DIOSDADO PANGAN MACAPAGAL

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INTRODUCTION

Who was Diosdado Macapagal?

Diosdado Macapagal was a Filipino leader who served as the ninth President of the Philippines
from 1961 to 1965 and the sixth Vice-President from 1957 and 1961. He was also a Member of
the Philippine House of Representatives from Pampanga's 1st District from 1949 to 1957 and
helmed the Constitutional Convention of 1970.
Originally from Lubao, Pampanga, Macapagal became a government lawyer after obtaining
degrees from the University of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas. He was covertly
involved in the anti-Japanese resistance during the Allied liberation against the Japanese and was
an important figure in the Philippine Foreign Service before joining politics.
Childhood & Early Life
Born on September 28, 1910, in Lubao, Pampanga, Philippine Islands, he was the middle of five
children of Urbano Macapagal y Romero and Romana Pangan Macapagal.
Urbano Macapagal y Romero was a poet who composed poems in the local Pampangan language.
The family was impoverished and ran a boarding house out of their home for extra income. They
also had a sty. Because of such background, Macapagal received the moniker the "Poor boy from
Lubao".
Education & Early Career
Diosdado Macapagal was an exceptional student. He was a valedictorian at Lubao Elementary
School and salutatorian at Pampanga High School and obtained a pre-law degree from the
University of the Philippines.
In 1932, he started attending Philippine Law School, where he demonstrated his skills as an orator
and debater. During this period, he worked as an accountant to support himself. However, he had
to drop out because of poor health and financial reasons after two years. Eventually, he acquired
enough money to go back to school and enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas.
In 1936, Macapagal earned a Bachelor of Law degree and subsequently joined the bar. He
obtained a Master of Laws degree in 1941, a Doctor of Civil Law degree in 1947, and a PhD in
Economics in 1957.
He came first at the 1936 bar examination with a score of 89.95% and was later appointed legal
assistant to President Manuel L. Quezon in Malacañang Palace. After Japan occupied the
Philippines, he helped the anti-Japanese resistance in secret during the Allied liberation against
the Japanese.
In 1949, he was promoted to serve as a Counsellor on Legal Affairs and Treaties.
Initial Years In Politics
In 1949, on the request of President Elpidio Quirino, Diosdado Macapagal returned from
Washington, USA to successfully contest for the House of Representative seat from 1st District of
Pampanga as a Liberal Party candidate. He was re-elected in the 1953 election, holding the seat
for eight years in total in the Second and Third Congress.
During his time in Congress, he was made Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and
accomplished various crucial diplomatic tasks, including serving multiple terms as a Philippine
delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. His work as a Representative predominantly
revolved around the betterment of the condition of the poor and rural areas. He wrote and
endorsed several vital socio-economic bills.
In 1957, Macapagal became the Vice-President of the Philippines. His election was
unprecedented in the sense that there had not been a VP from a rival party than that of the
President in the history of the country before him. However, he was not allowed to join the Carlos
P. Garcia administration by the ruling party and spent his four-year term as the leader of the
opposition.
Furthermor, Diosdado Macapagal defeated Garcia in the 1961 presidential election and took
office as the ninth President of the Philippines on December 30, 1961. Former public servant
Emmanuel Pelaez served as his VP.
PROMISES DURING THE ELECTIONS AND INAUGURATION
Macapagal promised a program for the socio-economic aspect of society wherein he’d return free
and private enterprises wherein economic developments would be placed in the hands of private
entrepreneurs wherein the government would have minimal control over.
He declared that he would be the president of both the rich and the poor. He promises to erase that
line between the wealthy and the unfortunate. Mostly by elevating the poor’s status to have a
more copious life.

“I shall be president not only of the rich but more so of the poor. We must help bridge the
wide gap between the poor man and the man of wealth, not by pulling down the rich to
his level as Communism desires, but by raising the poor towards the more abundant life.”
 The Malacañang Palace is to be opened to the public.
 Restoration of morality to the public by alleviating the stature of the masses.
 Promised to end corruption, and establish anti-terrorism.

LAWS, PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS

1. AGRICULTURAL LAND REFORM CODE

One of Diosdado Macapagal’s greatest achievements.

 He instituted a public land clearance program to make new farmlands available for
immediate use.

GOAL: To establish owner – cultivator ship and the economic family – size farm as
the basis of Philippine agriculture, and as a consequence, divert landlord capital in
agriculture to industrial development.

 To create a truly viable social and economic structure in agriculture conducive to

greater productivity and higher farm incomes;
 To provide a more vigorous and systematic land resettlement program and public
land distribution;
 Change the traditional share tenancy to lease hold system
 The tenant would give 25% of their harvest as payment

To ameliorate the plight of the Filipino peasant in the face of vast population growth,
Macapagal instituted a public land clearance program to make new farmlands available
 for immediate use. The product of his concern for the impoverished majority was the
Land Reform Code of Aug. 8, 1963, which sought to replace the abusive and unjust
tenancy system inherited from colonial times by the leasehold system, affording full
government protection to the leaseholder. The positive result obtained in 1966
demonstrated the value of the land reform program in materially improving the local
living conditions of the rural poor.

2. EMERGENCY EMPLOYMENT ADMINISTRATION

 It was patterned after a similar employment program of United States President
Franklin D. Roosevelt during America’s great depression in the 1930’s.

PURPOSE: stated on Section 2 which says “It is hereby declared to be the

continuing policy and responsibility of the State to utilize every possible means to
create maximum employment opportunities for all who are able, willing and seeking
to work but cannot find employment, thus increasing mass purchasing power,
developing income in rural areas, and stimulating economic activity in general.”

 What this law basically does is to create and offer job opportunities to Filipinos who
are seeking or in need of employment.

3. PHILIPPINE INDUSTRY
 The law abolished share tenancy on rice and corn farmlands, and established a
leasehold system in which farmers paid fixed rentals to landlords, rather than a
percentage of the harvest.

4. SABAH
 Bordered by Sarawak on its southwestern side, and Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo)
to the south.
 It was said the Sabah was a gift to the Sultanate of Sulu from the Sultan of Brueni.
 A gift for helping the Sultan of Brunei fight against his enemies.
 During President Diosdado Macapagal’s administration, the Philippines formally
claimed Sabah based on the Sultanate of Sulu heirs’ claim on the territory.
 The Philippines broke diplomatic relations with Malaysia after the federation have
included “Sabah”.
 The Sultan’s heirs have given the Philippine government the authority to pursue the
claim legally in international courts.
 The succeeding administrations have either have ignored or set aside the claim for
peaceful co-existent and trade relation with the Malaysians.

In June 1962 Macapagal registered a claim of Philippine sovereignty over British North
Borneo (Sabah). In July he proposed the establishment of a greater Malayan
confederation which would supersede the British-sponsored plan for the Federation of
Malaysia. This would be a step toward ultimate establishment of a Pan-Asian Union.
Macapagal initiated the Manila Accord of July 31, 1963, signed by himself, President
Sukarno of Indonesia, and Abdul Rahman of Malaya; on August 6 the three chiefs of
state issued the Manila Declaration toward the establishment of Maphilindo, designed to
set up closer ties between the three countries in their collective fight against
neocolonialism. This plan broke up with the formation on Aug. 1, 1964, of the Federation
of Malaysia by the Malayan and British governments.
5. MAPHILINDO
 And organization composed of Southeast Asian countries particularly the Malaysia,
Philippines, and Indonesia.
 Purpose: to boost our country’s trade with our neighbors.
 The organization also have way to the making of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations or better known as ASEAN.

6. INDEPENDENCE DAY
 Through an executive order, he changed the date of independence. From the July 4,
chosen date of the Americans, to June 12, the day when Aguinaldo proclaimed the
country’s independence in Kawit, Cavite.
 July 4 is now the Philippine-American Friendship day.
 Filipino Language. He declared the Filipino Language as our National language.

PRIMARY PROBLEMS
His term and his leadership are now seen as either unproductive to the country or were the
root causes of the continuing fall of the Philippine economy today. That is why he is rated
just high enough to pass but not high enough to be considered a good president.
Primary Problems
• Low living standards of the masses
• Lack of economic stability
• Unemployment
• Devaluation of the Philippine Peso
• Revocation of 350 midnight appointments from the Garcia administration
Garcia appointed 350 people into certain positions before he stepped
down as president (a few hours before)
ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES
• Graft and Corruption (STONEHILL SCANDAL)
• Rise in consumer goods prices
• Peace and order issues
• Macapagal’s privileged subjects in congress and business paraded their
lavish wealth in conspicuous parties and anomalous deals
Stonehill controversy
The Administration's campaign against corruption was tested by Harry Stonehill, an American
expatriate with a $50-million business empire in the Philippines. Macapagal's Secretary of Justice,
Jose W. Diokno investigated Stonehill on charges of tax evasion, smuggling, misdeclaration of
imports, and corruption of public officials. Diokno's investigation revealed Stonehill's ties to
corruption within the government. Macapagal, however, prevented Diokno from prosecuting
Stonehill by deporting the American instead, then dismissing Diokno from the cabinet. Diokno
questioned Macapagal's actions, saying, "How can the government now prosecute the corrupted
when it has allowed the corrupter to go?"
Rise in consumer goods
Under pressure from the US Government and international financial institutions, Macapagal
reversed Garcia-era economic policies with economic liberalization policies. Lifting of foreign
exchange controls: Under Garcia, foreign (mostly American) companies in the Philippines had
been prohibited from taking their profits back to the US. Macapagal lifted the controls, allowing
foreign businesses to send their profits home. This resulted in a shortage of foreign exchange. The
government was then forced to seek foreign loans to avoid a exchange crisis.
Floating peso
Under Garcia, the Peso had a fixed exchange rate, to keep low prices for domestically-produced
goods and food. Macapagal allowed the Peso to “float” on currency exchange markets, causing a
nearly-100% devaluation of the Peso, leading to increased consumer prices, hurting Filipino
consumers. Lifting of import controls: Under Garcia, foreign imports were limited, to encourage
domestic production by Philippine businesses. Macapagal lifted these limits, with the result that
foreign imports flooded in, hurting domestic industries and agriculture. But US businesses were
happy.
SUMMARY OF GOVERNANCE
Diosdado Macapagal was chosen by the people of the Philippines to be their president in 1961
and his term ended in 1965. Considered to be incorruptible by most during the time, he may have
served as an inspiration to his people. That’s why he included the need for the country to have a
good grasp of good morals and ethics. He also wanted to end corruption, poverty, homelessness,
and other various problems that plagued the common man. During his entire term however, none
of what he promised or wanted was really achieved. This makes him look quite bad as a leader of
the country contrary to what he was supposed to be seen as. He’s the type of person who’s more
on talk rather than action. The devaluation of the Philippine Peso started during his term which
makes him, in the eyes of some, the root of a lot of today’s problems in the country. Other than
that, he returned free trade and free enterprise to the country which crushed local goods and
businesses which continue to suffer up to today. When it came to his promises to the common
man, the farmers in particular, he was unable to keep his them during his term. He was unable to
give them the land they needed because aside from having no specific time table as to when they
were to receive the land, the government didn’t have the money to purchase the land from the
hacienderos which was to be distributed to the farmers in the first place. Basically, he made really
good speeches and the country didn’t “die” when he was in power but he wasn’t able to do
anything great that problems were removed. If common people today are asked about what he did,
the answer may be as extreme as “Nothing!” or funny as “He fathered a dwarf!” Diosdado
probably wasn’t a bad man and may actually be “incorruptible” despite the issues. Unfortunately,
his term and his leadership are now seen as either unproductive to the country or were the root
causes the still continuing fall of the Philippine economy today. That is why he is rated just high
enough to pass but not high enough to be considered a good president.

REFERENCES

 https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/diosdado-macapagal-10813.php
 https://biography.yourdictionary.com/diosdado-p-macapagal
 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diosdado-Macapagal
 https://bloomspresidents.wordpress.com/diosdado-p-macapagal-1961-1965/
 https://www.slideshare.net/km434gatt/diosdado-macapagal-ppt
 https://www.slideshare.net/untangleme/diosdado-macapagal-3364592