Fourth President of the Philippine Republic
August 1, 1944 - May 28, 1946
Sergio Osmeña was the second President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. He was the Vice President under Manuel Quezon, and became president upon Quezon's death in 1944.
Osmeña was born in Cebu to Juana Osmeña y Suico on September 9, 1878.
Osmeña was a lawyer and newspaper editor before entering local politics, he started out as a councilor. The American colonial administration appointed him as governor of Cebu in 1904 and was elected in the same position two years after. He ran for election to the first Philippine Assembly of 1907 and was elected Speaker of that body, and remained a member of the lower house until 1922. He was elected as vice-president of the Commonwealth in 1935, with Quezon as president and was re-elected in 1941. When the Commonwealth government relocated in the US in exile, Osmeña went with Quezon.
Osmeña became president of the Commonwealth on Quezon's death in 1944. He returned to the Philippines the same year with General Douglas MacArthur and the liberation forces. After the war, Osmeña restored the Commonwealth government and the various executive departments and continued the fight for Philippine independence.
Osmeña ran in the presidential election of 1946 but he refused to campaign, saying that the Filipino people knew of his record of 40 years of honest and faithful service. Unfortunately, he was defeated by Manuel Roxas, who became the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines.
After his defeat in the election, Osmeña retired to his home in Cebu. He died at the age of 83 on October 19, 1961, at the Veteran's Memorial Hospital inQuezon City. He was buried in the North Cemetery in Manila.
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