Diosdado Macapagal

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Diosdado Macapagal, 1962

Diosdado Pangan Macapagal (born September 28, 1910 in Lubao , † April 21, 1997 in Makati City ) was a Filipino politician and the ninth President of the Philippines . He is the father of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo .

MP and Vice-President

After studying law and earning a Bachelor of Laws in 1935, he served as legal advisor to President Manuel Quezon and later as second secretary at the Philippine embassy in Washington, DC

From 1949 to 1956 he was a member of the House of Representatives for his home province of Pampanga, north of Manila , where he represented the interests of the Liberal Party. During this time he was also three times a representative at the UN General Assembly . In 1957 Macapagal ran successfully for vice president and was thus the second man in the state behind the then president Carlos P. Garcia , who belonged to the "Nacionalista Party". He was also chairman of the traditional Liberal Party between 1957 and 1961 .

President of the Republic of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965

In the elections of November 1961 he ran for the office of President and for this purpose forged an electoral alliance between the Liberal Party and the progressive parties. In particular, during the election campaign, he called for a tough crackdown on corruption as the main target. In the election he then beat the incumbent and President Garcia by a large margin.

He promoted a strengthening of the economy, introduced the peso into free currency exchange by decoupling it from the US dollar , encouraged exports and tried to curb tax evasion, especially by the richest families. The land reforms he initiated, however, remained largely insignificant. However, his reform approaches were curtailed by the Senate ruled by the “Nacionalista Party” and the House of Representatives.

In addition, he had the date of independence from July 4th (1946), the declaration of Filipino independence by the USA , change to June 12th (1898), the declaration of independence from the Spanish colonial power by the Revolutionary Army. In 1965 Macapagal, who described himself as the president of the "poor", was defeated by the candidate of the "Nacionalista party" Ferdinand Marcos in the presidential election .

Political activity in the Marcos era

Grave of Diosdado Macapagal and his second wife Eva Macaraeg Macapagal

In 1972 Macapagal chaired the assembly that drafted the 1973 constitution . However, in 1981 he questioned the validity of the signature of this constitution. In 1979 he organized the “National Union for Liberation” (NUL) as an opposition party to the Marcos regime.

Under the presidency of his daughter, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo , a 200 peso banknote bearing his portrait was issued.

literature

Web links

Commons : Diosdado Macapagal  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Presidents of the Liberal Party ( Memento April 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Macapagal, Diosdado
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Macapagal, Diosdado Pangan (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Philippine President
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Lubao
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 1997
Place of death Makati