Elpidio Rivera

Quirino

DAY
Elpidio Rivera Quirino
(Nobyembre 16, 1890—Pebrero 29, 1956)
Ikaanim na pangulo ng Pilipinas.
Nagsilbi siya mula Abril 17, 1948
hanggang Disyembre 30, 1953.
Isinilang si Quirino sa Vigan, Ilocos Sur Noong
Nobyembre 16, 1890 kina Mariano Quirino at
Gregoria Rivera. Nagtapos siya ng abogasya sa
Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (University of the
Philippines) noong 1915
 Nahalal sa Kongreso noong 1919. Hinirang na
Kalihim ng Pananalapi ni Gob. Hen. Murphy noong
1934 at naging kasapi ng "Constitutional
Convention". Naging pangalawang pangulo siya ni
Manuel Roxas noong 1946.
 At nanumpa bilang Pangulo pagkaraang mamatay si
Roxas noong Abril 17, 1948. Kinaharap ng
administrasyong Quirino ang isang malubhang banta
ng kilusang komunistang Hukbalahap. Pinasimulan niya
ang kampanya laban sa mga Huk.
Bilang Pangulo, muli niyang itinayo
ang ekonomiya ng bansa, pinaunlad
niya ang pagsasaka, at mga
industriya.
After World War II, Quirino was elected vice-
president in the 1946 election, consequently
the second and last for the Commonwealth
and first for the third republic.
After the death of the incumbent
president Manuel Roxas in 1948,
he succeeded the presidency.
He won the president's office under
Liberal Party ticket, defeating Nacionalista vice
president and former president José P. Laurel as
well as fellow Liberalista and former
Senate President José Avelino
Early life and career
Elpidio Quirino was a native of Caoayan, Ilocos Sur
although born in Vigan, Ilocos Sur to
Don Mariano Quirino of Caoayan, Ilocos Sur and Doña
Gregoria Mendoza Rivera of Agoo, La Union. Quirino
spent his early years in Aringay, La Union.
He studied and graduated from his
elementary education to his native
Caoayan, where he became a barrio
teacher.
He received secondary education at Vigan High
School, then went to Manila where he worked as
junior computer technician at the Bureau of Lands
and as property clerk in the Manila police
department
He graduated from Manila High School in 1911
and also passed the civil service examination,
first-grade.
Quirino attended the
University of the Philippines.
In 1915, he earned his law degree from the
university's College of Law, and was
admitted to the bar later that year. He was
engaged in the private practice of law
Personal life
Quirino was married to Alicia
Syquia on January 16, 1921. The
couple had five children: Tomas,
Armando, Norma, Victoria, and
Fe. Only Quirino, his son Tomas,
and his daughter Victoria,
survived when the Japanese
massacred the family during the
war.
His brother Antonio Quirino was the owner of
Alto Broadcasting System, which later
merged with Chronicle Broadcasting Network
to form ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation.
Congressional career
Quirino was engaged in the private practice of law
until he was elected as member of the
Philippine House of Representatives from 1919 to
1925, succeeding Alberto Reyes. In 1925 he was
succeeded as Congressman by Vicente Singson Pablo
Senate
Quirino was elected as Senator from 1925 to 1931
representing the First Senatorial District. He then
served as Secretary of Finance and Secretary of
the Interior in the Commonwealth government
In 1934, Quirino was a member of the Philippine
Independence mission to Washington, D.C.,
headed by Manuel L. Quezon, that secured the
passage in the United States Congress of the
Tydings–McDuffie Act.
 This legislation set the date for
Philippine independence. Official
declaration came on July 4, 1946
Before the Second World War, Quirino was re-elected
to the Senate but was not able to serve until 1945.
During the Battle of Manila in World War II, his wife,
Alicia Syquia, and three of his five children were
killed as they fled their home.[
After the war, the Philippine
Commonwealth Government
was restored.
Vice-Presidency
President Elpidio Quirino weeps beside
the coffin of his predecessor, Manuel
Roxas during the latter's wake in 1948
Soon after the reconstitution of the
Commonwealth Government in 1945,
Senators Manuel Roxas, Elpidio 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 election date at 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 election on April
23, 1946, and was approved by
President Osmeña on January 5, 1946.
Senate President Elpidio Quirino was
nominated as the running mate by
newly formed Liberal Party of
presidential candidate and then-
Senate President Manuel Roxas. The
tandem won the election. Vice-
President Quirino was later appointed
as Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
First term (1948–
1949)
Vice-President Elpidio Quirino was inaugurated as the
6th President of the Philippines on April 17, 1948 at
the Council of State Room, Executive Building,
Malacañan Palace.
Quirino assumed the presidency on April 17, 1948,
taking his oath of office two days after the death of
Manuel Roxas. His first official act as the President was
the proclamation of a state mourning throughout the
country for Roxas' death
Since Quirino was a widower, his surviving daughter
Victoria Quirino Gonzalez [Vicky] would serve as the
official hostess and perform the functions traditionally
ascribed to the First Lady.
New capital city
On July 17, 1948, the Congress approved
Republic Act No. 333, amending Commonwealth
Act No. 502, declaring Quezon City the capital of
the Philippines in place of 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
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.
Luis Taruc secretly 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
rebels, restoring once more an aggressive
policy in view of the failure of the friendly
attitude previously adopted
Second term (1949–
1953)
President Elpidio Quirino was inaugurated for his first
full term as President of the Philippines on December
30, 1949 at the Independence Grandstand (now
Quirino Grandstand), Manila.
Baguio Conference
In May 1950, upon the invitation of
President Qurino, through the
insistent suggestion of United Nations
President Carlos P. Romulo, official
representatives of India, Pakistan,
Ceylon, Thailand, Indonesia, and
Australia met in the city of Baguio for
a regional conference sponsored by
the Philippines
China and 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, China, 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.
HukBaLaHap continued re-
insurgence
Quirino's administration faced a
serious threat in the form of the
communist HukBaLaHap
movement. Though 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 openly declared
himself a Communist and called for the overthrow of
the government.
Peace campaign
With the Communist organization estimated to still
have more than 40,000 duly registered members by
March 1951, the government went on with its
sustained campaign to cope with the worsening peace
and order problem.
The 1951 budget included the use
of a residue fund for the land
resettlement program in favor of
the surrendered HUKS. The money
helped maintain the Economic
Development Corps (EDCOR), with
its settlements of 6,500 hectares
in Kapatagan (Lanao) and 25,000
hectares in Buldon (Cotabato).
In each group taken to these
places there was a nucleus of
former Army personnel and their
families, who became a stabilizing
factor and ensured the success of
the program. Indeed, less than ten
percent of the Huks who settled
down gave up this new lease in life
offered them by the government.
To promote the smooth restructuring of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines, the military were
made to undergo a reorganization. Battalion combat
teams of 1,000 men each were established.
Each operated independently of the High
Command, except for overall coordination
in operational plans. A total of 26 Battalion
Combat Teams were put up.
New army units were also established, such was the
first Airborne Unit, the Scout Rangers, the Canine
Unit, and the Cavalry Unit. These units all showed
considerable ability.
Social program
Enhancing President Manuel Roxas
' policy of social justice to alleviate
the lot of the common mass,
President Quirino, almost
immediately after assuming office,
started a series of steps calculated
to effectively better the economic
condition of the people
After periodic surprise visits to the slums of
Manila and other backward regions of the
country, President Quirino officially made public
a seven-point program for social security, to wit
 Unemployment insurance
 Old-age insurance
 Accident and permanent
disability insurance
 Health insurance
 Maternity insurance
 State relief
 Labor opportunity
President Quirino also created the Social
Security Commission, making Social
Welfare Commissioner Asuncion Perez
chairman of the same
This was followed by the creation of the
President's Action Committee on Social
Amelioration, charges with extending aid,
loans, and relief to the less fortunate citizens.
Both the policy and its implementation
were hailed by the people as
harbingers of great benefits
Agrarian reform
As part of his Agrarian Reform agenda, President
Quirino issued on October 23, 1950 Executive Order
No. 355 which replaced the National Land Settlement
Administration with Land Settlement Development
Corporation (LASEDECO)
which takes over the responsibilities of the
Agricultural Machinery Equipment
Corporation and the Rice and Corn
Production Administration
Foreign policies
Photograph of President Truman in the Oval Office, evidently
receiving a cane as a gift from the President of the Philippines,
Elpidio Quirino, as another man (most likely ambassador Joaquín
Elizalde) looks on
Quirino's administration excelled
in diplomacy, impressing foreign
heads of states and world
statesmen by his intelligence and
culture. In his official travels to
the United States, European
countries, and Southeast Asia, he
represented the Philippines with
flying colors.
During his six years of administration, he with
his Foreign Secretary Helen Cutaran Bennett
was able to negotiate treaties and agreements
with other nations of the Free World.
Two Asian heads of state visited Philippines–
President Chiang Kai-shek of the
Republic of China in July 1949 and President
Achmed Sukarno of Indonesia in January 1951.
In 1950, at the onset of the Korean War, Quirino
authorized the deployment of over 7,450 Filipino
soldiers to Korea, under the designation of the
Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea or PEFTOK
Post-presidency and
death
Quirino died of a heart attack
during the leap year day of
February 29, 1956. He was buried
at Manila South Cemetery in Makati
Tomb of Elpidio Quirino at the
Manila South Cemetery
Following his failed bid for re-election, Quirino retired from
politics to private life in 1953. He offered his dedication to
serve the Filipino people, becoming the "Father of
Foreign Service" in the Republic of the Philippines.
While I recognise the United States as a
great builder in this country, I have never
surrendered the sovereignty, much less
the dignity and future of our country
— Elpidio Quirino