The Philippine Presidency On Stamps

Carlos Garcia

"Only those can remain free who are worthy of it. Freedom must be constantly deserved."

Born in Talibon, Bohol on November 4, 1896 to Policronio Garcia and Ambrosia Polistico, Carlos P. Garcia assumed the presidency after the sudden death of President Ramon Magsaysay in 1957. He served the unfinished term of Magsaysay and ran in the November 12, 1957 presidential election where he won.

Garcia was a school teacher, a representative in the Philippine Congress in 1925 and elected governor of Bohol in 1931 and re-elected 1940. He became a senator in 1941 and was re-elected in 1945 and in 1953. He soon found himself as vice president for President Ramon Magsaysay.

He was an active guerrilla leader during the Japanese occupation. When the war ended, he missioned the Philippine Rehabilitation and War Damage claims in the United States. President Garcia's greatest achievement was the strengthening of democracy in the country. He was fair-minded, respected human rights and was never vindictive in his dealings with his political enemies. His other achievements were the adoption of the "Filipino First Policy", the revival of Filipino culture, and the creation of the Jose Rizal Centennial Commission in preparation for the first Jose Rizal Centennial held on June 19, 1971. He ran for reelection but lost to his vice president, Diosdado Macapagal in the November 14, 1961 election. He was married to Leonila Dimataga and had a daughter, Linda.