Loading ...Diosdado Pangan Macapagal (September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was the 9th President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the 6th Vice President of the Philippines, serving from 1957 to 1961.
Macapagal graduated from the University of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas, after which he worked as a lawyer for the government. He first won election in 1949 to the House of Representatives, representing a district in his home province of Pampanga. In 1957 he became vice president in the administration of Carlos P. Garcia, and in 1961 he defeated Garcia’s re-election bid for the presidency.
As President, Macapagal worked to supress graft and corruption and to stimulate the Philippine economy. He introduced the country’s first land reform law, placed the peso on the free currency exchange market, and liberalized foreign exchange and import controls. Many of his reforms, however, were crippled by a Congress dominated by the rival Nacionalista Party. He is also known for shifting the country’s independence day from July 4 to June 12, commemorating the day Filipino patriots declared independence from Spain in 1898. His re-election bid was defeated in 1965 by Ferdinand Marcos, whose subsequent authoritarian rule lasted 20 years.
His daughter, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is the current president of the Philippines.
After passing the bar examination, Macapagal was invited to join an American law firm as a practicing attourney, a particular honor for a Filipino at the time. He was assigned as a legal assistant to President Manuel L. Quezon in Malacañang Palace. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II, Macapagal continued working in Malacañang Palace as an assistant to President Jose P. Laurel, while secretly aiding the anti-Japanese resistance.
In 1943, Macapagal lost his first wife, Purita Dela Rosa, to malnutrition due to the deprivations of the war. In 1946 he married Evangelina Macaraeg, with whom he had two children, Gloria and Diosdado Jr.
After the war, Macapagal worked as an assistant attorney with the one of the largest law firms in the country, Ross, Lawrence, Selph and Carrascoso. With the establishment of the independent Republic of the Philippines in 1946, he rejoined government service when President Manuel Roxas appointed him to the Department of Foreign Affairs as the head of its legal division. In 1948, President Elpidio Quirino appointed Macapagal as chief negotiator in the successful transfer of the Turtle Islands in the Sulu Sea from the United Kingdom to the Philippines That same year, he was assigned as second secretary to the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. In 1949, he was elevated to the position of Counselor on Legal Affairs and Treaties, at the time the fourth highest post in the Philippine Foreign Office.
On the urging of local political leaders of Pampanga province, President Quirino recalled Macapagal from his position in Washington to run for a seat in the House of Representatives representing the 1st District of Pampanga. The district’s incumbent Representative, Amado Yuzon, was a friend of Macapagal, but was opposed by the administration due to his support by communist groups. After a campaign which Macapagal described as cordial and free of personal attacks, he won a landslide victory in the 1949 election. He also won re-election in the 1953 election, and served as Representative in the 2nd and 3rd Congress
At the start of legislative sessions in 1950, the members of the House of Representatives elected Macapagal as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and he was given several important foreign assignments. He was a Philippine delegate to the United Nations General Assembly multiple times, notably distinguishing himself in debates over Communist aggression with Andrei Vishinsky and Jacob Malik of the Soviet Union. He took part in negotiations for the US-RP Mutual Defense Treaty, the Laurel-Langley Agreement, and the Japanese Peace Treaty. He also authored the Foreign Service Act, which reorganized and strengthened the Philippine foreign service.
As a Representative, Macapagal authored and sponsored several laws of socio-economic importance, particularly aimed at benefiting the rural areas and the poor. Among legislation Macapagal promoted was the Minimum Wage Law, Rural Health Law, Rural Bank Law, the Law on Barrio Councils, the Barrio Industrialization Law, and a law nationalizing the rice and corn industries. He was consistently selected by the Congressional Press Club as one of the Ten Outstanding Congressmen during his tenure. In his second term, he was selected as the Best Lawmaker.
Other Information
- Born : September 28, 1910
- Birthplace: Lubao, Pampanga
- Died : April 21, 1997, Makati City
- Birth name : Diosdado Pangan Macapagal
- Father : Urbano Macapagal
- Mother : Romana Pangan
- Nationality : Filipino
- Ethnic Affiliation : Pampango
- Schoolos Attended :
- Lubao Elementary School (1925)
- Pampanga High School (2nd Place), (1929)
- University of the Philippines – Associate in Arts (933)
- University of Santo Tomas – Bachelor of Laws (1936)
- University of Santo Tomas, Master of Laws (1941)
- University of Santo Tomas, Doctor of Civil Laws meritissimus (1947)
- University of Santo Tomas, Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (1957)
- Doctor of Laws honoris causa, Fordham University (October 9, 1964)
- Political party : Liberal Party
- Spouse(s) :
- Purita de la Rosa
- Evangelina Macaraeg
- Children:
- Cielo Macapagal
- Arturo Macapagal
- Gloria Macapagal
- Diosdado Macapagal, Jr.
- Profession : Lawyer, University Professor
- Religion : Roman Catholic
Positions held
Private Citizen
- University Professor, University of Santo Tomas
- Professor of Constitutional Democracy, Member of the Board of Trustees, University of Santo Tomas
- Clerk, Bureau of Lands (1930)
- Assistant attorney, Feria & LaO Law Offices (1937)
- Assistant attorney, Ross, Lawrence, Selph & Carrascoso (1937-1940)
- Legal assistant in the Office of President Manuel L. Quezon (1940-1941), Chairman Jorge B. Vargas (1941-1943) and President Jose P. Laurel (1943-1944)
- Professor of Law, University of Santo Tomas (1941-1957)
- Senior Partner, Macapagal, Punsalan, Yabut & Eusebio Law Offices (1946-1949), (1954-1957)
- Founder and first President of the Philippine Lawyers Association (1946-1949)
- Asst. and then Chief of the Legal Division, Department of Foreign Affairs (1946-1947)
- Second Secretary, Embassy of the Philippines, Washington, D.C. (1948)
- Asst. Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Legal Affairs, Intelligence, and Treaties (1949)
- Chairman of the board of CAP Life and the Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City
Government
- Representative, 3rd District of Pampanga (two-terms, 2nd Congress 1949-1953; 3rd Congress 1953-1957)
- Chairman, House committee on Foreign Affairs (1949-1953)
- Vice President of the Philippines (December 30,1957- December 30, 1961)
- President of the Liberal Party (1958-1961)
- Philippine President (December 30, 1961-December 30, 1965)
- Delegate and 2nd President (1971 Constitutional Convention)
- Honorary Chairman of the National Centennial Commission (1997)
Notable Events
- Economic policy
- Land reform (1963)
- Foreign policy
- Anti-corruption drive
- Independence Day (1962)
- 1965 Presidential campaign
- US-RP Mutual Defense Treaty
Awards and achievements
- Congressional Press Club’ one of the Ten Outstanding Congressmen
Monica Louise Prieto-Teodoro
Emil Ong