{"id":"diosdado-macapagal","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/diosdado-macapagal","language":"en","name":"Diosdado Macapagal","name_en":"Diosdado Macapagal","name_ne":null,"description":"President of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965","headline":"President of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr.  (Tagalog: [djosˈdado makapaˈɡal]; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997), also known colloquially as “Apung Dadong”, was the ninth president of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965. He served as the 5th vice president from 1957 to 1961 under Carlos P. Garcia. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970. He was the father of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who followed his path as President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010. Diosdado Macapagal Sr is one of the few presidents with doctoral degrees, earning a Doctors of Civil Law degree and a PHD in Economics degree from University of Santo Tomas.","summary_more":["Known as \"The Poor Boy From Lubao\", he was a native of Lubao, Pampanga. Macapagal graduated from the University of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas, both in Manila, after which he worked as a lawyer for the government. He first won the election in 1949 to the House of Representatives, representing the 1st district in his home province of Pampanga. In 1957, he became vice president under the rule of President Carlos P. Garcia, whom he later defeated in the 1961 election.","As president, Macapagal worked to suppress graft and corruption and to stimulate the growth of the Philippine economy. He introduced the country's first land reform law, placed the peso on the free currency exchange market, and liberalized foreign exchange and import controls. Many of his reforms, however, were crippled by a Congress dominated by the rival Nacionalista Party. He is also known for shifting the country's observance of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, commemorating the day President Emilio Aguinaldo unilaterally declared the independence of the First Philippine Republic from the Spanish Empire in 1898. He stood for re-election in 1965 but was defeated by Ferdinand Marcos.","Under…"],"facts":[{"key":"born","label":"Born","values":[{"text":"28 September 1910","date":"1910-09-28"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539#P569"}},{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Lubao","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55705"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539#P19"}},{"key":"died","label":"Died","values":[{"text":"21 April 1997","date":"1997-04-21"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539#P570"}},{"key":"citizenship","label":"Citizenship","values":[{"text":"Philippines","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q928"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539#P27"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"economist","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q188094"},{"text":"politician","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q82955"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539#P106"}},{"key":"party","label":"Political party","values":[{"text":"Liberal Party of the Philippines","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1476937"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539#P102"}},{"key":"education","label":"Education","values":[{"text":"University of the Philippines","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q746592"},{"text":"University of Santo Tomas","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1401524"},{"text":"Pampanga High School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7129399"},{"text":"Philippine Law School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7185150"},{"text":"University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7896259"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539#P69"}},{"key":"spouse","label":"Spouse","values":[{"text":"Eva Macapagal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5415112","start":"1946-05-05"},{"text":"Purita Macapagal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7261272","end":"1943-10-27"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539#P26"}},{"key":"positions","label":"Positions held","values":[{"text":"President of the Philippines (30 December 1961 – 30 December 1965)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1209571","start":"1961-12-30","end":"1965-12-30"},{"text":"Vice President of the Philippines (30 December 1957 – 30 December 1961)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2723485","start":"1957-12-30","end":"1961-12-30"},{"text":"member of the House of Representatives (30 December 1949 – 30 December 1957)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18002923","start":"1949-12-30","end":"1957-12-30"},{"text":"1970 Philippine Constitutional Convention election","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7185025"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539#P39"}},{"key":"awards","label":"Awards","values":[{"text":"Order of Sikatuna","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q980578"},{"text":"Order of the Rajamitrabhorn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q582930"},{"text":"Nishan-e-Pakistan","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1820710"},{"text":"Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10904959","date":"1963"},{"text":"Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5361043"},{"text":"Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic‎","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17366068","date":"1962"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539#P166"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diosdado_Macapagal","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539"],"faq":[{"q":"When was Diosdado Macapagal born?","a":"Diosdado Macapagal was born on 28 September 1910 in Lubao."},{"q":"What positions has Diosdado Macapagal held?","a":"Positions held by Diosdado Macapagal include: President of the Philippines (1961–1965); Vice President of the Philippines (1957–1961); member of the House of Representatives (1949–1957); 1970 Philippine Constitutional Convention election."},{"q":"Where did Diosdado Macapagal study?","a":"Diosdado Macapagal was educated at University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, Pampanga High School, Philippine Law School."}],"related":[{"name":"Gloria Macapagal Arroyo","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/gloria-macapagal-arroyo"},{"name":"Benigno Aquino III","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/benigno-aquino-iii"},{"name":"Ferdinand Marcos","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/ferdinand-marcos"},{"name":"Carlos P. Garcia","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/carlos-p-garcia"},{"name":"Ramon Magsaysay","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/ramon-magsaysay"},{"name":"Corazon Aquino","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/corazon-aquino"},{"name":"Joseph Estrada","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/joseph-estrada"},{"name":"Elpidio Quirino","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/elpidio-quirino"},{"name":"Sergio Osmeña","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/sergio-osmena"},{"name":"Mikee Romero","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/mikee-romero"},{"name":"Imelda Marcos","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/imelda-marcos"},{"name":"Feliciano Belmonte Jr.","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/feliciano-belmonte-jr"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/diosdado-macapagal-cca8cf0b3b.jpg","width":239,"height":310,"license":"Public domain","credit":"PH1 Nelson Archey","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diosdado_Macapagal_USS_Oklahoma_City_1962_cropped.jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Diosdado Macapagal","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diosdado_Macapagal","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q312539","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312539","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: Diosdado Macapagal USS Oklahoma City 1962 cropped.jpg by PH1 Nelson Archey (Public domain)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diosdado_Macapagal_USS_Oklahoma_City_1962_cropped.jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Diosdado Macapagal, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Diosdado Macapagal USS Oklahoma City 1962 cropped.jpg — PH1 Nelson Archey, Public domain.","cite":"\"Diosdado Macapagal\". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/diosdado-macapagal. Retrieved 6 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-10-31T13:59:50Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-06","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/diosdado-macapagal","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/diosdado-macapagal","ne":"https://diginpl.com/people/diosdado-macapagal?lang=ne"}}