Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr. (Tagalog: [djosˈdado makapaˈɡal]; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997), also known colloquially as “Apung Dadong”, was the ninth president of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965. He served as the 5th vice president from 1957 to 1961 under Carlos P. Garcia. 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. Diosdado Macapagal Sr is one of the few presidents with doctoral degrees, earning a Doctors of Civil Law degree and a PHD in Economics degree from University of Santo Tomas.
Known as "The Poor Boy From Lubao", he was 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 the election in 1949 to the House of Representatives, representing the 1st 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 growth of 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 but was defeated by Ferdinand Marcos.
Under Marcos, Macapagal was elected president of the 1970 constitutional convention that 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 poet in the Spanish language, though his poetic oeuvre was eclipsed by his political biography.
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Early years
Diosdado Macapagal was born on September 28, 1910, at Barrio San Nicolas in Lubao, Pampanga. He was the third of five children in a poor family. His father was Urbano Romero Macapagal, a poet who wrote in the local Kapampangan 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.
Diosdado is a distant descendant of Don Juan Macapagal, a prince of Tondo, who was a great-grandson of the last reigning lakan of Tondo, Lakandula. 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.
Diosdado's family earned extra income by raising pigs and accommodating boarders in their home. Due to his roots in poverty, Macapagal would later become affectionately known as the "Poor Boy from Lubao". 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. He finished his pre-law course at the University of the Philippines Manila, then enrolled at Philippine Law School in 1932, studying on a scholarship and supporting himself with a part-time job as an accountant. While in law school, he gained prominence as an orator and debater. However, he was forced to quit schooling after two years due to poor health and a lack of money.
Returning to Pampanga, he joined boyhood friend Rogelio de la Rosa in producing and starring in Tagalog operettas patterned after classic Spanish zarzuelas. It was during this period that he married his friend's sister, Purita de la Rosa, in 1938. He had two children with de la Rosa, Cielo and Arturo.
Macapagal raised enough money to continue his studies at the University of Santo Tomas. He also gained the assistance of philanthropist Don Honorio Ventura, the secretary of the interior at the time, who financed his education. 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%. 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.
Early career
After passing the bar examination, Macapagal was invited to join an American law firm as a practicing attorney, a particular honor for a Filipino at the time. He was assigned as a legal assistant to President Manuel L. Quezon in Malacañang Palace. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II, Macapagal continued working in Malacañang Palace as an assistant to President José P. Laurel, while secretly aiding the anti-Japanese resistance during the Allied liberation country from the Japanese.
After the war, Macapagal worked as an assistant attorney with one of the largest law firms in the country, Ross, Lawrence, Selph and Carrascoso. With the establishment of the independent Third Republic of the Philippines in 1946, he rejoined government service when President Manuel Roxas appointed him to the Department of Foreign Affairs as the head of its legal division. In 1948, President Elpidio Quirino appointed Macapagal as chief negotiator in the successful transfer of the Turtle Islands in the Sulu Sea from the United Kingdom to the Philippines. That same year, he was assigned as second secretary to the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. In 1949, he was elevated to the position of counselor on legal affairs and treaties, at the time the fourth-highest post in the Philippine Foreign Office.
House of Representatives (1949–1957)
On the urging of local political leaders of Pampanga province, President Quirino recalled Macapagal from his position in Washington to run for a seat in the House of Representatives representing the 1st district of Pampanga. The district's incumbent, Representative Amado Yuzon, was a friend of Macapagal, but was opposed by the administration due to his support by communist groups. After a campaign that Macapagal described as cordial and free of personal attacks, he won a landslide victory in the 1949 election. He was re-elected in the 1953 election, and served as a representative in the 2nd and 3rd Congress.
At the start of the 1950 legislative session, the members of the House of Representatives elected Macapagal as chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and was given several foreign assignments. He was a Philippine delegate to the United Nations General Assembly multiple times, taking part in debates over communist aggression with Andrei Vishinsky and Jacob Malik of the Soviet Union. He also took part in negotiations for the US–RP Mutual Defense Treaty, the Laurel–Langley Agreement, and the Japanese Peace Treaty. He authored the Foreign Service Act, which reorganized and strengthened the Philippine foreign service.
As a representative, Macapagal authored and sponsored several laws of socio-economic importance, particularly aimed at benefiting rural areas and the poor. Amongst the legislation that Macapagal promoted, was the Minimum Wage Law, Rural Health Law, Rural Bank Law, the Law on Barrio Councils, the Barrio Industrialization Law, and a law nationalizing the rice and corn industries. He was consistently selected by the Congressional Press Club as one of the Ten Outstanding Congressmen during his tenure. In his second term, he was named most outstanding lawmaker of the 3rd Congress.
In 1955, Macapagal ran for a Senate seat but lost and placed 9th.
Vice presidency (1957–1961)
In the May 1957 general elections, the Liberal Party drafted Congressman Macapagal to run for vice president as the running-mate of José Yulo, a former speaker of the House of Representatives. Macapagal's nomination was particularly boosted by Liberal Party president Eugenio Pérez, who insisted that the party's vice presidential nominee have a clean record of integrity and honesty. While Yulo was defeated by Carlos P. Garcia of the Nacionalista Party, Macapagal was elected vice president in an upset victory, defeating the Nacionalista candidate, José Laurel, Jr., by over eight percentage points. A month after the election, he was chosen as the president of the Liberal Party.
As the first ever Philippine vice president to be elected from a rival party of the president, Macapagal served out his four-year vice presidential term as a leader of the opposition. The ruling party refused to give him a Cabinet position in the Garcia administration, which was a break from tradition. He was offered a position in the Cabinet only on the condition that he switch allegiance to the ruling Nationalista Party, but he declined the offer and instead played the role of critic to the administration's policies and performance. This allowed him to capitalize on the increasing unpopularity of the Garcia administration. Assigned to performing only ceremonial duties as vice president, he spent his time making frequent trips to the countryside to acquaint himself with voters and to promote the image of the Liberal Party.
Presidency (1961–1965)
In the 1961 presidential election, Macapagal ran against Garcia's re-election bid, promising an end to corruption and appealing to the electorate as a common man from humble beginnings. He defeated the incumbent president by a 55% to 45% margin. His inauguration as the president of the Philippines took place on December 30, 1961. The Bible that Macapagal used was later used by his daughter Gloria when she took her oath as Vice President in 1998 and as President in 2004.
Major legislations signed
Republic Act No. 3512 – An Act Creating A Fisheries Commission Defining Its Powers, Duties and Functions, and Appropriating Funds.
Republic Act No. 3518 – An Act Creating The Philippine Veterans' Bank, and For Other Purposes.
Republic Act No. 3844 – An Act To Ordain The Agricultural Land Reform Code and To Institute Land Reforms In The Philippines, Including The Abolition of Tenancy and The Channeling of Capital Into Industry, Provide For The Necessary Implementing Agencies, Appropriate Funds Therefor and For Other Purposes.
Republic Act No. 4166 – An Act Changing The Date Of Philippine Independence Day From July Four To June Twelve, And Declaring July Four As Philippine Republic Day, Further Amending For The Purpose Section Twenty-Nine Of The Revised Administrative Code.
Republic Act No. 4180 – An Act Amending Republic Act Numbered Six Hundred Two, Otherwise Known As The Minimum Wage Law, By Raising The Minimum Wage For Certain Workers, And For Other Purposes.
Domestic policies
In his inaugural address, Macapagal promised a socio-economic program anchored on "a return to free and private enterprise", placing economic development in the hands of private entrepreneurs with minimal interference.
Twenty days after the inauguration, exchange controls were lifted and the Philippine peso was allowed to float on the free currency exchange market. The currency controls were initially adopted by the administration of Elpidio Quirino as a temporary measure, but continued to be adopted by succeeding administrations. The peso devalued from ₱2.64 to the U.S. dollar, and stabilized at ₱3.80 to the dollar, supported by a US$300 million stabilization fund from the International Monetary Fund.
To achieve the national goal of economic and social progress with prosperity reaching down to the masses, Macapagal stated the essence of free enterprise declaring before Congress on January 22, 1962, that "the task of economic development belongs principally to private enterprise and not to the government.
Before and after independence there was free enterprise in the Philippines under Presidents Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmeña and Manuel Roxas. In 1950, President Quirino deviated from free enterprise launching as a temporary emergency measure the system of exchange and import controls. The controls system was carried out by President Magsaysay and Garcia.
The first fundamental decision Macapagal had to make was whether to continue the system of exchange controls of Quirino, Magsaysay and Garcia or to return to the free enterprise of Quezon, Osmena and Roxas. It had been his view since he was a congressman for eight years that the suitable economic system for Filipinos was free enterprise. And on January 21, 1962, Macapagal signed a Central Bank decree abolishing exchange controls and returning to free enterprise.
During the 20 days deciding between controls and free enterprise after his inauguration as president and before the opening of Congress, Macapagal's main adviser was Andres Castillo, governor of the Central Bank.
Further reform efforts by Macapagal were blocked by the Nacionalistas, who dominated the House of Representatives and the Senate at that time. Nonetheless, Macapagal was able to achieve steady economic progress, and annual GDP growth averaged at 5.53% for 1962–65.
Foreign policies
On September 12, 1962, during Macapagal's administration, the territory of eastern North Borneo (now Sabah), and the full sovereignty, title and dominion over the territory were ceded by heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu, Sultan Muhammad Esmail E. Kiram I, to the Republic of the Philippines. The cession effectively gave the Philippine government the full authority to pursue their claim in international courts. The Philippines broke diplomatic relations with Malaysia after the federation had included Sabah in 1963. It was revoked in 1989 because succeeding Philippine administrations have placed the claim in the back burner in the interest of pursuing cordial economic and security relations with Kuala Lumpur. To date, Malaysia continues to consistently reject Philippine calls to resolve the matter of Sabah's jurisdiction to the International Court of Justice. Malaysia saw the claim made by the Philippines' Moro leader Nur Misuari to take the Sabah case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as a non-issue and thus dismissed the claim.
In July 1963, President Macapagal convened a summit meeting in Manila in which a nonpolitical confederation for Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia, Maphilindo, was proposed as a realization of José Rizal's vision of bringing together the Malay peoples, who he saw was artificially divided by colonial frontiers.
Maphilindo was described as a regional association that would approach issues of common concern in the spirit of consensus. However, it was also perceived as a tactic on the parts of Jakarta and Manila to delay, or even prevent, the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. Manila had its own claim to Sabah (formerly British North Borneo), and Jakarta protested the formation of Malaysia as a British imperialist plot. The plan failed when Sukarno adopted his plan of "konfrontasi" with Malaysia. The Konfrontasi, or Confrontation basically aimed at preventing Malaysia from attaining independence. The idea was inspired onto President Sukarno by the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI). The party convinced President Sukarno that the formation of Malaysia is a form of neo-colonization and would affect tranquility in Indonesia. The subsequent development of ASEAN almost certainly excludes any possibility of the project ever being revived.
Before the end of his term in 1965, Macapagal persuaded Congress to send troops to South Vietnam. However this proposal was blocked by the opposition led by Senate President Ferdinand Marcos who deserted Macapagal's Liberal Party and defected to the Nacionalista Party.
1963 midterm election
The senatorial election was held on November 12, 1963. Macapagal's Liberal Party (LP) won four out of the eight seats up for grabs during the election – thereby increasing the LP's Senate seats from eight to ten.
1965 presidential campaign
Towards the end of his term, Macapagal decided to seek re-election to continue seeking reforms which he claimed were stifled by a "dominant and uncooperative opposition" in Congress. With Senate President Ferdinand Marcos, a fellow member of the Liberal Party, unable to win his party's nomination due to Macapagal's re-election bid, Marcos switched allegiance to the rival Nacionalista Party to oppose Macapagal.
Among the issues raised against the incumbent administration were graft and corruption, rise in consumer goods, and persisting peace and order issues. Macapagal was defeated by Marcos in the November 1965 polls.
Post-presidency and death (1965–1997)
Macapagal announced his retirement from politics following his 1965 loss to Marcos. In 1971, he was elected president of the constitutional convention that drafted what became the 1973 Constitution. The manner in which the charter was ratified and later modified led him to later question its legitimacy. In 1979, he formed the National Union for Liberation as a political party to oppose the Marcos regime.
Following the restoration of democracy in 1986, Macapagal took on the role of elder statesman, and was a member of the Philippine Council of State. He also served as honorary chairman of the National Centennial Commission, and chairman of the board of CAP Life, among others.
In his retirement, Macapagal devoted much of his time to reading and writing. He published his presidential memoir, authored several books about government and economics, 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 was accorded a state funeral and was interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on April 27, 1997.
Personal life
First marriage
In 1938, Macapagal married Purita de la Rosa. They had two children, Cielo Macapagal-Salgado (who would later become vice governor of Pampanga) and Arturo Macapagal. Purita died in 1943. His first grandchild, Ria Macapagal-Salgado, was born in 1961 to Cielo and Gene Salgado.
Second marriage
On May 5, 1946, Macapagal married Eva Macapagal, with whom he had two children, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (who would later become president of the Philippines) and Diosdado Macapagal, Jr.
Faith
Macapagal was a regular attendee of the Good Friday procession in his hometown of Lubao, Pampanga. He was also a regular participant in the annual silent retreat at the Sunnyside Villa of the Society of the Divine Word in Baguio beginning in 1954 and continuing into his presidency in the 1960s.
Legacy
On September 28, 2009, Macapagal's daughter, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, inaugurated the President Diosdado Macapagal Museum and Library, located at his home town of Lubao, Pampanga.
President Benigno S. Aquino III declared September 28, 2010, as a special non-working holiday in Macapagal's home province of Pampanga to commemorate the centennial of his birth.
He is featured in the 200-peso note of the New Design Series (June 12, 2002 – 2013) and New Generation Currency (December 16, 2010–present).
Several structures were named after Macapagal, including Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard and Macapagal Bridge.
Museum and library
These house the personal books and memorabilia of Macapagal.
Honors
National honours
Philippines:
: Grand Cross of the Gawad Mabini (GCrM) – (1994)
: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Knights of Rizal (KGCR).
Foreign honours
Taiwan:
Grand Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Jade (May 2, 1960)
Japan:
Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum (1962)
Spain:
Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (June 30, 1962)
Italy:
Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (July 1962)
Vatican:
Knight with Collar of the Order of Pius IX (July 9, 1962)
Pakistan:
Recipient of the Nishan-e-Pakistan (July 11, 1962)
Sovereign Military Order of Malta:
Collar of the Order pro merito Melitensi
Thailand:
Knight of the Order of the Rajamitrabhorn (July 9, 1963)
West Germany:
Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (November 1963)
Publications
Speeches of President Diosdado Macapagal. Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1961.
New Hope for the Common Man: Speeches and Statements of President Diosdado Macapagal. Manila: Malacañang Press Office, 1962.
Five Year Integrated Socio-economic Program for the Philippines. Manila: [s.n.], 1963.
Fullness of Freedom: Speeches and Statements of President Diosdado Macapagal. Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1965.
An Asian looks at South America. Quezon City: Mac Publishing House, 1966.
The Philippines Turns East. Quezon City: Mac Publishing House, 1966.
A Stone for the Edifice: Memoirs of a President. Quezon City: Mac Publishing House, 1968.
A New Constitution for the Philippines. Quezon City: Mac Publishing House, 1970.
Democracy in the Philippines. Manila: [s.n.], 1976.
Constitutional Democracy in the World. Manila: Santo Tomas University Press, 1993.
From Nipa Hut to Presidential Palace: Autobiography of President Diosdado P. Macapagal. Quezon City: Philippine Academy for Continuing Education and Research, 2002.