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The 6th president of the Philippines, Elpidio Quirino, was born on November 16, 1890 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. He finished his degree in law at the University of the Philippines in 1915 and took the bar exams after. His first humanitarian mission began when he was a barrio school teacher in Vigan, and was followed by a stint at the Bureau of Lands. He then became a property clerk in the Manila Police Department, and then a private secretary of then Senate President Manuel Quezon.
His began his career in politics as an elected representative of Ilocus Sur in 1919 and became a senator in 1925. He was re-elected as senator in 1931. Qurino was one of the members of the delegates who helped pass the Tydings-McDuffie Act that later paved the way to Philippine Independence.
Quirino became a part of the convention that prepared the constitution for the new Philippine Commonwealth. He was selected by Pres. Quezon to be the Secretary of Finance. Later on, he became the Secretary of the Interior in the Commonwealth government. When he was elected as Vice President to Roxas, he worked as the Secretary of Finance and later became the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
Quirino was captured and imprisoned during the Japanese occupation because of his resistance. His wife Alicia Syquia and their three children were killed by the Japanese soldiers. After the war, he re-acquired his old position in the government. He was elected Vice President in 1946 alongside Manuel Roxas. However, Quirino became the president of the republic when incumbent president Manuel Roxas died. Quirino ran again for president in the 1949 elections and won over the Nacionalista party candidate.
During Qurino’s presidency, his government exercised two goals: to regain faith and confidence in the government, and to restore peace and order. Sadly, his government experienced bad publicity, and for the first time in Philippine history, an impeachment trial was filed against the president because of a golden orinola that Quirino allegedly bought at a hefty price using the government’s money.
His six-year reign as president was recognized for postwar reconstruction, general economic gains and increased economic aid from the US. However, the problems from the rural areas and other social problems remained unsettled. The government during his time was stained by graft and corruption.
Quirino’s bid for a second term of office in 1949 was believed to be one of the dirtiest elections held in the country – next next to the 1969 election wherein Ferdinand Marcos won via massive cheating and intimidation. In the 1953 election, Quirino was defeated by one of the greatest presidents in Philippine history, Ramon Magsaysay.
Despite all the controversies in his reign as president of the republic, his administration was recognized for its projects on industrial ventures, expanding irrigation and improvement of the road system, setting up of the Central Bank and rural banking, and the concluding peace with Japan.
After his defeat, he went back to a normal citizen’s life. He passed away on February 28, 1956 at his residence in Novaliches.
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