List of Philippine presidential firsts

The following is a list of firsts attained by various presidents of the Philippines. Distinctions were achieved while at office unless otherwise stated.

Emilio Aguinaldo (1899–1901)

First president of the Philippines,^[1] officially recognized as such. (See also: List of unofficial presidents of the Philippines)
First president to declare martial law (May 1898).^[2]
First president to be a Freemason.^[3]
First president to be a member of the military.^[4]
First and only president to be below the age of 30.
First president to live to the age of 90.
First president who became a widower following the death of his first wife Hilaria on March 6, 1921.
First president to remarry when he married María Agoncillo in 1930.
First president from Luzon (Cavite).
First president to outlive a successor upon the death of Manuel Quezon.
First president to outlive more than one successors. In addition to Manuel Quezon, other successors Sergio Osmeña, Jose Laurel, Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino and Ramon Magsaysay all died before Aguinaldo.

Manuel L. Quezon (1935–1944)

First president to be a lawyer.^[4]
First president to run against a former president. (Emilio Aguinaldo)
First president to win the presidency by direct election. (1935)
First president to ride an aircraft while in office.^[5]
First president to celebrate his 60th birthday while in office, turning 60 on August 19, 1938.
First president to have secured a second term in office. (1941)
First president to die in office.
First president to die outside the Philippines, dying in New York on August 1, 1944.
First president to die before the age of 70 or 80 as he died at the age of 65.
First president to meet a US president in the person of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt.
First president to die before his predecessor.
First president to be internationally recognized (Aguinaldo's First Philippine Republic was an unrecognized state).

Jose P. Laurel (1943–1945)

First president from Batangas.
First president to have previously served in the Supreme Court of the Philippines as Associate Justice (1936–1942).
First president to be a father to a vice president and a Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.
First president to be elected to another government position in his post-presidency upon winning his second term in the Senate in 1951 (he first served in the Senate during the Philippine Commonwealth).
First president whose term in office was first ruled unofficial and was legitimized later. He was recognized as a legitimate Philippine president during the administration of Diosdado Macapagal.^{[citation needed]}
First president to be buried outside Metro Manila. He was buried in his hometown of Tanauan, Batangas.

Sergio Osmeña (1944–1946)

First president from Visayas (Cebu).
First president to have previously served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines and president pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines.
First president to have held the position of vice president.
First president to have assumed the presidency upon the death of his predecessor (Manuel L. Quezon).
First president to be sworn in as president overseas (United States).
First president to be defeated in a presidential election in his incumbency (1946).
First president to have a child who also ran for president (Sergio Osmeña Jr. in the 1969 Philippine presidential election).

Manuel Roxas (1946–1948)

First president to die before the age of 60. He died at the age of 56 on April 15, 1948.
First president to have a descendant appointed as secretary of DILG (Secretary Mar Roxas).
First president to have held three of the highest positions in the government, or the first one to have headed both legislative houses and the executive branch. He was a Senate president and a House Speaker before he became president.
First president to die before more than one predecessors. Upon his death, his living predecessors are Emilio Aguinaldo, Sergio Osmeña and Jose Laurel.

Elpidio Quirino (1948–1953)

First president to have won a full term in office after completing the rest of his late predecessor's term.
First president to meet the Pope while in office when he met Pope Pius XII on October 9, 1951.
First president to be inaugurated at the Independence Grandstand (now known as Quirino Grandstand).
First president to face an impeachment complaint in 1949 over the alleged usage of government funds in refurbishing the Malacañang Palace and alleged involvement in diamond smuggling.^[6]^[7]
First president to deliver the State of the Nation Address through radio broadcast as he is in hospital confinement due to medical problems.

Ramon Magsaysay (1953–1957)

First president to take the oath of office wearing the Barong Tagalog.^[8]
First president to swear on the Bible on his inauguration.^[9]
First president to be born after the Spanish colonial era.
First president born in the 20th century.
First president to die apart from natural causes as he was killed in an aircraft disaster.
First president to die before reaching the age of 50. He died at the age of 49 on March 17, 1957, 5 months before his 50th birthday.
First president to have both living parents during his incumbency.
First president to predecease his parents. His father died on January 24, 1969 at the age of 94, while his mother died on May 5, 1981 at the age of 95.

Carlos P. Garcia (1957–1961)

First president from Bohol.
First president to have a Vice president from a different political party (Diosdado Macapagal was from the Liberal Party).
First president elected by a plurality of votes rather than a majority.
First president to lie in state at the Manila Cathedral.

Diosdado P. Macapagal (1961–1965)

First president from Pampanga.
First president to have a child who would later become president when his daughter Gloria assumed the presidency following the resignation of Joseph Estrada in 2001.
First president to legitimize the presidency of a predecessor. Jose Laurel was only recognized as a legitimate president under his administration, some twenty years after.^{[citation needed]}

Ferdinand Marcos (1965–1986)

First and only president to be elected for a second term in the post-war era (1969).^[10]
First president to have been prime minister (1978–1981).
First president to meet two Popes while in office, meeting with Popes Paul VI and John Paul II during their respective visits to the country (1970 and 1981).
First president whose spouse would also run for president when his widow Imelda ran during the 1992 elections.
First and only president to hold office for two decades (1965–1986).

Corazon Aquino (1986–1992)

First female president of the Philippines.^[11]
First president to have the presidential oath of office administered by an Associate Justice.^[9]
First president to have no previous experience in government.
First president to die in the twenty-first century. She died on August 1, 2009 at the age of 76.

Fidel V. Ramos (1992–1998)

First president to be a non-Catholic.^[12]
First president to be a Protestant.^[13]
First and only military official to hold every rank from Second Lieutenant to Commander-in-Chief.
First president to celebrate his 70th birthday while in office. He turned 70 on March 18, 1998, 3 months before the end of his term.
First president to be elected after turning 60. He was elected in 1992 at the age of 64.
First ever president who was a relative of a former President. His second cousin is Ferdinand Marcos who, in his tenure as president, appointed him as chief of Philippine Constabulary and chief of staff of Armed Forces of the Philippines.
First president who finished his term for exact six years under the 1987 Constitution.

Joseph Estrada (1998–2001)

First president who is a former actor.
First and only president who has undergone an impeachment trial.
First president to resign from office.
First president to be elected mayor post-presidency when he served as Mayor of Manila from 2013 to 2019.
First president to have served as Mayor in two cities. (San Juan, 1969–1986 and Manila, 2013–2019.)
First president whose wife was elected to the Senate. The former first lady Luisa became senator in 2001.

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001–2010)

First president born after the Commonwealth.
First presidential child (and daughter) to become president. Her father is President Diosdado Macapagal.
First president to be elected and inaugurated in the twenty-first century following the resignation of Joseph Estrada. She was later elected to a full term on May 2004.
First president to have two vice presidents. Her first vice president is Teofisto Guingona whom she appointed months into her presidency, while her second vice president is Noli de Castro who won in the 2004 elections.
First president to serve in Congress immediately after leaving office after being elected representative of the Second District of Pampanga.
First president to take her oath of office outside of Luzon. She had her second presidential inauguration in Cebu in 2004.
First president to become House Speaker post-presidency in 2018.

Benigno Aquino III (2010–2016)

First president to be a bachelor and childless while in office.^[14]
First presidential son to become president. His mother was President Corazon Aquino.
First president to be elected after turning 50. He celebrated his 50th Birthday on February 8, 2010 and was elected in May that year.
First president who has served in the 21st century to be deceased.
First president whose remains were cremated.

Rodrigo Duterte (2016–2022)

First president from Mindanao (Davao).^[15]
First incumbent local chief executive (city mayor) to be elected president. (Aguinaldo held an office equivalent to town mayor at the start of the 1896 Revolution, and he was first elected president of a government in 1897, but his officially recognized tenure as the first president began in 1899).
First septuagenarian president. He was elected to the presidency in May 2016 at the age of 71.
First president to visit Israel while in office.^[16]

Bongbong Marcos (2022–)

References

^ Lapeña, Carmela (August 25, 2013). "The case for Andres Bonifacio as the first Philippine president". GMA News. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
^ "Basis for Martial Law declaration, against the law – Constitutionalist". UNTV News. May 25, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
^ "Well-Known Filipino Masons". Mencius Lodge No. 93. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Pulumbarit, Veronica (December 17, 2017). "Past PHL presidents: Many were lawyers, one a housewife, another a mechanic". GMA News. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
^ "The presidential Planes". presidential Museum and Library. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
^ "Half of Phl's presidents faced impeachment raps". The Philippine Star. July 21, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
^ "The History of the Senate of the Philippines". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
^ "Philippine History: president Ramon F. Magsaysay: Champion of the masses". Yahoo! Philippines. Manila Bulletin.
^ ^a ^b Elefante, Fil (June 27, 2016). "Tales of past presidential inaugurations: Superstition and history". Business Mirror. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
^ Schirmer, Daniel; Shalom, Stephen Rosskamm (1987). The Philippines Reader: A History of Colonialism, Neocolonialism, Dictatorship, and Resistance (illustrated ed.). South End PRess. p. 163. ISBN 9780896082755. Retrieved February 22, 2018. In 1969,... ...enabled Marcos to become the first Philippine president to be re-elected for a second term
^ McKittrick, David (August 3, 2009). "Cory Aquino: president of the Philippines who brought democracy to the islands". The Independent. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
^ Allen, John L. (2014). The Catholic Church: What Everyone Needs to Know (revised ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 159. ISBN 9780199379804. Ramos was the first and, to date, the only non-Catholic president of the Philippines
^ Whitaker, Raymond (August 11, 1994). "Ramos clashes with Church on birth control: A United Nations population conference in Cairo next month promises trouble for the Philippines and Egyptian governments". The Independent. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
^ "Among 15 presidents, Noynoy holds many 'firsts'". GMA News. June 28, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
^ "Profile: Who is president Rodrigo Duterte?". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Inquirer Research. June 29, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
^ "Duterte back in PH from visits to Israel, Jordan". ABS-CBN News. September 8, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2019.

[1] Lapeña, Carmela (August 25, 2013). "The case for Andres Bonifacio as the first Philippine president". GMA News. Retrieved February 22, 2018.

[2] "Basis for Martial Law declaration, against the law – Constitutionalist". UNTV News. May 25, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2018.

[3] "Well-Known Filipino Masons". Mencius Lodge No. 93. Retrieved February 22, 2018.

[pastphllawyers-4] Pulumbarit, Veronica (December 17, 2017). "Past PHL presidents: Many were lawyers, one a housewife, another a mechanic". GMA News. Retrieved February 22, 2018.

[5] "The presidential Planes". presidential Museum and Library. Retrieved July 15, 2019.

[6] "Half of Phl's presidents faced impeachment raps". The Philippine Star. July 21, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2020.

[7] "The History of the Senate of the Philippines". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved August 27, 2020.

[magsaysayymb-8] "Philippine History: president Ramon F. Magsaysay: Champion of the masses". Yahoo! Philippines. Manila Bulletin.

[bmelefante-9] Elefante, Fil (June 27, 2016). "Tales of past presidential inaugurations: Superstition and history". Business Mirror. Retrieved March 7, 2018.

[10] Schirmer, Daniel; Shalom, Stephen Rosskamm (1987). The Philippines Reader: A History of Colonialism, Neocolonialism, Dictatorship, and Resistance (illustrated ed.). South End PRess. p. 163. ISBN 9780896082755. Retrieved February 22, 2018. In 1969,... ...enabled Marcos to become the first Philippine president to be re-elected for a second term

[11] McKittrick, David (August 3, 2009). "Cory Aquino: president of the Philippines who brought democracy to the islands". The Independent. Retrieved February 22, 2018.

[12] Allen, John L. (2014). The Catholic Church: What Everyone Needs to Know (revised ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 159. ISBN 9780199379804. Ramos was the first and, to date, the only non-Catholic president of the Philippines

[13] Whitaker, Raymond (August 11, 1994). "Ramos clashes with Church on birth control: A United Nations population conference in Cairo next month promises trouble for the Philippines and Egyptian governments". The Independent. Retrieved February 22, 2018.

[14] "Among 15 presidents, Noynoy holds many 'firsts'". GMA News. June 28, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2019.

[15] "Profile: Who is president Rodrigo Duterte?". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Inquirer Research. June 29, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2018.

[16] "Duterte back in PH from visits to Israel, Jordan". ABS-CBN News. September 8, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]