Diosdado Macapagal
Encyclopedia : D : DI : DIO : Diosdado Macapagal
- For the airport, see Diosdado Macapagal International Airport
His daughter, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is the current president of the Philippines.
Early life and career
Macapagal was born in Lubao, Pampanga to Urbano Macapagal and Romana Pangan. He graduated valedictorian in the Lubao Elementary School, graduated with second highest rating in the Pampanga High School. His family was poor, but with the help of Honorio Ventura, the Secretary of Interior at that time, he studied law and graduated in the University of Santo Tomas and pursued and earned the postgraduate degree of Doctor of Civil Law and Ph.D. in Economics in the same university.He finished his law degree in 1936. He worked as a lawyer for an American employer in Manila, and was assigned as a legal assistant to President Manuel Quezon.
During the Japanese occupation of World War II, Macapagal served as support to the anti-Japanese task force and as an intelligence liaison to the US guerillas. It was during this period that his first wife died of malnutrition. He later married Evangelina Macaraeg, the mother of current Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
In 1948 he served as second secretary to the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC. In 1949 he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served until 1956. During that time, he was the Philippines' representative to the United Nations General Assembly three times.
In 1957, as a member of the Liberal Party, he became vice president under President Carlos Garcia of the Nacionalista Party.
Presidency
Macapagal was elected president in 1961 by a coalition of liberals and progressives, defeating the re-election bid of Carlos P. Garcia. He focused on fighting graft and corruption in the government. Seeking to stimulate economic development, he took the advice of wealthy supporters and allowed the Philippine peso to float on the free currency exchange market. This policy bled millions of pesos from the government's treasury each year during his administration. His reform efforts were blocked by the Nacionalistas, who dominated the House of Representatives and the Senate at that time. Nonetheless, the average GDP growth rate during the Macapagal presidency was 5.15%.In 1962, when the United States made its final rejection of Philippine monetary claims for the destruction wrought by American forces in World War II, Macapagal changed the official celebration of Independence Day from July 4 (the date in 1946 that United States granted independence) to June 12 (the date in 1898 that Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence from Spain). Macapagal claimed that the timing of the decision to change the date of Independence Day was not out of resentment for the United States, but rather a judicious choice of timing for the taking of an action which had previously been decided upon. During his term, Macapagal also made the decision to recognize José P. Laurel, who was made President of the Philippines by the Japanese occupation forces, as having been an official President. Prior to this, Laurel's regime had not been recognized by post-World War II Filipino governments as having held any legal status whatever.
In 1965, he was defeated in the presidential election by Ferdinand Marcos, who had built a conservative coalition to block Macapagal's reforms in a landslide victory.
Post-presidency
In 1971, Macapagal was elected president of the constitutional convention that drafted what became the 1973 constitution.
In 1979 Macapagal formed the National Union for Liberation to oppose the Marcos regime. In his retirement, Macapagal devoted much of his time to reading and writing. He authored several books, and wrote a weekly column for the Manila Bulletin newspaper.
Diosdado Macapagal died of heart failure, pneumonia and renal complications at the Makati Medical Center on April 21, 1997. He is buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
External links
References
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| Presidents of the Philippines - List |
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| Aguinaldo | Quezon | Osmeña | Laurel | Roxas | Quirino | Magsaysay Garcia | Macapagal | Marcos | Aquino | Ramos | Estrada | Arroyo |
| Vice Presidents of the Philippines | --> |
| Osmeña | Quirino | Lopez | Garcia | Macapagal | Pelaez | Lopez Tolentino | Laurel | Estrada | Arroyo | Guingona | De Castro |
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