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Story of Diosdado Macapagal

Diosdado Macapagal Sr. served as the 9th President of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965. He was born in 1910 in Pampanga to a poor family and excelled in his studies. Macapagal worked as a lawyer for the government and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1949. He became Vice President in 1957 and defeated Carlos P. Garcia to become President in 1961. As President, Macapagal introduced land reform and economic stimulus policies but faced opposition from Congress. He lost re-election to Ferdinand Marcos in 1965. Macapagal also served as the head of the 1970 Constitutional Convention and president of the 1973 convention, though he later questioned the legitimacy of

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2K views

Story of Diosdado Macapagal

Diosdado Macapagal Sr. served as the 9th President of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965. He was born in 1910 in Pampanga to a poor family and excelled in his studies. Macapagal worked as a lawyer for the government and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1949. He became Vice President in 1957 and defeated Carlos P. Garcia to become President in 1961. As President, Macapagal introduced land reform and economic stimulus policies but faced opposition from Congress. He lost re-election to Ferdinand Marcos in 1965. Macapagal also served as the head of the 1970 Constitutional Convention and president of the 1973 convention, though he later questioned the legitimacy of

Uploaded by

RENGIE GALO
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr.

(Tagalog pronunciation: [makapaˈɡal],[1] 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 was the father of Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo, who followed his path as 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, both in Manila, 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 under the rule of
President Carlos P. Garcia, whom he later defeated in the 1961 election.

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 President Emilio Aguinaldo unilaterally declared the independence of
the First Philippine Republic from the Spanish Empire in 1898. He stood for re-election in 1965,
and was defeated by Ferdinand Marcos, who subsequently ruled for 21 years.

Under Marcos, 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, in 1997, at the age of 86.

Macapagal was also a reputed poet in the Chinese and Spanish language, though his poetic
oeuvre was eclipsed by his political biography

Early life
Diosdado Macapagal was born on September 28, 1910, in Lubao, Pampanga, the third of five
children in a poor family.[2] His father was Urbano Macapagal y Romero (c. 1883 – 1946),[3] a
poet who wrote in the local Pampangan language and his mother was Romana Pangan
Macapagal, daughter of Atanacio Miguel Pangan (a former cabeza de barangay of Gutad,
Floridablanca, Pampanga) and Lorenza Suing Antiveros. Urbano's mother, Escolástica Romero
Macapagal, was a midwife and schoolteacher who taught catechism.[4]

Diosdado is a distant descendant of Don Juan Macapagal, a prince of Tondo, who was a great-
grandson of the last reigning Lakan of the Kingdom of Tondo, Lakan Dula.[5] He is also related
to well-to-do Licad family through his mother Romana, who was a second cousin of María Vitug
Licad, grandmother of renowned pianist, Cecile Licad. Romana's own grandmother, Genoveva
Miguel Pangan and María's grandmother, Celestina Miguel Macaspac, were sisters. Their
mother, María Concepción Lingad Miguel was the daughter of José Pingul Lingad and Gregoria
Malit Bartolo.[6]
Diosdado's family earned extra income by raising pigs and accommodating boarders in their
home.[4] Due to his roots in poverty, Macapagal would later become affectionately known as the
"Poor Boy from Lubao".[7] Diosdado was also a reputed poet in the Spanish language although
his poetic work was eclipsed by his political career.

Early education

Macapagal excelled in his studies at local public schools, graduating valedictorian from Lubao
Elementary School, and salutatorian at Pampanga High School.[8] He finished his pre-law course
at the University of the Philippines, then enrolled at Philippine Law School in 1932, studying on
a scholarship and supporting himself with a part-time job as an accountant.[4][8] While in law
school, he gained prominence as an orator and debater.[8] However, he was forced to quit
schooling after two years due to poor health and a lack of money.[4]

Returning to Pampanga, he joined boyhood friend Rogelio de la Rosa in producing and starring
in Tagalog operettas patterned after classic Spanish zarzuelas.[4] It was during this period that he
married his friend's sister, Purita de la Rosa in 1938.[4] He had two children with de la Rosa,
Cielo and Arturo.[7]

Macapagal raised enough money to continue his studies at the University of Santo Tomas.[4] He
also gained the assistance of philanthropist Don Honorio Ventura, the Secretary of the Interior at
the time, who financed his education.[9] He also received financial support from his mother's
relatives notably from the Macaspacs who owned large tracts of land in barrio Sta. Maria, Lubao,
Pampanga. After receiving his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1936, he was admitted to the bar,
topping the 1936 bar examination with a score of 89.95%.[8] He later returned to his alma mater
to take up graduate studies and earn a Master of Laws degree in 1941, a Doctor of Civil Law
degree in 1947, and a PhD in Economics in 1957. His dissertation had "Imperatives of Economic
Development in the Philippines" as its title.

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