Carlos P. Garcia

Garcia was born in Talibon, Bohol, Philippines on November 4, 1896, to Policronio Garcia and Ambrosia Polestico, who were both natives of Bangued, Abra.

Garcia grew up with politics, with his father serving as a municipal mayor for four terms. He acquired his primary education in his native town Talibon, then took his secondary education in Cebu Provincial High School, now Abellana National School, both at the top of his class. Initially, he pursued his college education at Silliman University in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, and later studied at the Philippine Law School, then the College of Law of National University, where he earned his law degree in 1923 and later, where he was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa from the National University in 1961. He also received an honorary doctorate degree from Tokyo University in Japan.{{Cite web|title=Honorary Doctors {{!}} Toyo University|url=https://www.toyo.ac.jp/en/about/president_vicepresidents/vicepresidents/hd/|access-date=2020-12-09|website=www.toyo.ac.jp|language=ja}} He was among the top ten law students in the 1923 bar examination.{{Cite web|title=Carlos P. Garcia|url=https://biography.yourdictionary.com/carlos-p-garcia|access-date=2020-12-09|website=biography.yourdictionary.com}}

Rather than practicing law right away, he worked as a teacher for two years at Bohol Provincial High School. He became famous for his poetry in Bohol, where he earned the nickname "Prince of Visayan Poets" and the "Bard from Bohol."

Garcia entered politics in 1925, scoring an impressive victory to become representative of the third district of Bohol. He was elected for another term in 1928 and served until 1931. He was elected governor of Bohol in 1933, but served only until 1941 when he successfully ran for Senate, but he was unable to serve due to the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. He assumed the office when Congress re-convened in 1945 after Allied liberation and the end of the war. When he resumed duties as senator after the war, he was chosen Senate majority floor leader.{{cite web|title=List of Previous Senators|url=https://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/senlist.asp#first_congress|website=Senate of the Philippines|access-date=November 22, 2014}} The press consistently voted him as one of the most outstanding senators. Simultaneously, he occupied a position in the Nacionalista Party.

{{see also|Ramon Magsaysay#Presidency}}

File:Magsaysay and Garcia.jpg (left)]]

Garcia was the running mate of Ramon Magsaysay in the 1953 presidential election in which both men won. He was appointed secretary of foreign affairs by President Magsaysay, and for four years served concurrently as vice-president.

Garcia acted as chairman of the eight-nation Southeast Asian Security Conference held in Manila in September 1954, which led to the development of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).Eufronio Alip, ed., The Philippine Presidents from Aguinaldo to Garcia (1958); Jesús V. Merritt, Our Presidents: Profiles in History (1962); and Pedro A. Gagelonia, Presidents All (1967). See also Hernando J. Abaya, The Untold Philippine Story (1967). Further information can be found in Ester G. Maring and Joel M. Maring, eds., Historical and Cultural Dictionary of the Philippines (1973).

{{seealso|List of executive orders by Carlos P. Garcia}}

{{Infobox President styles

|name = Carlos P. Garcia

|image =100px

|dipstyle = His Excellency

|offstyle = Your Excellency

|altstyle = Mr. President

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{{Infobox

|name =

|title = Economy of the Philippines under
President Carlos Garcia
1957–1961

|titlestyle =

|above =

|imagestyle =

|captionstyle =

|image =

|caption =

|image2 =

|caption2 =

|bodystyle = width:26em; padding: 0px;

|abovestyle = background: lightblue;

|headerstyle = background: lightblue;

|labelstyle = font-weight: normal;

|header1 = Population

|label2 = 1957

|data2 = $\backslash approx$ 22.68 million

|header3 = Gross Domestic Product (1985 constant prices)

|label4 = 1957

|data4 = {{increase}} Ph₱ 189,457 million ($94.7 billion)

|label5 = 1961

|data5 = {{increase}} Ph₱ 224,430 million ($85.0 billion)

|label6 = Growth rate, 1957-61

|data6 = 4.6%

|header7 = Per capita income (1985 constant prices)

|label8 = 1957

|data8 = {{increase}} Ph₱ 8,353

|label9 = 1961

|data9 = {{decrease}} Ph₱ 7,927

|header10 = Total exports

|label11 = 1957

|data11 = {{increase}} Ph₱ 35,980 million

|label12 = 1961

|data12 = {{increase}} Ph₱ 39,845 million

|header13 = Exchange rates

|data14 = 1 US US$ = Ph₱ 2.64
1 Ph₱ = US US$ 0.38

|data15 = Sources: [http://filipinopresidency.multiply.com/photos/album/26#photo=13 Philippine Presidency Project]
{{cite book|last=Malaya|first=Jonathan|author2=Eduardo Malaya|title=So Help Us God... The Inaugurals of the Presidents of the Philippines|publisher=Anvil Publishing, Inc.}}

}}

File:Carlosgarcia1957.jpg upon Magsaysay's death at the Council of State Room in the Executive Building of the Malacañan Palace complex. The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Ricardo Paras.]]

At the time of President Magsaysay's sudden death due to an airplane crash on March 17, 1957, Garcia was heading the Philippine delegation to the SEATO conference then being held at Canberra, Australia.Molina, Antonio. The Philippines: Through the centuries. Manila: University of Santo Tomas Cooperative, 1961. Print. Having been immediately notified of the tragedy, Vice President Garcia enplaned back for Manila. Upon his arrival, he directly reported to Malacañang Palace to assume the duties of president. Chief Justice Ricardo Paras of the Supreme Court administered the oath of office, which took place at 5:56 PM PHT on March 18, 1957. President Garcia's first actions were to declare a period of national mourning and to preside over the burial ceremonies for Magsaysay.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1957/03/31/official-month-in-review-march-16-march-31-1957/|title=Official Month in Review: March 16 – March 31, 1957|date=March 31, 1957|accessdate=October 1, 2023|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines}}

{{main|1957 Philippine presidential election}}

President Garcia won a full term as president with a landslide win in the national elections of November 12, 1957. Garcia, the Nacionalista candidate, garnered around 2.07 million votes or 41% of the total votes counted, defeating his closest rival, Jose Y. Yulo of the Liberal Party. His running mate, House Speaker Jose B. Laurel Jr., lost to Pampanga 1st district Representative Diosdado Macapagal. This was the first time in Philippine electoral history where a president was elected by a plurality rather than a majority, and in which the winning presidential and vice-presidential candidates came from different parties. Garcia took his oath of office on December 30, 1957, at the Independence Grandstand in Manila, commencing his second consecutive and only full term.{{Cite journal |last=Garcia |first=Carlos P. |date=1957 |title=President Garcia's inaugural address delivered at the Luneta at 12:10 p. m. December 30, 1957 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1957/12/30/inaugural-address-of-president-garcia/ |publisher=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |volume=53 |issue=24 |pages=8825–8831 |journal=UP College of Law Philippines |access-date=June 2, 2023}} The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Ricardo Paras. Juan Pajo, the then-governor of Bohol, held the Bible which Garcia took oath on, breaking the tradition wherein it is held by presidential spouses.{{cite news |last=Baclig |first=Cristina Eloisa |date=June 21, 2022 |title=Presidential inaugurations: Traditions, rituals, trivia |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1614163/for-posting-edited-presidential-inaugurations-traditions-rituals-trivia |accessdate=June 6, 2023 |website=INQUIRER.net}}

{{Main|List of cabinets of the Philippines#Carlos P. Garcia (1957–1961)}}

After much discussion, both official and public, the Congress of the Philippines, finally, approved a bill outlawing the Philippine Communist Party. Despite the pressure exerted against the congressional measure, Garcia signed the aforementioned bill into law as Republic Act No. 1700 or the Anti-Subversion Act on June 19, 1957.{{Cite web|url=http://www.chanrobles.com/republicactno1700.htm |title=Republic Act No. 1700 |publisher=Chan Robles Law Library |date=June 19, 1957}}

The act was superseded by Presidential Decree No. 885, entitled "Outlawing Subversive Organization, Penalizing Membership Therein and For Other Purposes", and was later amended by Presidential Decree No. 1736 and later superseded by Presidential Decree No. 1835, entitled, "Codifying The Various Laws on Anti-Subversion and Increasing the Penalties for Membership in Subversive Organization." This, in turn, was amended by Presidential Decree No. 1975. On May 5, 1987, Executive Order No. 167 repealed Presidential Decrees No. 1835 and No. 1975 as being unduly restrictive of the constitutional right to form associations.{{Cite web|url=http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorderno167seriesof1987.htm |title=Executive Order No. 167, Series of 1987 |publisher=Chan Robles Law Library |date=May 5, 1987}}

On September 22, 1992, Republic Act No. 1700, as amended, was repealed by Republic Act No. 7636 during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos,{{Cite web|url=http://www.chanrobles.com/republicactno7636.htm |title=Republic Act No. 7636 |publisher=Chan Robles Law Library |date=September 22, 1992}} which legalized the Communist Party of the Philippines, other underground movements{{cite book |last1=Clarke |first1=G. |last2=Jennings |first2=M. |last3=Shaw |first3=T. |title=Development, Civil Society and Faith-Based Organizations: Bridging the Sacred and the Secular |date=2007-11-28 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-37126-2 |page=127 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4mDDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127 |access-date=17 June 2021 |language=en}} and subversion, though sedition remained a crime.{{cite news |title=Año stands by proposal to revive anti-subversion law |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1077780 |access-date=17 June 2021 |work=Philippine News Agency |date=14 August 2019 |language=en}}

The Garcia administration's pro-nationalist stance on the country's economy was disliked by foreign countries especially by the United States. To counter Garcia's economic controls, as early as 1957, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pressured the Philippines that if the country did not lift their controls, then the Philippines shall not receive any loans from the IMF. According to central bank governor Miguel Cuaderno Sr., the United States rejected the Philippines' request for a stabilization loan of 25 million USD. The passage of the Filipino First Policy further worsened the relations of the U.S. with the Philippines.{{Cite journal |last=Jimenez |first=Miguel Antonio |date=2018-09-28 |title=VIEWS ON THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY THROUGH THE NATIONALIST LENS: 1945 - 1992 |url=http://www.talakasaysayan.org/index.php/talakasaysayan/article/view/7 |journal=TALA: An Online Journal of History |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |issn=2651-7108}}

{{main|Filipino First policy}}

Garcia exercised the Filipino First Policy, for which he was known. This policy heavily favored Filipino businessmen over foreign investors. He was also responsible for changes in retail trade which greatly affected the Chinese businessmen in the country. In a speech during a joint session of Congress on September 18, 1946, Garcia said the following:

{{cquote|We are called upon to decide on this momentous debate whether or not this land of ours will remain the cradle and grave, the womb and tomb of our race – the only place where we can build our homes, our temples, and our altars and where we erect the castles of our racial hopes, dreams and traditions and where we establish the warehouse of our happiness and prosperity, of our joys and sorrows.{{cite web|url=http://www.prescarlosgarcia.org/%20prescarlosgarcia.org|title=Our Vision and Mission|publisher=prescarlosgarcia.org|access-date=August 3, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426075252/http://www.prescarlosgarcia.org/%20prescarlosgarcia.org|archive-date=April 26, 2012|url-status=dead}}}}

Despite deteriorating relations with the U.S. as a result of this policy, the Philippines utilized it to induce industrialization and put Filipinos in control of industry and economy. The Philippines' manufacturing sector grew to 29 percent per year from 1949 to 1960. The manufacturing sector was considered the fastest growing sector accounting for 8.1 percent of the Philippine economy in 1949 to 17.7 percent by 1960. During his term, a wider push for machinery was introduced, especially by nationalist entrepreneurs and the industrial working class.

File:Pres. Garcia with US President Dwight Eisenhower.jpg and US President Dwight Eisenhower (right) in 1960.]]

Unlike his predecessor, Ramon Magsaysay, Garcia adopted a pro-Asia stance. He supported the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA) along with Malaya and Thailand. To expand membership of the association, original members, including the Philippines under Garcia, deliberately deleted provisions from the 1961 Bangkok Declaration that contained Cold War content.{{Rp|page=95}}

During his administration, he acted on the Bohlen–Serrano Agreement, which shortened the lease of the American military bases from 99 years to 25 years and made it renewable after every five years.{{Cite book|title=In the Shadow of Giants: The Major Powers and the Security of Southeast Asia|last=Gregor|first=A. James|publisher=Hoover Institution Press|year=1989|isbn=9780817988210|pages=[https://archive.org/details/inshadowofgiants00greg/page/119 119]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/inshadowofgiants00greg/page/119}} This favored non-U.S. aligned Asian countries including China. Aside from that, Garcia also forged close relations with Asian U.S. allies like Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. However, these moves by the Philippines did not sit well with the U.S.{{Cite journal |last=Dagdag |first=Edgardo E. |date=1999 |title=The Philippines and the quest for stable peace in Southeast Asia: A historical overview |url=https://www.asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-35-1999/dagdag.pdf |journal=Asian Studies |language=English}}{{Rp|page=96}}

In the face of the trying conditions in the country, Garcia initiated what has been called "The Austerity Program". His administration was characterized by its austerity program and its insistence on a comprehensive nationalist policy. On March 3, 1960, he affirmed the need for complete economic freedom and added that the government no longer would tolerate the dominance of foreign interests (especially American) in the national economy. He promised to shake off "the yoke of alien domination in business, trade, commerce and industry". Garcia was also credited with his role in reviving Filipino cultural arts. The main points of the Austerity Program were:

1. The government's tightening up of its controls to prevent abuses in the over shipment of exports under license and in under-pricing as well.
2. A more rigid enforcement of the existing regulations on barter shipments.
3. Restriction of government imports to essential items.
4. Reduction of rice imports to minimum.
5. An overhauling of the local transportation system to reduce the importation of gasoline and spare parts.
6. The revision of the tax system to attain more equitable distribution of the payment-burden and achieve more effective collection from those with ability to pay.
7. An intensification of food production.

The program was hailed by the people at large and confidence was expressed that the measures proposed would help solve the standing problems of the Republic.

The Garcia administration had ambitious plans to develop the hydroelectric potential of the Philippines. The first in Mindanao which aimed to boost the Maria Cristina Falls from 100,000 to 750,000 kilowatts for an industrial complex in Iligan. The second, on the Angat River in Central Luzon, is near Manila which will provide 230,000 kilowatts to support a new industrial complex, costing 20 million USD. The third project on the Agno River in Northern Luzon which aimed to electrify rural areas, while smaller hydroelectric projects in the Visayan Islands will be funded locally.{{Cite web |title=FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1958–1960, SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, VOLUME XV |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v15/d415 |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=history.state.gov}}

{{Blockquote|text=We have the natural hydro-electric resources which can be harnessed as a number of them already are, to supply cheap industrial power. The power-harnessing program will be kept up with increasing momentum to realize our desire for rural electrification.|author=Carlos P. Garcia|source=Inaugural Address (December 30, 1957){{Cite news |date=June 27, 2022 |title=Inaugural Address of President Carlos P. Garcia, December 30, 1957 |url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/06/27/22/inaugural-address-of-president-carlos-p-garcia |work=ABS-CBN News}}}}

{{main|International Rice Research Institute}}

President Garcia, with the strong advocacy of Agriculture and Natural Resources Secretary Juan G. Rodriguez, invited the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation "to establish a rice research institute" in Los Baños, Laguna. This led to the establishment of the International Rice Research Institute in 1960.{{Cite book |url=http://books.irri.org/9711040638_content.pdf |title=An Adventure in Applied Science: A History of the International Rice Research Institute |last=Chandler |first=Robert Flint |publisher=International Rice Research Institute |year=1982 |isbn=9789711040635 |language=en}}

In addition to his laws and programs, the Garcia administration also put emphasis on reviving the Filipino culture. In doing so, the Republic Cultural Award was created. To this day, the award is being given to Filipino artists, scientists, historians, and writers.{{Cite web|url=https://bloomspresidents.wordpress.com/carlos-p-garcia-1957-1961/|title=Carlos P. Garcia (1957-1961) {{!}} Philippine Presidents|date=2010|website=Philippine Presidents}}

The Garcia administration faced opposition from the U.S. and Magsaysay supporters. The United States campaigned against Garcia accusing his administration of rampant corruption. Magsaysay supporters, on the other hand, wanted to restore the "spirit of Magsaysay’s honest and energetic administration". Magsaysay supporters were divided into two parties: the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party.{{Cite web |title=Historical Documents - Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v15/d412 |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=history.state.gov}}

{{main|1961 Philippine presidential election}}

At the end of his second term, he ran for re–election in the presidential elections of November 14, 1961, but was defeated by Vice President Diosdado Macapagal, who belonged to the rival Liberal Party.

File:President Carlos P. Garcia.jpg

File:Carlos garcia grave.jpg]]

After his failed re-election bid, Garcia retired to Tagbilaran to resume life as a private citizen.

On June 1, 1971, Garcia was elected delegate of the 1971 Constitutional Convention, where delegates elected him as president of the convention. However, on June 14, 1971, Garcia died from a heart attack on 5:57 p.m. at his Manila residence along Bohol Avenue (now Sergeant Esguerra Avenue), Quezon City.{{Cite news|url=http://www.boholchronicle.net/19710615-cpg-is-dead-2.html|title=CPG IS DEAD!|date=June 15, 1971|work=The Bohol Chronicle|access-date=September 13, 2016}}

Garcia was the first layman to lie in state in Manila Cathedral—a privilege once reserved for the Archbishops of Manila—and the first president to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1971/06/28/presidents-week-in-review-june-18-24-1971/|title=President's Week in Review: June 18 – 24, 1971|date=June 28, 1971|publisher=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|accessdate=August 7, 2022}}

On May 24, 1933, he married Leonila Dimataga.{{cite news |last1=Oaminal |first1=Clarence Paul |title=Pres. Carlos P. Garcia, the Boholano who married a Cebuana |url=https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/opinion/2016/07/20/1604689/pres-carlos-p-garcia-boholano-who-married-cebuana |access-date=17 June 2021 |work=The Philippine Star |date=20 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617104306/https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/opinion/2016/07/20/1604689/pres-carlos-p-garcia-boholano-who-married-cebuana |archive-date=17 June 2021}} The couple had a daughter, Linda Garcia-Campos.

File:Carlos P. Garcia 1958 stamp of the Philippines.jpg

• {{flag|Philippines}}
• 50px Knight of the Order of the Knights of Rizal.

• {{flag|Malaya}}:
• 50px Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm (D.M.N.(K)) - (1959){{cite web|url=http://www.istiadat.gov.my/v8/images/stories/1959.pdf|title=Senarai Penuh Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan Tahun 1959.|access-date=June 6, 2016|archive-date=February 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214234731/http://www.istiadat.gov.my/v8/images/stories/1959.pdf|url-status=dead}}
• {{flagicon|Francoist Spain}} Spain:
• 50px Collar of the Order of Civil Merit (October 1, 1957){{cite news|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/filipino-recipients-of-spanish-decorations/|title=Filipino recipients of Spanish Decorations|newspaper=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines}}
• {{flag|South Vietnam}}:
• 50px Exceptional Class of the Order of Kim Khanh - (March 19, 1956){{cite news|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1958/03/31/presidents-month-in-review-march-16-march-31-1958/|title=President's Month in Review: March 16 – March 31, 1958|newspaper=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines}}

{{clear}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book | author=Zaide, Gregorio F. | title=Philippine History and Government|publisher=National Bookstore Printing Press |year=1984 |ref=none}}

{{Wikisource author}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20121104144918/http://malacanang.gov.ph/presidents/third-republic/carlos-garcia/ Carlos P. Garcia on the Presidential Museum and Library]

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{{S-bef|before=Teodoro Abueva}}

{{S-ttl|title=Member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Bohol's 3rd district|years=1925–1931}}

{{S-aft|after=Filomeno Orbeta Caseñas}}

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{{S-bef|before=Fernando Lopez}}

{{S-ttl|title=Vice President of the Philippines|years=1953–1957}}

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{{S-bef|before=Joaquin Miguel Elizalde}}

{{S-ttl|title=Secretary of Foreign Affairs|years=1953–1957}}

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{{S-ttl|title=President of the Philippines|years=1957–1961}}

{{S-aft|rows=2|after=Diosdado Macapagal}}

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{{S-ttl|title=President of the 1971 Philippine Constitutional Convention|years=1971}}

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{{s-bef|before= Ramon Magsaysay}}

{{s-ttl|title=Nacionalista Party nominee for President of the Philippines|years= 1957, 1961}}

{{s-aft|after=Ferdinand Marcos}}

{{S-end}}

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