Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy[1][2] (March 22, 1869[n 1] February 6, 1964) was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader.

. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence[8] that resisted American occupation. Aguinaldo became the Philippines' first President. He was also the youngest (at age 28) to have become the country's president, the longest-lived president (having survived to age 94) and the president to have outlived the most number of successors.

Manuel Luis Quezn Molina (August 19, 1878 August 1, 1944) served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the Philippines (as opposed to other historical states). Quezn is considered by most Filipinos to have been the second president of the Philippines, after Emilio Aguinaldo (18971901). Quezn was the first Senate president elected to the presidency, the first president elected through a national election, and the first incumbent to secure re-election (for a partial second term, later extended, due to amendments to the 1935 Constitution). He is known as the "Father of the National Language". During his presidency, Quezn tackled the problem of landless peasants in the countryside. Other major decisions include reorganization of the islands' military defense, approval of recommendation for government reorganization, promotion of settlement and development in Mindanao, tackling the foreign strangle-hold on Philippine trade and commerce, proposals for land reform, and the tackling of graft and corruption within the government. Quezn established an exiled government in the US with the outbreak of the war and the threat of Japanese invasion. During his exile in the US, Manuel L. Quezn died of tuberculosis in Saranac Lake, New York.

Jos Paciano Laurel Garca (March 9, 1891 November 6, 1959) was the president of the Republic of the Philippines, a Japanese-sponsored administration during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. Since the administration of President Diosdado Macapagal (19611965), Laurel has been recognized as a legitimate president of the Philippines.

Sergio Osmea y Suico (9 September 1878 19 October 1961) was a Chinese Filipino politician who served as the 4th President of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was Vice President under Manuel L. Quezon, and rose to the presidency upon Quezon's death in 1944, being the oldest Philippine president to hold office at age 65. A founder of Nacionalista Party, he was the first Visayan to become President of the Philippines. Prior to his succession to the Presidency in 1944, Osmea served as Governor of Cebu from 19011907, Member and Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives from 19071922, and Senator from the 10th Senatorial District for thirteen years, in which capacity he served as Senate President pro tempore. In 1935, he was nominated to be the running-mate of Senate President Manuel L. Quezon for the presidential election that year. The tandem was overwhelmingly re-elected in 1941. He was the patriarch of the prominent Osmea family, which includes his son (former Senator Sergio Osmea, Jr.) and his grandsons (senators Sergio Osmea III and John Henry Osmea), ex-governor Lito Osmea and Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmea.

Manuel Acua Roxas (January 1, 1892 April 15, 1948) was the first president of the independent Third Republic of the Philippines and fifth president overall. He served as president from the granting of independence in 1946 until his abrupt death in 1948. His term as president of the Philippines was also the third shortest, lasting 1 year 10 months and 18 days.

Elpidio Rivera Quirino (November 16, 1890 February 29, 1956) was a Filipino politician, and the sixth President of the Philippines. A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered politics when he became a representative of Ilocos Sur from 1919 to 1925. He was then elected as senator from 19251931. In 1934, he became a member of the Philippine independence commission that was sent to Washington, D.C., which secured the passage of Tydings-McDuffie Act to American Congress. In 1935, he was also elected to become member of the convention that will write the draft of then 1935 constitution for the newly-established Commonwealth. At the new government, he served as secretary of the interior and finance under Quezon's cabinet. After the war, Quirino was elected vice-president in 1946 election, consequently the second and last for the Commonwealth and first for the third republic. After the death of the incumbent president Manuel Roxas in 1948, he succeeded the presidency. In what was claimed to be a dishonest and fraudulent[1] 1949 presidential election, he won the president's office under Liberal Party ticket, defeating Nacionalista vie and former president Jos P. Laurel as well as fellow Liberalista and former Senate President Jos Avelino. The Quirino administration was generally challenged by the Hukbalahaps, who ransacked towns and barrios.[1] Quirino ran for president again in the 1953 presidential election, but was defeated by Nacionalista Ramon Magsaysay. After his term, he retired to his new country home in Novaliches, Quezon City, where he died of a heart attack on February 29, 1956

Ramn del Fierro Magsaysay (31 August 1907 17 March 1957) was the seventh President of the Republic of the Philippines, serving from 30 December 1953 until his death in a 1957 aircraft disaster. An automobile mechanic, Magsaysay was appointed military governor of Zambales after his outstanding service as a guerilla leader during the Pacific War. He then served two terms as Liberal Party congressman for Zambales before being appointed as Secretary of National Defense by President Elpidio Quirino. He was elected President under the banner of the Nacionalista Party. He was the first Philippine President born during the 20th century.

Carlos Polistico Garca (November 4, 1896 June 14, 1971) was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist and guerrilla leader. He became the eighth President of the Philippines.

Diosdado Pangan Macapagal (September 28, 1910 April 21, 1997) was the ninth President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice President, serving from 1957 to 1961. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970. He is the father of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who served as the 14th President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010. A native of Lubao, Pampanga, 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 President Carlos P. Garcia, and in 1961 he defeated Garcia's re-election bid for the presidency. As president, Macapagal worked to suppress 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 observance of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, commemorating the day Filipino patriots declared independence from Spain in 1898. His reelection bid was defeated in 1965 by Ferdinand Marcos, whose subsequent authoritarian rule lasted 20 years. During the Marcos administration, Macapagal was elected president of the Constitutional Convention which would later draft what became the 1973 constitution, though the manner in which the charter was ratified and modified led him to later question its legitimacy. He died of heart failure, pneumonia and renal complications at the age of 86.

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin 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 (19491959) and a member of the Philippine Senate (19591965). He was Senate President from 19631965. While in power he implemented wide-ranging programs of infrastructure development and economic reform. However, his administration was marred by massive corruption, political repression, and human rights violations. In 1983, his government was accused of being involved in the assassination of his primary political opponent, Benigno Aquino, Jr. Public outrage over the assassination 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 discovered that, during his 20 years in power, he and his wife Imelda Marcos had moved billions of dollars of embezzled public funds to accounts and investments in the United States, Switzerland, and other countries.

Maria Corazon Sumulong "Cory" Cojuangco-Aquino (January 25, 1933 August 1, 2009) was the 11th President of the Philippines, the first woman to hold that office, and the first female president in Asia. She led the 1986 People Power Revolution, which toppled Ferdinand Marcos and restored democracy in the Philippines. She was named "Woman of the Year" in 1986 by Time magazine. A self-proclaimed "plain housewife",[1] Aquino was married to Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., the staunchest critic of then President Ferdinand Marcos. After her husband's assassination on August 21, 1983, upon returning to the Philippines after four years in exile in the United States, Corazon Aquino emerged as the leader of the opposition against the Marcos administration. In late 1985, when President Marcos called for a snap election, Aquino ran for president with former senator Salvador Laurel as her vice-presidential running mate. After the elections were held on February 7, 1986, and the Batasang Pambansa proclaimed Marcos the winner in the elections, she called for massive civil disobedience protests, declaring herself as having been cheated and as the real winner in the elections. Filipinos enthusiastically heeded her call and rallied behind her. These events eventually led to the ousting 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 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, and peace talks with communist insurgents and Muslim secessionists. Aquino's economic policies centered on bringing back economic health and confidence and focused on creating a market-oriented and socially responsible economy. Aquino's administration also faced a series of coup attempts 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, often voicing her views and opinions on the pressing political issues. In 2008, Aquino was diagnosed with colon cancer from which she died on August 1, 2009. Her son Benigno Aquino III was elected president and was sworn in on June 30, 2010.

Fidel "Eddie" Valdez Ramos, GCMG (born March 18, 1928), 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. 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), chief of Integrated National Police, and later on, as Secretary of National Defense from 1986 to 1991. During the historic 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, Ramos upon the invitation of then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, was hailed as a hero even though he was not part of the plan 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 government of President Aquino. Under Ramos, 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 internationally as Asia's Next Economic Tiger. However, the momentum in the economic gains made under his administration was briefly interrupted during the onset of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Nevertheless, during the last year of the term, the economy managed to make a rebound since it was not severely hit by the crisis as compared to other Asian economies. He also oversaw the Philippine Centennial Independence celebrations in 1998. Ramos has received numerous honors, and he is the only Filipino to receive an honorary British Knighthood from the United Kingdom, the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, which bestowed to him by Queen Elizabeth II in 1995. To date, Ramos is the first and only non-Catholic President of the Philippines. He belongs to the Protestant United Church of Christ in the Philippines.

Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada (born Jose Marcelo Ejercito on April 19, 1937) was the 13th President of the Philippines, serving from 1998 until 2001. Estrada was the first person in the Post-EDSA era to be elected both to the presidency and vice-presidency. Estrada gained popularity as a film actor, playing the lead role in over 100 films in an acting career spanning 33 years. He used 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 V. 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. In 2000 he declared an "allout-war" against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and captured its headquarters and other camps.[1][2] However, allegations of corruption spawned an impeachment trial in the Senate, and in 2001 Estrada was ousted by "People Power" 2 after the prosecution walked out of the impeachment court when the Senator Judges voted no in the opening of the second envelope. The EDSA 2 protests resulted from the concerted efforts of political, business, military, and church elites who were displeased by Estrada's policies that included removal of sovereign guarantees on government contracts.[3] In October 2000, the Daily Tribune reported about elite plans to "'constitutionally' oust President Estrada under 'Oplan Excelsis."[4] Emil Jurado of the Manila Standard reported as early as 1999 about a PR demolition work designed to embarrass Estrada "by attributing to his administration all sorts of perceived faults and scams with the end in view of covering up anomalies and scams also committed during the Ramos administration." Former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo also admitted in an interview with Nick Joaquin that he and then-Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson and certain military officials plotted plans to oust Estrada in January 2001, with the alternative plan B being violent "with orders to shoot. And not only in Metro Manila.".[5] 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. He ran for president anew in the 2010 Philippine presidential election, but lost to then Senator Benigno Aquino III.

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (born April 5, 1947) 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 Corazn Aquino), and the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal. Arroyo was a former professor of economics at Ateneo de Manila University where Benigno Aquino III was one of her students. She entered government in 1987, serving as assistant secretary and undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry upon the invitation of President Corazon Aquino. 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. 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. 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 presidentafter Jos P. Laurelto pursue a lower office after their presidency. On November 18, 2011, Arroyo was arrested following the filing of criminal charges against her for electoral fraud. As of December 9, 2011, she is incarcerated at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City under charges of electoral sabotage.

Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III[1][2][3][4] (/bnno kino/; [bnino akino]; born February 8, 1960), also known as Noynoy Aquino or PNoy, is a Filipino politician who has been the 15th President of the Philippines since June 2010.[3][5][6] 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., served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 1943 to 1944; and his parents were President Corazon Aquino and Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. Aquino is a member of the Liberal Party.[7] In the Liberal Party, Aquino held various positions such as Secretary General and Vice President for Luzon. Aquino is the Chairman of the Liberal Party.[8] Born in Manila, Aquino finished his Bachelor of Arts Major in Economics 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 reelected to the House in 2001 and 2004.[3] In 2007, having been barred from running for reelection to the House due to term limits, he was elected to the Senate in the 14th Congress of the Philippines.[3] Following the death of his mother on August 1, 2009, many people began calling on Aquino to run for president.[3] On September 9, 2009, Aquino officially announced he would be a candidate in the 2010 presidential election, held on May 10, 2010.[3] On June 9, 2010, the Congress of the Philippines proclaimed Aquino the winner of the 2010 presidential election.[3] On June 30, 2010, at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila,[3][9] 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.[3][10] Although the official residence of the President is the Malacaang Palace, Aquino actually resides in the Bahay Pangarap (House of Dreams), located within the Palace grounds.[11][12]