre-war
struggle for independence. As an elected senator and later delegate to the Constitutional
Convention, he distinguished himself for his advocacy of women's suffrage and his
sponsorship of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution. He also became an associate justice of
the Supreme Court.
Sergio Osmena (September 9, 1878 - October 19, 1961). He was elected Vice President
of the Philippines in 1935 and succeeded Quezon to the Presidency in-exile.
Osmena was a notable figure in the struggle for independence. A lawyer, he espoused the
cause of independence through peaceful means as editor of the Cebu newspaper El
Nuevo Dia (New Day), which he founded in 1900. He served as fiscal of Cebu and Negros
Oriental. He was appointed governor of Cebu in 1904 and elected to the same post in 1906.
In 1907, he was elected as representative of Cebu and later became speaker of the first
Philippine Assembly. In 1922, he was elected as senator. He headed important government
missions to the U. S.
Osmena returned to the Philippines on October 20, 1944, together with Gen. Douglas
MacArthur. In February 1945, he took the reins of government.
Manuel A. Roxas (January 1, 1892 - April 15, 1948). He was popularly known as the
"First President of the Third Republic." He won the elections by a slim margin. He was
inaugurated on July 4, 1946, the day the U.S. government granted political independence to
its colony.
Roxas was born in Capiz (now Roxas City), studied law at UP and graduated with honors in
1913. He topped the Bar examinations in the same year, was employed as private secretary
to Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano, and taught law in 1915-1916.
His political career started when he was appointed as a member of the Capiz municipal
council. In 1919, he was elected as governor of Capiz. He was elected as congressman in
1922, and in 1935, he was chosen as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was
elected as a senator in 1941 and eventually became Senate president.
The short-lived Roxas administration (1946 - 1948) embarked on a course that resulted in
what were considered as his greatest achievements, namely: the ratification of the Bell
Trade Act; the inclusion of the Parity Amendment in the Constitution; and the signing of the
1947 Military Bases Agreement.

Roxas was not able to complete his presidential term; he died from a heart attack at Clark
Air base on April 15, 1948.
Elpidio Quirino (November 16, 1890 - February 28, 1956). Being the Vice President, he
took over the Presidency after Roxas' death. And, he managed to retain the position after
winning over Laurel in the infamous fraud-tainted 1949 elections.
Quirino was born in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, finished law studies at UP in 1915, and hurdled the
Bar examinations in the same year. His political career started with his election as a
representative of Ilocos Sur in 1919, then as a senator in 1925, and again reelected in 1931.
President Quezon appointed him as secretary of finance and then secretary of the interior in
the Commonwealth Government. As Roxas' Vice President, he served concurrently first as
secretary of finance and later as secretary of foreign affairs.
The Quirino administration (1948 - 1953) focused on two objectives: 1) to regain faith and
confidence in the government; and 2) to restore peace and order. He was more successful
in the second objective - breaking the back of the Hukbalahap Movement in Central Luzon.
In addition, he was credited with sponsoring the growth of industrial ventures, expanding
irrigation, improving the road system, and setting up the Central Bank and rural banking. It
was also during his term that the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty was approved on August
30, 1951.

Ramon Magsaysay (August 31, 1907 - March 17, 1957). He was largely famous for his
success in the peace campaign. He defeated Quirino in the 1953 presidential elections by
an unprecedented margin of votes.
Popularly known as "the guy," Magsaysay was born in Iba, Zambales. He took up
mechanical engineering at UP but ended up with a commerce degree from Jose Rizal
College. He took a job as a mechanic in the bus company Try-Tran and rose to become its
branch manager. He attained fame as an able guerilla leader in World War II and was
subsequently named by MacArthur as military governor of Zambales during the liberation.
He was elected twice as a congressman after the war. He was instrumental in having the
U.S. Congress pass the G.I. Bill of Rights, which accorded benefits to the Filipino war
veterans. But his national prominence resulted from being appointed defense secretary in
the Quirino administration, successfully fighting the Huks, and for being the friend of the
common tao.
Many regard Magsaysay as the President whose heart truly bled for the common man. He
toured the barrios, opened up Malacanang to the public, solicited and acted upon their
complaints, built artesian wells and roads. He had Congress pass the Agricultural Tenancy
Act of 1954, providing greater protection to tenants.
Death came to Magsaysay when his plane crashed at Mount Pinatubo in the early morning

of March 17, 1957.

Carlos P. Garcia (November 4, 1896 - June 1, 1971). He presided over the eight months
of Magsaysay's remaining term and went on to win the 1957 elections, "the noisiest and the
most expensive in Philippine history."
Garcia hailed from Talibon, Bohol. He finished his law studies at the Philippine Law School
in Manila. He passed the Bar examinations and was among the top ten.
His election as Bohol representative to the National Assemblly in 1952 marked his entry into
Philippine politics and public service - one of the longest ever. He was again reelected as a
representative. In 1931, he started the first of this three terms as governor of Bohol. In 1941,
he was elected as a senator, but it was only in 1945 that he took office because of World
War II. He was again reelected as a senator and in 1953, he became Vice President to
Magsaysay. He was appointed in a concurrent capacity as secretary of foreign affairs.
Garcia's administration (1957 - 1961) was anchored in his austerity program. It was also
noted for its Filipino First policy - an attempt to boost economic independence.
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 prelaw 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 administration (1961 - 1965) is best remembered 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
administration, 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.
Ferdinand E. Marcos (September 11, 1917 - September 28, 1989). He defeated
Macapagal in the 1965 presidential elections. And the two-decade era of Marcos (1965 1986) began.
Marcos was born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. He was a consistent scholar, took up Law at UP,
and graduated cum laude in 1939. At 19, he was charged with the murder of a political

enemy of his father. Thrown in jail, he reviewed for the nearing Bar examinations and topped
it. Defeated at a lower court, he argued his own case in an appeal before the Supreme
Court and won an acquittal. He joined the guerilla forces at the outbreak of war.
Marcos entered politics with an eye to eventually capturing the presidency. In his maiden
campaign in 1949, he said: "Elect me your congressman now and I'll give you an Ilokano
President in 20 years." He won that election and was returned thrice to Congress as Ilocos
Norte's congressman. In 1959, he was elected to the Philippine Senate and in 1963, he
became its president. Completing the presidential term in 1969, he won a reelection . In
1972, he declared martial law. The rest is history.
Corazon C. Aquino (January 25, 1933). President from 1986 to 1992, she is associated
with the EDSA Revolt.
No one could have imagined that Cory Aquino would become a president of the Philippines.
Although she was born to the landed class in Tarlac, her background was so disparate from
the patterns that cut presidential figures. In 1946, her family left for the U.S. and she
enrolled at Ravenhill Academy in Philadelphia. She finished her junior and senior years at
Notre Dame College in New York. In 1949, she entered Mount Saint Vincent College also in
New York where she finished a Bachelor of Arts course, major in French .
In 1953, she returned to the Philippines to take up law at the Far Eastern University. But, the
following year, she met and married Benigno Ninoy Aquino. Subsequently, she became
content to live in her husband's shadow and took the role of wife and mother to her five
children. However, Ninoy's assassination in 1983 swept aside this role and catapulted her to
the top position of the country after the tumultuous events which followed the EDSA
revolution in February 1986.
She refused to run for reelection in the 1992 presidential elections; but instead endorsed
and worked very hard for her chosen candidate - Fidel V. Ramos.
Fidel V. Ramos ((March 18, 1928). He was the military hero of the February 1986
Philippine People Power Revolution and victor of the first multiparty presidential elections in
1992, thus becoming the 12th President of the Republic of the Philippines.
Ramos was born on March 18, 1928, and grew up in Lingayen, Pangasinan. His father Narciso Ramos - was a lawyer, a crusading journalist, a five-term legislator of the House of
Representatives, and later, secretary of foreign affairs.
The Ramos administration has anchored its governance on the philosophy of "People
Empowerment" as the engine to operationalize economic growth, social equity, and national
solidarity. It is focusing on a five-point program: peace and stability; economic growth and
sustainable development; energy and power generation; environmental protection; and a
streamline democracy.
The six-year term of Ramos (1992 - 1998) is looked upon with much hope and optimism not

only because of his clear vision of the future but also because of his hands-on leadership
style in meeting the challenges faced by the country. Because of his leadership, the
Philippines is expected to attain full political stability, sustained economic development and
social justice by the turn of the 21st century.
Eric Baguinon
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