Trivia on Aquino and Binay

By Manuel L. Quezon III

Posted at Jun 19 2010 09:32 PM | Updated as of Jun 20 2010 06:15 AM

From the time Congress proclaims a candidate as the duly-elected president, the candidate becomes known as the President-elect. 

The Constitution is clear and specific: the title of the chief executive is “President of the Philippines,” and takes his oath of office as such, although in certain cases involving formal diplomatic usage, “President of the Republic of the Philippines” is used for diplomatic documents. The honorific for the President of the Philippines is “His/Your Excellency,” but the proper form of address is “Mr. President.” 

At 42.08% Aquino’s percentage of the votes is the highest plurality since the restoration of democracy, and under the 1987 Constitution. The biggest first-term landslide was Magsaysay in 1953 (68.9%), followed by Quezon in 1935. The biggest second term landslide was Quezon in 1941 (81.78%) followed by Marcos in 1969 (61.5%).

Presidential votes and percentages


He is the first unmarried president in the history of the country. 

He is the first president with no children. 

The first deputy speaker of the House to later become president. 

He is the first marksman to be come president since Ferdinand Marcos (who belonged to the U.P. rifle team). 

He will be the first president since 1992 inaugurated into office without having been vice-president first. 

He is the first president since Diosdado Macapagal to be elected as the candidate of the Liberal Party; also the first president since Macapagal not to have changed political parties (three presidents had no political party membership/positions: Aguinaldo, Laurel, Cory Aquino). 

Aquino is the first post-Edsa president to exceed Garcia’s 1957 plurality. Majority Presidents: Quezon (68% in 1935 and 81.78% in 1941), Roxas 54% in 1946(, Quirino (51% in 1949), Magsaysay (68.9% in 1953), Macapagal (55% in 1961), Marcos (54.76% in 1965, 61.5% in 1969), Aquino (approx. 51%). Plurality Presidents: Garcia (41.3%) was the only president elected by plurality prior to 1972. The lowest plurality ever was Fidel V. Ramos in 1992 (23.6%). Estrada at 39.6% in 1998 was the first post-Edsa president to nearly match Garcia’s 1957 plurality. 

He is the first to use the suffix -III (there have been no Juniors or the Thirds elected president previously). 

He is the first president to have a February birthday. Two presidents were born in January: Roxas (Jan. 1), Cory Aquino (Jan. 25); three in March: Laurel (Mar. 9), Ramos (Mar. 18), Aguinaldo (Mar. 22); two in April: Arroyo (Apr. 5), Estrada (Apr. 19); two in August: Quezon (Aug. 19), Magsaysay (Aug. 31); three in September: Osmeña (Sep. 9), Marcos (Sep. 11), Macapagal (Sep. 28); two in November: Garcia (Nov. 4), Quirino (Nov. 16). 

The President of the Philippines uses license plate No. 1. 


The second child of a former president to become president in his own right (he succeeds the first presidential child to become president). 

The second president from Tarlac. 

He is only the second president (Aguinaldo was the only non-drinker previously) who does not drink. 

He will be the second president to be sworn in by a Filipino associate justice of the Supreme Court (his mother was the first), but the fourth president sworn in by an associate justice of a Supreme Court (Quezon in 1943 for the indefinite extension of his term, and Osmeña who succeded into office in 1944, were sworn in by U.S. Associate Justices Felix Frankfurter and Robert H. Jackson, respectively, in Washington, D.C.). 

He is the second president to have studied at the Ateneo de Manila, but the first to have graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University. 

Two presidents only partially resided in Malacañan Palace: Laurel, and Estrada (who stayed in the Guest House). 

Two presidents were elected by the legislature and not in a national election: Aguinaldo and Laurel. 

Two presidents were re-elected to second terms: Quezon and Marcos. 

Two presidents were brought to power by People Power revolts: Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (our two female presidents). 


Benigno S. Aquino III is the third president with no spouse: Quirino was a widower, Corazon Aquino, a widow. Unlike Quirino and Corazon Aquino, who had children, Aquino III has none. 

Aquino at 50 will be the third-youngest elected president (Magsaysay remains the youngest ever nationally-elected to the presidency), and the fourth-youngest president after Aguinaldo, Magsaysay and Marcos. 

He is the youngest of the presidents who became chief executive in their 50s (age at inauguration/sucession: Aguinaldo, 29; Quezon, 57; Laurel, 51; Osmeña, 67;Roxas, 54;Quirino, 57;Magsaysay, 46;Garcia, 60;Macapagal, 51;Marcos, 48;Aquino, 53;Ramos, 64;Estrada, 61;Arroyo, 54). 

The third to use his second given name as his middle initial (as Quezon and Laurel did). 

The third to engage in shooting as a sport (Quezon and Marcos engaged in hunting). 

He will be the third president who will only hold office in, but not be a resident of, Malacañan Palace, following Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos. 


Four presidents were not inaugurated either on December 30 or June 30: Aguinaldo (January 23, 1899), Quezon (November 15, 1935 and November 15, 1943), Laurel (October 14,1943), Roxas (May 28, 1946). 

Four vice-presidents who succeded to the presidency also took their oaths on dates different from the traditional inaugural date: Osmeña (August 1, 1944); Quirino (April 17, 1948), Garcia (March 18, 1957), Arroyo (January, 2001). 

Most number of times a president has taken the oath of office: four, for Marcos (1965, 1969, the 1981 and 1986 “inaugurals”); followed by three, for Quezon (1935 in Manila, 1941 in Corregidor, 1943 in Washington, D.C., also before three different individuals); Quirino (1948 in Malacañan, 1949); Garcia (1957, twice: upon succession in March Malacañan and election in December); Arroyo (2001 in Quezon City, 2004 in Cebu). 


Aquino comes from a family of five siblings. 

At age 50, is going to be the 15th President of the Philippines. 

Officially, his fourteen predecessors will be: Emilio Aguinaldo, Manuel L. Quezon, Jose P. Laurel, Sergio Osmeña, Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay, Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal, Ferdinand E. Marcos, Corazon C. Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Ejercito Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. 

He will be the 5th President of the 5th Republic. The present republic was established with the ratification of the 1987 Constitution. The previous republics are the First (Malolos, 1899-1901); Second (The Japanese Occupation, 1943-1945); the Third (from independence in 1946 to 1972); the Fourth (the "New Republic" proclaimed in 1981). 

Aguinaldo was the lone President of the First Republic; Quezon was the first President of the Commonwealth and Roxas the last; Laurel was lone President of the Second Republic; Roxas was the first President of the Third Republic and Marcos, the last; Marcos was the first President of the Fourth Republic and Corazon Aquino, briefly served under the Fourth Republic but proclaimed a revolutionary government. The Fifth Republic came into being with the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, and Corazon Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, and Arroyo have been the presidents of the Fifth Republic. 

He was elected on 05/10/10. 

He received over 15 million votes; his winning margin was over 5 million votes. 

If he does not have his inaugural at the Quirino Grandstand, he will he will be the fifth president to have an inaugural outside Manila: Aguinaldo and Estrada at Baraosain; Quezon (1941) in Corregidor; Cory Aquino in San Juan in 1986; Arroyo in Quezon City in 2001 and Cebu in 2004. 

He will be the fifth president not sworn in by a chief justice: Aguinaldo was the first. Quezon, when his term was extended in exile in 1943, renewed his oath of office before Justice Felix Frankfurter. Osmeña, who succeeded to the presidency in exile, was sworn in by Justice Hugo Jackson (thus, two presidents have been sworn in by foreign justices, both because they headed governments-in-exile). Corazon Aquino was sworn in by Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee. 

Eleven presidents were sworn in by a chief justice: Quezon (1935, 1941), Laurel, Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia, Macapagal, Marcos, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo. 

He will be the fifth president to take his oath of office on June 30: Marcos, Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo being the others. 

Starting with Quezon’s second inaugural in 1941 until Marcos’ second inaugural in 1969 (with the exception of the special election called in 1946) presidents were inaugurated on Rizal Day, June 30. Six presidents Quezon (1941), Quirino (1949), Magsaysay, Garcia (1957), Macapagal, Marcos (1965, 1969) had inaugurals on December 30. 

Aquino is also the fifth public smoker to be president: Quezon, Roxas, Garcia, Estrada were/are all smokers. 


He is the sixth president to have been elected to a single six-year term (Quezon in 1935 [term subsequently extended by constitutional amendment], Aquino in 1986, Ramos in 1992, Estrada in 1998, Arroyo in 2004).  


Aquino will be the seventh president to be inaugurated at the Quirino Grandstand. Six presidents were inaugurated at the Quirino Grandstand: Quirino (1949), Magsaysay (1953), Garcia (1957), Macapagal (1961), Marcos (1965, etc.), Ramos (1992). 

He will be the the seventh to use a middle initial after Quezon, Laurel, Garcia, Marcos, Corazon Aquino (who used her maiden name as her middle initial), and Ramos. (Aguinaldo, Osmeña, Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Macapagal did not use middle initials at all; Estrada uses a special name combining his real family name, Ejercito, with his screen name; Arroyo prefers to use the hyphenated Macapagal-Arroyo). 


If you include hthe pipe/cigar smoking of Laurel, Ramos and Macapagal and his daughter Arroyo who were/are occasional (social) smokers, Aquino III is the eighth president who's a smoker. 


Juancho Dulay Barreto on Twitter also pointed out BSAIII was proclaimed president-elect on June 9, 2010. That's exactly 9 months after his declaration of candidacy on 09/09/09. 

He is the ninth to have been proclaimed president-elect by the legislature: the first was Manuel L. Quezon, followed by Manuel Roxas, Ramon Magsaysay, Diosdado Macapagal, Ferdinand E. Marcos, Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (eighth if you don’t count Arroyo’s proclamation on the basis of the Quirino and Garcia precedents). While Congress certified the election of Elpidio Quirino and Carlos P. Garcia, they had succeeded into office previously, and were already serving as president when elected to a full term: thus, were not referred to as presidents-elect. Aguinaldo and Laurel were not elected president in a national election, they were made president by a vote of the national assembly and thus never president-elect. Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency by means of the People Power Revolution and was not proclaimed by the Batasan Pambansa. 

The ninth president to have served as a congressman. 

Nine presidents lived in Malacañan Palace: Quezon, Osmeña, Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia, Macapagal, Marcos, Arroyo. Three presidents (Quirino and Garcia upon succession, Marcos in 1986) have take oaths of office there. Four presidents have had to flee because of war or revolution: Quezon, Laurel, Marcos and Estrada. 


The tenth senator to become a president. 

He will be the tenth president to be inaugurated in Manila: the nine previously who were inaugurated in Manila: Quezon in 1935, Laurel in 1943, Roxas in 1946, Quirino in 1949, Magsaysay in 1953, Garcia in 1957, Macapagal in 1961, Marcos in 1965 etc., Ramos in 1992. 

Aquino III, who will likely use the Aquino family bible his mother used, will be the ninth president to swear on a bible and the second to use the same bible. Magsaysay was the first to take his oath on a bible: Garcia, Macapagal, Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo followed suit. Aguinaldo, Quezon, Laurel, Osmeña, Roxas and Quirino (belonging to generations closer to the revolutionary era, did not take their oaths on a bible). Magsaysay and Marcos took their oath on two bibles each in 1953 and 1965. 

Trivia on the proclamation of Binay 

THE vice presidency is even more complicated than the presidency, where one government never recognized under Philippine laws (the 2nd Republic) is still recognized in the order of presidential succession with Jose P. Laurel (1943-1945) straddling the constitutional terms of Quezon and Osmena. The complication arises from some lists including Mariano Trias even though he was made vice-president of the government that replaced the Katipunan at Tejeros (the Biak-na-Bato Republic), and when his designation predates the official start of the First Republic in 1898. 

The vice-presidency was formally (constitutionally) established under the 1935 Constitution, and the line of vice-presidents begins with Sergio Osmena, elected to the position in 1935 and again in 1941. The vice-presidency was abolished under the 2nd Republic and during martial law, and then formally restored in the 4th and 5th Republics. 

The list of vice-presidents is therefore 13: Sergio Osmena, Elpidio Quirino, Fernando Lopez, Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal, Emmanuel Pelaez, Fernando Lopez, Salvador H. Laurel, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Teofisto Guingona Jr., Manuel de Castro Jr., and Jejomar Binay. Lopez was the third and seventh vice-president because he was elected to the position under two different administrations (in 1949 and 1965 and again in 1969). Binay would be the 14th Vice-President if the brief vice-presidency of Arturo M. Tolentino is recognized. 

One vice-president, Osmena, was elected twice, in 1935 and 1941; one vice-president, Lopez, was elected three times (but not in succession): he served as Quirino’s vice-president from 1949-1953 and was elected Marcos’ vice-president twice, in 1965 and 1969. One vice-president, Guingona, was never nationally-elected, only appointed (the first under the provisions of the 1987 Constitution). 

Three vice-presidents became president upon the death of their predecessor: Osmena, Quirino, and Garcia; Osmena failed to obtain a presidential election, Quirino and Garcia succeeded but failed to be elected to a second presidential term. All three vice-presidents who succeeded to the presidency under the 1935 Constitution, served out the remainder of their predecessor’s terms without a vice-president: so from 1944-1946 (Osmena’s succeeding Quezon) 1948-1949 (Quirino succeding Roxas), in 1957 (Garcia succeeding Magsaysay), the country had no vice-president. 

Three vice presidents, Macapagal, Estrada, Macapagal-Arroyo were elected president in their own right after concluding their vice-presidential terms. Laurel was the only incumbent vice-president to fail in a bid for the presidency. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the first child of a vice-president to hold the same vice-presidential office as a parent. Laurel was the first child of a president to become a vice-president. 

Ten vice-presidents, Osmena, Quirino, Lopez, Garcia, Pelaez, Laurel, Estrada, Macapagal-Arroyo, Guingona Jr., de Castro Jr. all served in the senate prior to becoming vice-president. Osmena, Quirino, Garcia, Pelaez, Macapagal also served in the House of Representatives. Osmena and Garcia also served as governors, while Estrada and Binay have both been mayors and both have been succeeded as mayor by their sons (both served as municipal mayors; Binay is the first city mayor to be elected vice-president).

Only Estrada, Macapagal-Arroyo, and de Castro among the vice-presidents ware non-lawyers. All the rest, including Jejomar Binay, have been lawyers. Upon his proclamation by Congress, Binay will be known as the Vice president-elect. By tradition, he will take his oath of office immediately before president-elect Benigno Aquino III. 

The vice-president can hold a cabinet portfolio but that is purely up to the president whether he gives the vice-president a cabinet portfolio or not.By tradition, the vice-president is given the premier cabinet portfolio. Before independence, that portfolio was Secretary of Public Instruction (now known as Secretary of Education), because prior to the Commonwealth it was the only cabinet portfolio reserved for a foreigner, the Vice Governor-General. This was held by the first vice-president, Sergio Osmena. After independence, the premier cabinet portfolio became (and remains) Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Elpidio Quirino, Carlos P. Garcia, Emmanuel Pelaez, Salvador H. Laurel and Teofisto Guingona Jr. have all been Vice-Presidents who were concurrent Secretaries of Foreign Affairs. 

Fernando Lopez was the first Vice-President to decline the premier portfolio, opting to be Secretary of Agriculture instead in the Quirino and Marcos administrations. Arroyo was the first vice-president to opt to be Secretary of Social Welfare and Development; Estrada (Presidential Anti-Crime Commission), de Castro (urban housing) were the vice-presidents who never headed line departments. Diosdado Macapagal was the only vice-president not to be offered any executive appointment at all. In the Quezon War Cabinet, Sergio Osmena held the combined portfolios of Secretary of Public Instruction, Health, and Public Welfare. 

Macapagal was also the first vice-president who was not the running mate of the elected president. He was also the first vice-president elected by plurality (46.55%). The highest percentage by a vice-president was Osmena in 1941 wiyh 92.1%; the lowest, Estrada in 1992 with 33%. 

Osmena (running mate of Quezon), Quirino (running mate of Roxas), Lopez (running mate of Quirino), Garcia (running mate of Magsaysay), Pelaez (running mate of Macapagal), Lopez (running mate of Marcos), Laurel (running mate of Aquino), de Castro (running mate of Arroyo) all served with partymates or running mates; Macapagal, Estrada, Arroyo and Binay are the vice-presidents elected who were not running mates of the elected president. 

From 1935 to 1972, the vice-president also held office in Malacanan Palace. After the position was abolished during martial law, the office of the vice-president was occupied by other executive officials. During the New Society and the 4th Republic, the Prime Minister held office in the old Legislative Building, which was renamed Executive House. Salvador H. Laurel held office there until the building became the National Museum. Today the Vice-President holds office in the Philippine International Convention Center. 

Binay, at 66, is the oldest to be elected vice-president. Lopez in 1969 was 65 years old and Osmena in 1941 was 63 years old, the two oldest elected vice-presidents prior to Binay. However, Guingona was 73 years old when appointed vice-president in 2001, making him the oldest to take office as vice-president. 

Veep percentages since 1987 multiparty system in place: Estrada 33%, Arroyo 49.56%, de Castro 49.6%, Binay 41.65%. Majority VP's: Osmena 87% 1935, 92.1% 1941, Quirino 52.3% 1946, Lopez 52.1% 1949, Garcia 62.9% 1957, Lopez 62.7% 1969, Laurel app. 52% 1986. Plurality VP's: Macapagal 46.5% 1957, Pelaez 37.7% 1961, Lopez 48.4% 1965, and all post-Edsa: Estrada, Arroyo, de Castro, Binay. 

At 41.65% Binay's winning percentage is between Macapagal's 46.5% in 1957 and Pelaez's 37.6% in 1961. Two closest VP races were Pelaez vs. Osmena in 1961 (204k votes) and Lopez vs. Roxas in 1965 (26,724 votes!)