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 Elpidio QuirinoElpidio Quirino was a political leader and the 6th president of the Philippines. He was born in Vigan, Ilocos Sur on November 16, 1890. After finishing his law studies at the University of the Philippines in 1915 he hurdled the Bar examinations that same year. He began his public service in humble positions: as a barrio school teacher in Vigan, a "junior computer" in the Bureau of Lands, a property clerk in the Manila Police Department and private secretary to President Quezon who was then the Senate president.His political career followed a familiar pattern: elected representative of Ilocos Sur in 1919, then elected senator in 1925, and re-elected in 1931. In 1934 he was a member of the Philippine independence mission to Washington, D.C., headed by Manuel Quezon, which secured the passage in congress of the Tydings-McDuffie Act, setting the date for Philippine independence as July 4, 1946.He was also elected to the convention that drafted a constitution for the new Philippine Commonwealth. President Quezon appointed him secretary of finance and then secretary of the interior in the Commonwealth Government. As Vice President to Roxas, he served concurrently first as secretary of finance; later, as secretary of foreign affairs. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines (1942-1945), Quirino was active in the underground but was captured and imprisoned. His wife, Alma Syquia, and three of his five children were killed by the Japanese. After World War II, Quirino resumed his political career. As the running mate of Manuel Roxas he was elected vice president of the new republic in 1946 and on Roxas' death two years later he assumed the presidency. In 1949, Quirino was elected president for a four-year term on the Liberal Party ticket, defeating the Nacionalista candidate.The Quirino administration outlined two avowed objectives: regain faith and confidence in government and restore peace and order. Quirino however suffered from a bad press and,...
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