9th President of the Republic of the Philippines
December 30, 1961 - December 30, 1965
Diosdado Macapagal was born on September 28, 1910 in Lubao, Pampanga, to Urbano Macapagal and Romana Pangan.
Macapagal was married to Purita dela Rosa and had two children, Cielo who became vice-governor of Pampanga and Arturo. Purita died during the Japanese occupation of World War II and later married Evangelina Macaraeg, the mother of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
He ran in the 1949 general election and won a seat in the House of Representatives representing 1st District of Pampanga. He was re-elected and served the 2nd and 3rd congress.
In 1957 presidential election, Macapagal ran for vice president under the Liberal Party as the running-mate of Jose Yulo. Although Yulo was defeated by Carlos Garcia, Macapagal won the vice presidential race defeating Jose Laurel Jr. After his four year term as vice president, Macapagal ran against the Carlos Garcia and defeated the incumbent president in the 1961 presidential election.
Macapagal as president was popularly known for changing the celebration of Philippine Independence from July 4 to June 12 when Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence from Spain in 1898.
He ran for re-election in 1965 presidential election but defeated by then Senate President Ferdinand Marcos. Macapagal spend most of his time in reading and writing books and a weekly column for the Manila Bulletin newspaper.
Diosdado Macapagal died on April 21, 1997 of heart failure, pneumonia and renal complications at the Makati Medical Center and buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
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