Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was the sixth president of the Philippines, serving from 1948 to 1953. As the second vice president from 1946 to 1948, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Manuel Roxas in 1948.
A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered politics when he became a representative of Ilocos Sur's first district from 1919 to 1922. He was then elected as a senator from 1925 to 1935. In 1934, he became a member of the Philippine Independence Commission that was sent to Washington, D.C., which secured the passage of Tydings–McDuffie Act to the United States Congress. In 1935, he was also elected to the 1935 Constitutional Convention that drafted the 1935 Philippine Constitution for the newly established Philippine Commonwealth. In the new government, he served as secretary of the interior and finance under the cabinet of President Manuel L. Quezon.
After World War II, Quirino was elected vice-president in the April 1946 presidential election, consequently the second and last for the Commonwealth and first for the Third Republic. He won a full term under the Liberal Party ticket, defeating Nacionalista former president José P. Laurel as well as fellow Liberalista and former Senate President José Dira Avelino. The Quirino administration was generally challenged by the Hukbalahap, who ransacked towns and barrios. Quirino ran for president again in November 1953 but was defeated by Ramon Magsaysay in a landslide.
Early life and education
Elpidio Quirino y Rivera was born on November 16, 1890, at the Vigan Provincial Jail in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. He was the third child of Mariano Quirino y Quebral of Caoayan, Ilocos Sur and Gregoria Rivera y Mendoza of Agoo, La Union. A Chinese mestizo descendant, Quirino was baptized on November 19, 1890.
Quirino first attended secondary education at Vigan High School, during which he also worked as a teacher in barrio Caparia-an, Caoayan, Ilocos Sur. He later transferred to Manila High School in Intramuros, Manila, after earning enough finances. He later studied law at the University of the Philippines. He was one of the topnotchers of the 1915 Philippine Bar Examinations.
Congressional career
House of Representatives
Quirino was engaged in private law practice of until he was elected as member of the Philippine House of Representatives for Ilocos Sur's 1st congressional district from 1919 to 1922, succeeding Alberto Reyes. He served for only one term and was succeeded by Vicente Singson Pablo in 1922.
Senate
Quirino was first elected as a senator from the 1st senatorial district in 1925. He was re-elected in 1931 and served until the bicameral Congress was abolished in favor of the unicameral National Assembly of the Philippines.
As a senator, he was briefly assigned by Senate President Manuel Quezon as acting Senate Majority Leader from 1932 to 1933 due to Quezon, senate majority leader Benigno Aquino Sr., and Sergio Osmeña went on leave and made trips to the United States. These were to protect the proposed Hare–Hawes–Cutting bill in U.S. Congress and to amend the bill because of opposition from the Philippine Legislature. In the senate, Quirino also became chairman of a joint committee on taxation.
He was later secured a comeback to the Senate in 1941, but was not able to serve until 1945 due to World War II. During the Philippine Commonwealth, he became Senate President pro tempore from 1942 but did not serve until 1945. His term as senator ended in 1946.
Secretary of finance (1934 – 1936) In a memorandum to Governor General Frank Murphy on January 13, 1935, Quirino, quoting former acting finance secretary Vicente Singson Encarnacion, proposed that the Philippines create its own currency system based on the gold standard. He supported this idea due to the country's gold production and simpler economic structure compared to the US and Europe. Quirino also agreed with Encarnacion on the need to devalue the peso, suggesting a reduction aligned with previous currency changes in 1934. He recommended forming a central bank to stabilize prices and promote the national economy, over which he emphasized its role in lowering interest rates and expanding credit. However, Quirino's proposals, like those of his predecessor, were not adopted. The Philippine Insular government enacted Act No. 4199 on March 16, 1935, fixing the peso to the US dollar, marking the official introduction of the dollar exchange standard.
Vice presidency (1946–1948)
Soon after the reconstitution of the Commonwealth government in 1945, Senators Manuel Roxas, Quirino and their allies called for an early national election to choose the president and vice president of the Philippines and members of the Congress. In December 1945, the House Insular Affairs of the United States Congress approved the joint resolution setting the date of the election on not later than April 30, 1946.
Prompted by this congressional action, President Sergio Osmeña called the Philippine Congress to a three-day special session. Congress enacted Commonwealth Act No. 725, setting the date of the election on April 23, 1946. The act was signed by President Osmeña on January 5, 1946.
Quirino was nominated as Senate President Manuel Roxas's running mate. The tandem won the election. As Vice President, Quirino was appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
Presidency (1948–1953)
Quirino's five years as president were marked by notable postwar reconstruction, general economic gains and increased economic aid from the United States.
Administration and cabinet
First term (1948–1949)
Accession
Quirino assumed the presidency on April 17, 1948, taking his oath of office two days after the death of Manuel Roxas two days earlier of a heart attack after delivering a speech at Clark Air Base in Pampanga. The inauguration took place at the Council of State Room of the Malacañang Palace in Manila as the second non-scheduled extraordinary presidential inauguration. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Ricardo Paras administered the oath of office. On the same day, Quirino delivered his short, 47-word inaugural remarks at the same room.
His first official act as the President was the proclamation of a state mourning throughout the country for Roxas's death. Since Quirino was a widower, his surviving daughter, Victoria, would serve as the official hostess and perform the functions traditionally ascribed to the First Lady.
New capital city On July 17, 1948, Congress approved Republic Act No. 333, amending Commonwealth Act No. 502, declaring Quezon City as the new capital of the Philippines, replacing Manila. Nevertheless, pending the official transfer of the government offices to the new capital site, Manila remained to be such for all effective purposes.
Hukbalahap The term Hukbalahap was a contraction of Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa mga Hapon (in English: The Nation's Army Against the Japanese [Soldiers]), members of which were commonly referred to as Huks.
With the expiration of the Amnesty deadline on August 15, 1948, the government found out that the Huks had not lived up to the terms of the Quirino-Taruc agreement. Indeed, after having been seated in Congress and collecting his back pay allowance, Huk leader Luis Taruc surreptitiously fled away from Manila, even as a number of his followers had either submitted themselves to the conditions of the Amnesty proclamation or surrendered their arms. In the face of countercharges from the Huk to the effect that the government had not satisfied the agreed conditions, President Quirino ordered a stepped-up campaign against dissidents, restoring once more an aggressive policy in view of the failure of the friendly attitude previously adopted.
Fireside chats To bring the government closer to the people, he revived President Quezon's "fireside chats", in which he enlightened the people on the activities of the Republic by the periodic radio broadcasts from Malacañang Palace.
Impeachment attempt
Riding on the crest of the growing wave of resentment against the Liberal Party, a move was next hatched to indict President Quirino himself. Led by Representative Agripino Escareal, a committee composed of seven members of the House of Representatives prepared a five-count accusation ranging from nepotism to gross expenditures. Speaker Eugenio Pérez appointed a committee of seven, headed by Representative Lorenzo Sumulong to look into the charges preparatory to their filing with the Senate, acting as an impeachment body. Solicitor General Felix Angelo Bautista entered his appearance as defense counsel for the chief executive. Following several hearings, on April 19, 1949, after a rather turbulent session that lasted all night, the congressional committee reached a verdict completely exonerating the President.
Romulo becomes President of the UN General Assembly In September 1949, the Fourth General Assembly of the United Nations elected delegate Carlos P. Romulo as its President. The first Oriental to hold the position, Romulo was strongly supported by the Anglo-Saxon bloc, as well as by the group of Spanish-speaking nations, thus underscoring the hybrid nature of the Filipino people's culture and upbringing.
1949 presidential election
Incumbent President Quirino won a full term as president after the untimely death of President Manuel Roxas in 1948 in the November 1949 presidential election. His running mate, Senator Fernando López, won as Vice President. Despite factions created in the administration party, Quirino won a satisfactory vote from the public. It was the only time in Philippine history where the duly elected president, vice president and senators all came from the same party, the Liberal Party. The election was widely criticized as being corrupt, with violence and fraud taking place. Opponents of Quirino were beaten or murdered by his supporters or the police and the election continues to be seen as corrupt.
Second term (1949–1953) Quirino's second inauguration took place on Friday, December 30, 1949, at the Independence Grandstand in Manila. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Manuel Moran administered the oath of office.
Regional conference In May 1950, upon the invitation of President Quirino and through the insistent suggestion of United Nations General Assembly President Romulo, official representatives of India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Thailand, Indonesia, and Australia met in Baguio for a regional conference sponsored by the Philippines. Taiwan and South Korea did not attend the conference because the latter did not contemplate the formation of a military union of the Southeast Asian nations. On the other hand, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, and others were not invited because, at the time, they were not free and independent states. Due to the request of India and Indonesia, no political questions were taken up the conference. Instead, the delegates discussed economic and, most of all, cultural, problems confronting their respective countries. Strangely enough however, the Baguio Conference ended with an official communiqué in which the nations attending the same expressed their united agreement in supporting the right to self-determination of all peoples the world over. This initial regional meet held much promise of a future alliance of these neighboring nations for common protection and aid.
Huks' continued re-insurgence The Quirino administration faced a serious threat in the form of the communist Hukbalahap movement. Although the Huks originally had been an anti-Japanese guerrilla army in Luzon, communists steadily gained control over the leadership, and when Quirino's negotiation with Huk commander Luis Taruc broke down in 1948. Taruc then openly declared himself a communist and called for the overthrow of the government.
Peace campaign