Presidents of the Republic of the Philippines
EMILIO AGUINALDO
Achievements
As the president, he ordered the creation of the Philippine flag
and composition of the national anthem, and declared the nation's
independence from Spain on June 12, 1898. After that he spent 2
years running away from pursuing American forces until his
capture in 1901 with the help of some traitors from Pampanga.
He led his country to achieve independence after fighting off
both the Spanish and the Americans.
He also led the Philippine-American war against U.S.
resistance to Philippine independence.
MANUEL L. QUEZON
Achievements
Established Commonwealth government and created the
national language institute that proclaimed Tagalog to be the
national language’s basis
. Passed Immigration Act for an annual immi-gration quota of
500 due to problem with Japanese and signed the women suffrage
law.
Engaged in free trade, creating the National Economic council,
and establishing government companies for people’s protection
against merchants or producers’ exploitation; transportation and
communication’s improvement; Strengthened certain agencies for
the improvement and extension of service to people; and art and
literature progress through contests and competitions
JOSE P. LAUREL
Achievements
Prioritize the passage of Bill of Rights.
Exerted every effort to increase production and bring
consumers' goods under control.
Issued an executive order organizing the Kapisanan sa
Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipi-nas (KALIBAPI) as the sole
political organization to back the government.
Failures
There were a lot of Filipino casualties and losses caused by the
war, epidemics, recon-centration camps, and on the economic
side as well.
Government failed to obtain any foreign
recognition.
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 for he was
used by the Japanese as an anti-American tool.
Failures
Failure of the initiation and implementation of the policy for
social justice and laws for rural population’s improvement due to
lack of government funds to purchase landed estates and
resistance of big and powerful landlords.
The economy remained dependent to the U.S. due to the Bell
Trade Act, otherwise known as the Philippine Trade Act, which
was a precondition for receiving war reha-bilitation grants from
the United States.
Failures
. The “Japanese Puppet” Republic
Denounced in some quarters as a war col-laborator or even a
traitor, although his in-dictment for treason was superseded by
President Roxas' Amnesty Proclamation, and evidenced by his
subsequent electoral success.
The Philippines faced a crippling food shortage which
demanded much of Laurel's attention.
SERGIO S. OSMEÑA
Achievements
Food distribution centers were set up, price ceilings instituted
and, characteristically, financial aid sought from the United
States.
Reorganized the government so that it will be responsive to the
immediate needs of the people.
Court of Appeals was abolished and its ap-pellate jurisdiction
was transferred to the Supreme Court, the members of which
were increased to eleven.
MANUEL A. ROXAS
Achievements
He volunteers to serve the country during war as food
coordinator.
Proclaimed the Rice Share Tenancy Act of 1933 effective
throughout the country.
Enacted Republic Act No. 1946 (Tenant Act) which provided
for a 70–30 sharing ar-rangements and regulated share-tenancy
contracts
ELPIDIO R. QUIRINO
Achievements
Broke the back of the Huk movement with the aid of ferocious
military machinery and the suspension of the writ of Habeas Cor-
pus.
Establishment of rural banking and setting up of the Central
Bank of the Philippines that the stabilized Philippine currency.
Signed into law the Magna Carta of Labor and the Minimum
Wage Law.
Enlightened the people on the activities of the Republic by the
periodic radio broad-casts from the Malacañan Palace.
RAMON F. MAGSAYSAY
Achievements
Successful in peace and order campaign against the Huks and
regained the trust of the people to the government.
First Filipino president to wear Barong Tagalog to promote
Filipino culture.
Failures
. OsRox (Osmeña-Roxas) mission wasn’t fa-vored by
Quezon due to some provision on military bases.
Corruption on relief goods from UNRRA during the war.
Many patriotic Filipinos objected to the unjust provision of
the Bell-Trade Relations law.
Failures
. He granted the US control of the military and naval bases
at Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Base in exchange for
military aid because of problems of national security due to the
looming Korean War
Problems of land tenure continued.
His administration was marred by graft and corruption;
moreover, the abuses of the provincial military police contributed
to the rise of the left-wing (Huk) movement in the countryside.
His heavy-handed attempts to crush the Huks led to widespread
peasant disaffection.
Failures
Basic social problems remained unsolved, and his
administration was tainted by wide-spread graft and corruption.
Wasteful spending of the people's money in extravagant
junkets abroad
Economic distress of the times, aggravated by rising
unemployment rate, soaring prices of commodities, and
unfavorable balance of trade. Quirino's vaunted "Total Economic
Mobilization Policy" failed to give economic relief to the
suffering nation.
Frauds and terrorism committed by the Liberal Party moguls
in the 1947, 1949 and 1951 elections.
Failures
He was a close friend and supporter of the United States and
a vocal spokesman against communism during the Cold War.
Although the common people benefitted from the land
distribution of the govern-ment, and tenants were given more

His administration was considered one of the cleanest and
most corruption-free; his presidency was cited as the Philippines'
Golden Years.
Trade and industry flourished, the Philip-pine military was at its
prime, and the Fili-pino people were given international
recognition in sports, culture and foreign affairs.
The Philippines ranked second in Asia's clean and well-
governed countries.
CARLOS P. GARCIA
Achievements
Filipino First Policy, an attempt to initiate economic
independence through dollar ex-change controls, which
subsequently brought about the rise of the fledgling Filipino
industrialist.
Approved a bill outlawing the Communist Party of the
Philippines (signed into law as Republic Act No. 1700).
Established the Dr. Jose Rizal Centennial commission to
preserve the writings of Rizal for the next generations.
DIOSDADO P. MACAPAGAL
Achievements
Promised a socio-economic program an-chored on "a return to
free and private en-terprise", placing economic development in
the hands of private entrepreneurs with minimal government
interference.
Partial relinquishment of exchange controls in a move to
stabilize the currency
Agricultural Land Reform Code of 1963 (Re-public Act No.
3844) which provided for the purchase of private farmlands with
the in-tention of distributing them in small lots to the landless
tenants on easy term of pay-ment.
FERDINAND E. MARCOS
Achievements
Instituted a mandatory youth organization, known as the
Kabataang Barangay and brought the "Green Revolution" to the
Philippines.
The Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran (Movement for
Livelihood and Progress) economic program that aims to promote
the economic development of the baran-gays by encouraging its
residents to engage in their own livelihood projects.
Mobilized the manpower and resources of the Armed Forces
rights, the problems that were solved by the gov-ernment were
just in the surface rather than the main problem.
They put a solution to a problem but not in the main one, in
Republic Act No. 1199 farmers were given a certain percentage
of the distribution of crop, so it put and minor solution to that but
with the case of the tenurial system, it wasn’t given notice.
The relocation of the people from certain places worked at
first but eventually started a cultural dispute between the na-tives
living there and those who were relo-cated.
Failures
Accused corruption in the Philippine Home-site and Housing
Corporation (PHHC) and Government Service Insurance System
(GSIS). He cuddled officials involved in the anomalies.
Enjoys acquiring expensive things like planes and yachts
despite anchoring tem-perate government spending.
The imports that were coming in the coun-try greatly
outnumbered the exports that we were shipping out of the
country, mak-ing the Philippines highly dependent on foreign
products that required dollars to purchase.
Failures
The administration's campaign against cor-ruption was tested
by Harry Stonehill, an American expatriate with a $50-million
business empire in the Philippines, ties to corruption within the
government.
Issues raised against the incumbent admin-istration were
graft and corruption, rise in consumer goods, and persisting peace
and order issues.
Failures
Students in Manila mobilized enormous numbers of people to
attend protests against U.S. imperialism and the "rise of fascism"
under Marcos. The protests later became known as the First
Quarter Storm
Marcos declared martial law on September 22, 1972, by
virtue of Proclamation No. 1081, extending his rule beyond the
consti-tutional two-term limit. He justified this by exaggerating
threats of Communist and Muslim insurgencies.
Regime was marred by rampant corruption and political
of the Philippines (AFP) for action to complement civilian
agencies in such activities as infrastructure construc-tion;
economic planning and program exe-cution; regional and
industrial site planning and development; community devel-
opment and others.
Constructed CCP, Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center, San
Juanico Bridge and etc.
Tried to increase the agricultural production through a new
strain of grain called “miracle rice”.
MARIA CORAZON C. AQUINO
Achievements
Proclaimed the Freedom Constitution.
Declared that the presence of US Military Forces in the
Philippines was an affront to national sovereignty. She ordered
the United States military to vacate U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay
and Clark Air Base.
Regained democracy after 20 years of Mar-cos regime.
FIDEL V. RAMOS
Achievements
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.
Implemented economic reforms intended to open up the once-
closed national econ-omy, encourage private enterprise, invite
more foreign and domestic investment, and reduce corruption.
Women in National Building which gives women equal
economic opportunities in national development efforts.
JOSEPH E. ESTRADA
Achievements
Declared an "all-out-war" against the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front and captured its headquarters and other camps.
President Estrada can move with more speed in transforming
Mindanao into a progressive economic center
Land bank and DBP funds to small enter-prises.
mismanagement by his rela-tives and cronies, which culminated
with the assassination of Benigno Aquino.
Marcos wanted the Philippines to become involved in the
Vietnam War.
Philippines' external debt rose from $360 million (US) in 1962
to $28.3 billion in 1986, making the Philippines one of the most
in-debted countries in Asia.
Failures
Electric blackouts became common in Ma-nila. The capital
experienced blackouts of seven to 12 hours, bringing numerous
busi-nesses to a halt.
Agrarian workers and farmers marched to the historic
Mendiola Street near the Malacañang Palace to demand genuine
land reform from Aquino's administration.
Faced series of natural disasters and calamities like 1990
Luzon earthquake, 1991 volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo,
Tropical Storm Thelma and MV Doña Paz sank
Failures
Charges of alleged massive corruption or misuse of funds
blemished the resulting programs and various projects, one of
which was the Centennial Expo and Amphi-theater at the former
Clark Air Base in An-geles City, Pampanga, supposedly Ramos'
pet project.
Accused of corruption in the PEA-Amari deal. The
controversial deal involved the acquisition of 158 hectares of
reclaimed land on Manila Bay that was to be convert-ed into so-
called Freedom Islands. The deal was forged in April 1995 as part
of the Ra-mos administration's Manila Bay Master Development
Plan (MBMDP).
Tried to amend the country's 1987 constitu-tion; a process
popularly known to many Filipinos as Charter Change or the so-
called "Cha-Cha".
Failures
Severely criticized by the mainstream media for cronyism,
incompetence, and corruption, supposedly causing it to lose the
confidence of foreign investors.
His much-criticized drinking sprees and midnight cabinet
members.
The first president to be impeached.
GLORIA M. MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
Achievements
“Strong Republic” Nautical Highway allowed nation to be
more connected and greater connectivity in terms of trade and
commerce, and to certain extent - tourism.
Conventional infrastructure – emergence of many domestic
and international airports, road construction, and strategically
place expressways in Southern and Central Luzon.
Annual economic growth in the Philippines averaged 4.5%
during the Arroyo admin-istration, expanding every quarter of her
presidency.
BENIGNO S. AQUINO III
Achievements
Created the no ‘wang-wang’ policy, strengthening the
implementation of Presidential Decree No. 96 and signed
Executive Order No. 1, creating the Truth Commission.
Launched his official presidential website aims to create
communication between Aquino and the people, getting feedback
from the people, telling Aquino their woes and grievances.
Declared a moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber
in the natural and re-sidual forests and creating the Anti-Illegal
Logging Task Force.
Required all radio stations to broadcast a minimum of four
original Filipino musical compositions every hour (EO No. 255).
Passed by:
Nazylen Joy S. Mabanglo
11-HUMSS A
Failures
Arrested following the filing of criminal charges against her
for electoral fraud.
Issued Presidential Proclamation 1017 (PP 1017) and used it
as basis in declaring a state of emergency throughout the Philip-
pines to quell the military rebellion, stop lawless violence, and
promote peace and stability.
Expensive highway construction (Macapagal Boulevard).
Failures
Bishop Nereo Odchimar of Tandag, head of the Catholic
Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said that Aquino
might face excommunication from the Catholic Church for
supporting the Reproductive Health Bill, the plan to distribute
and give Filipino couples the choice to use contra-ceptives for
artificial birth control.
The Manila hostage crisis occurred. Aquino expressed concern
over the matter and gave his condolences to the victims.
Critics have used to question his work ethic, alleging his
inaction on the issues of disaster response and rising oil prices.