Philippine Presidents Strong and Weak Points

JMJ RPTL

face

Emilio F. Aguinaldo(1869-1964)

Strong Points Proclamation of the Philippine Independence

in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898.

Establishment of the Malolos Republic, which had its congress, constitution, national and local officialdom and Reorganization of the provincial and municipal governments.

Division of government into legislative, exec-utive and judiciary.

Establishment of the Dictatorial Government addressed to the problems regarding the condition in the Philippines.

Prepared a budget for the reestablishment and improvement of education.

Granted executive clemency to all Spanish civilians being held prisoners and granted permission for all foreigners, including Spaniards, to freely engage in business in the Philippines.

Creation of Department of Foreign Affairs, Navy and Commerce; Department of War and Public Works; Department of Police and Internal Order, Justice, Education and Hy-giene; and the Department of Finance, Agri-culture, and Manufacturing Industry.

Weak Points There were a lot of Filipino casualties and

losses caused by the war, epidemics, recon-centration camps, and on the economic side as well.

Filipino forces encountered disaster every-where without the military expertise of Luna who was assassinated.

Failed to storm Manila after marching from Kawit to Bacoor, thereby giving the American invaders a chance to grow in strength.

Government failed to obtain any foreign recognition.

Filipinos resorted to guerrilla warfare with all its devastating features and was finally brought to an end when he was captured.

He took an oath of allegiance to the United States, was granted a pension from the U.S. government, and retired to private life.

Aguinaldo was arrested and, together with others accused of collaboration with the Ja-panese, 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.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Manuel L. Quezon(1878-1944)

Strong Points Established Commonwealth government

and created the national language institute that proclaimed Tagalog to be the national language’s basis

Fought to secure the Tydings-McDuffie Law in Washington.

Passed National Defense Law to provide citizen army and the extension of free trade for the Philippines to adjust to its economy.

Passed Immigration Act for an annual immi-gration quota of 500 due to problem with Japanese and signed the women suffrage law.

Looked into the problems of the landless peasants and proposal for land reform.

Engaged in free trade, creating the National Economic council, and establishing govern-ment companies for people’s protection against merchants or producers’ exploita-tion; transportation and communication’s improvement; Strengthened certain agen-cies for the improvement and extension of service to people; and art and literature progress through contests and competitions

Weak Points

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 es-tates 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.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Jose P. Laurel(1891-1959)

Strong Points Made life for compatriots, oppressed by a

harsh military regime, a little less difficult.

Exerted every effort to increase production and bring consumers' goods under control.

Prioritize the passage of Bill of Rights.

Issued an executive order organizing the Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilip-inas (KALIBAPI) as the sole political organi-zation to back the government.

Philippine-Japanese Treaty of Alliance was signed by Claro M. Recto, who was ap-pointed by Laurel as his Foreign Minister, and Japanese Ambassador to Philippines Sozyo Murata.

Weak Points

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.

Violated his Oath of Office and headed an il-legal government of the Philippines.

Guerrilla activities and Japanese retaliatory measures brought the peace and order situ-ation to a difficult point.

The Philippines faced a crippling food short-age which demanded much of Laurel's at-tention.

A sizable portion of the population actively resisted his presidency, supporting the ex-

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

iled Commonwealth government; that is not to say that his government didn't have forces against said resistance.

Declared the country under martial law in 1944 through Proclamation No. 29, dated September 21.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Sergio S. Osmeña(1878-1961)

Strong Points Food distribution centers were set up, price

ceilings instituted and, characteristically, fi-nancial aid sought from the United States.

Restored the Commonwealth government

Reorganized the government so that it will be responsive to the immediate needs of the people.

Executive departments were restored and the Department of Information was re-stored.

Pre-war bureaucracy was re-established and Congress was convened.

Enacted Commonwealth Act No. 672 - reha-bilitating the Philippine National Bank.

Court of Appeals was abolished and its ap-pellate jurisdiction was transferred to the Supreme Court, the members of which were increased to eleven.

Congress enacted C.A. No. 682 creating the People's Court and the Office of Special Prosecutors to deal with the pending cases of "collaboration".

Weak Points 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 un-just provision of the Bell-Trade Relations law.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Manuel A. Roxas(1892-1948)

Strong Points Ratification of the Bell Trade Act, the in-

clusion of the Parity Amendment in the con-stitution, and the signing of the 1947 Mili-tary Bases Agreement.

He volunteers to serve the country dur-ing war as food coordinator.

Proclamation of Philippine Indepen-dence by US President Harry Truman and withdraw and surrender of all rights of pos-session, supervision, jurisdiction, control and sovereignty now existing and exercise by USA in and over the territory and people of the Philippines

Proclaimed the Rice Share Tenancy Act of 1933 effective throughout the country.

Issued a Proclamation outlawing Huks' movement, making it a crime to belong to the same. The declaration was hailed by all responsible and peace-loving elements.

Enacted Republic Act No. 1946 (Tenant Act) which provided for a 70–30 sharing ar-rangements and regulated share-tenancy contracts

Weak Points Failed to win over the Huks to his side and

the country faced with a Communist unrest in rural areas.

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.

Granted full amnesty to all so-called Philip-pine collaborators, many of whom were on trial or awaiting to be tried, particularly for-mer President Jose P. Laurel.

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.

Failed to curb graft and corruption in the government, as evidenced by the Surplus War Property scandal, the Chinese immigra-tion scandal and the School supplies scan-dal.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Elpidio R. Quirino(1890-1956)

Strong Points Broke the back of the Huk movement

with the aid of ferocious military machinery and the suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus.

Ratification of the RP-US Mutual De-fense Treaty, growth of industrial ventures, expanding irrigation, and improvement of the road system.

Establishment of rural banking and setting up of the Central Bank of the Philip-pines that the stabilized Philippine cur-rency.

Signed into law the Magna Carta of La-bor and the Minimum Wage Law.

Opened diplomatic and trade relations with neighboring countries.

Focused on agricultural productivity and industrialization.

Enlightened the people on the activities of the Republic by the periodic radio broad-casts from the Malacañan Palace.

Promote the smooth restructuring of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the military reorganization.

Weak Points Basic social problems remained unsolved,

and his administration was tainted by wide-spread graft and corruption.

Unabated rampage of graft and corruption in his government, as revealed in the Tam-bobong-Buenavista scandal, the Import Control Anomalies, the Caledonia Pile Mess and the Textbook Racket.

Wasteful spending of the people's money in extravagant junkets abroad.

Failure of government to check the Huk menace which made travel in the provinces unsafe, as evidenced by the killing of former First Lady Aurora Quezon and her compan-ions on April 28, 1949 by the Huks on the Bongabong-Baler road, Baler, Tayabas.

Economic distress of the times, aggravated by rising unemployment rate, soaring prices of commodities, and unfavorable balance of trade. Quirino's vaunted "Total Economic

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Mobilization Policy" failed to give economic relief to the suffering nation.

Frauds and terrorism committed by the Lib-eral Party moguls in the 1947, 1949 and 1951 elections.

Ramon F. Magsaysay(1907-1957)

Strong Points Successful in peace and order campaign

against the Huks and regained the trust of the people to the government.

Policy of honest government, no friends or relatives ever benefitted from his position.

Created extensive irrigation systems and in-troduced modern agricultural methods and approved the Agricultural Tenancy Act.

First Filipino president to wear Barong Taga-log to promote Filipino culture.

Established Southeast Asia Treaty Organiza-tion (SEATO).

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 Fil-ipino people were given international

recognition in sports, culture and foreign affairs.

The Philippines ranked second in Asia's clean and well-governed countries.

Weak Points 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 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 Re-public 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

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

a cultural dispute between the natives living there and those who were relocated.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Carlos P. Garcia(1896-1971)

Strong Points Filipino First Policy, an attempt to initiate

economic independence through dollar ex-change controls, which subsequently brought about the rise of the fledgling Fil-ipino industrialist.

Established the Dr. Jose Rizal Centennial commission to preserve the writings of Rizal for the next generations.

He anchored his government on austerity, severely simple, temperate spending

Approved a bill outlawing the Communist Party of the Philippines (signed into law as Republic Act No. 1700).

Acted on the Bohlen–Serrano Agreement which shortened the lease of the US Bases from 99 years to 25 years and made it re-newable after every five years.

Weak Points Maligned in the press due to his perceived

anti-American policy.

Rice and Corn Nationalization Bill and Anti-graft Bill was veto

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 for-eign products that required dollars to pur-chase.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Diosdado P. Macapagal(1910-1997)

Strong Points Reset the celebration of Independence Day

from July 4th to the more politically appro-priate June 12th, when Aguinaldo declared Philippine Independence from Spain.

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.

Launched his version of Agrarian reform.

Combat misdeeds in government.

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.

Weak Points 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.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Ferdinand E. Marcos(1917-1989)

Strong Points Mobilized the manpower and resources of

the Armed Forces 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 development and others.

Instituted a mandatory youth organization, known as the Kabataang Barangay and brought the "Green Revolution" to the Philippines.

Exports of timber products were among the nation's top exports.

The Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran (Movement for Livelihood and Progress) economic program that aims to promote the economic development of the barangays by encouraging its residents to engage in their own livelihood projects.

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 “mira-cle rice”.

Weak Points Election was marked by massive violence,

vote-buying, and fraud on Marcos' part, and Marcos used $56 million from the Philip-pines' treasury to fund his campaign.

Students in Manila mobilized enormous numbers of people to attend protests against U.S. imperialism and the "rise of fas-cism" under Marcos. The protests later be-came 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.

Marcos wanted the Philippines to become involved in the Vietnam War.

Regime was marred by rampant corruption and political mismanagement by his rela-tives and cronies, which culminated with the assassination of Benigno Aquino.

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.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Maria Corazon C. Aquino(1933-2009)

Strong Points Creation of the Presidential Commission on

Good Government (PCGG), which was tasked to go after the Marcos ill-gotten wealth.

Proclaimed the Freedom Constitution.

Promulgated two landmark legal codes, namely, the Family Code of 1987, which re-formed the civil law on family relations, and the Administrative Code of 1987, which re-organized the structure of the executive branch of government.

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.

The grant amnesty of to all political prison-ers which set free about 459 detainees

Regained democracy after 20 years of Mar-cos regime.

Weak Points Electric blackouts became common in

Manila. The capital experienced blackouts of seven to 12 hours, bringing numerous businesses to a halt.

Coup uprising by the left wing militant sol-dier.

Agrarian workers and farmers marched to the historic Mendiola Street near the Mala-cañang Palace to demand genuine land re-form from Aquino's administration.

Faced series of natural disasters and calami-ties like 1990 Luzon earthquake, 1991 vol-canic eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Tropical Storm Thelma and MV Doña Paz sank.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Fidel V. Ramos(1928-)

Strong Points The Philippines experienced a period of po-

litical stability and rapid economic growth and expansion, as a result of his policies and programs designed to foster national recon-ciliation and unity.

The Philippines was dubbed by various in-ternationally as Asia's Next Economic Tiger.

Enacted a law that would create an Energy Department that would plan and manage the Philippines' energy demands. Congress not only created an Energy Department but gave him special emergency powers to re-solve the power crisis.

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.

Signed the final peace agreement between the government and the Moro National Lib-eration Front (MNLF) led by Nur Misuari in 1996.

Women in National Building which gives women equal economic opportunities in na-tional development efforts.

Weak Points His experience in handling migrant workers

protection.

Charges of alleged massive corruption or misuse of funds blemished the resulting programs and various projects, one of which was the Centennial Expo and Am-phitheater at the former Clark Air Base in Angeles City, Pampanga, supposedly Ramos' pet project.

Accused of corruption in the PEA-Amari deal. The controversial deal involved the ac-quisition of 158 hectares of reclaimed land on Manila Bay that was to be converted into so-called Freedom Islands. The deal was forged in April 1995 as part of the Ramos administration's Manila Bay Master Development Plan (MBMDP).

Tried to amend the country's 1987 constitu-tion; a process popularly known to many Fil-ipinos as Charter Change or the so-called "Cha-Cha".

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Joseph E. Estrada(1937-)

Strong Points Declared an "all-out-war" against the Moro

Islamic Liberation Front and captured its headquarters and other camps.

Suspension of release of Php37 Billion pork barrel

Debt reduction of IMF-WB.

President Estrada can move with more speed in transforming Mindanao into a pro-gressive economic center.

Land bank and DBP funds to small enter-prises.

Slowing the economic growth to −0.6% in 1998 from a 5.2% in 1997. The economy re-covered by 3.4% in 1999 and 4% in 2000.

Pro-poor president.

Weak Points Severely criticized by the mainstream media

for cronyism, incompetence, and corrup-tion, supposedly causing it to lose the confi-dence of foreign investors.

Having a so-called midnight cabinet.

Alleged P400 million payoff from jueteng hidden in a bank account known as "Jose Velarde" – a grassroots-based numbers game, as well as P180 million from the gov-ernment price subsidy for the tobacco farm-ers' marketing cooperative.

His rumored mistresses and gifts of man-sions.

His much-criticized drinking sprees and mid-night cabinet members.

The first president to be impeached.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Gloria M. Macapagal-Arroyo(2001-)

Strong Points Lead the People Power II to oust former

president Estrada.

“Strong Republic” Nautical Highway allowed nation to be more connected and greater connectivity in terms of trade and com-merce, and to certain extent - tourism.

Job Creation through infusion of fresh capi-tal in form of investments.

Conventional infrastructure – emergence of many domestic and international airports, road construction, and strategically place expressways in Southern and Central Luzon.

Holiday economics. – moving holidays around for sake of boosting local tourism.

Relatively peaceful and orderly elections – 2010 election is largely cleaner than 2004’s controversial election.

Annual economic growth in the Philippines averaged 4.5% during the Arroyo adminis-tration, expanding every quarter of her presi-

dency.

Weak Points Arrested following the filing of criminal

charges against her for electoral fraud.

Military uprising due to her corruption.

Expensive travel abroad.

ZTE deal

Expensive highway construction (Macapagal Boulevard).

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.

A controversial expanded value added tax (e-VAT) law, considered the centerpiece of the Arroyo administration's economic re-

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

form agenda, was implemented in Novem-ber 2005, aiming to complement revenue-raising efforts that could plug the country's large budget deficit.

Benigno S. Aquino III(1960-)

Strong Points Created the no ‘wang-wang’ policy,

strengthening the implementation of Presi-dential Decree No. 96 and signed Executive Order No. 1, creating the Truth Commis-sion.

Reformed the education system in the Philippines by shifting to K–12 education, a 12-year basic education cycle.

Ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to support and assist all regional hospitals and health centers and intensify their efforts to attend to the needs of dengue–inflicted pa-tients.

Required all radio stations to broadcast a minimum of four original Filipino musical compositions every hour (EO No. 255).

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 residual forests and creating the Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force.

Weak Points The Manila hostage crisis occurred. Aquino

expressed concern over the matter and gave his condolences to the victims.

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.

Critics have used to question his work ethic, alleging his inaction on the issues of disaster response and rising oil prices.

Copyrights © 2012

JMJ RPTL

Copyrights © 2012