President Elpidio Quirino

This day in 1890, Elpidio Quirino y Rivera was born in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, and baptized three days later. He was the son of Don Mariano Quirino, who was originally from Caoayan, Ilocos Sur. Mariano was an excellent soldier who earned the rank of sargento contador, the highest position that a native could hold in the colonial army and was said to have been sent to Spain for training. He later took over his father’s trading business and served as the warden of the Vigan provincial jail. In Agoo, La Union, he met and married a 14-year-old by the name of Gregoria Rivera y Mendoza. While the Quirino family has claimed that Gregoria Rivera was supposedly a Spanish mestiza, the baptismal record of Elpidio states clearly that his mother was an india, not a mestiza.

The Quirino family started in Abra but by the second generation had already relocated to Caoayan, Ilocos Sur. The earliest traceable ancestor of the president’s line is Juan Manuel del Rosario, the father of Don Mariano Quirino. Juan Manuel was believed by the family to have adopted the surname Quirino to replace Del Rosario, although “Quirino” does not appear in the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos. He owned several sailboats that were used for coastal trading. It is thus safe to assume that by the time Elpidio Quirino was born his family was comfortably well-off.

Elpidio Quirino’s career began with his election as a member of the House of Representatives from Ilocos Sur’s 1st district in 1919, serving until 1925. He ran for and won as a senator in 1925, serving 10 years. He was appointed secretary of the Interior by President Manuel L. Quezon from 1935 to 1938. Although he was again elected senator, he was unable to serve because of the outbreak of World War II. After the country’s liberation, he was elected president pro tempore of the Senate. He became the running mate of Manuel A. Roxas in the 1946 elections and was elected vice president. He then became president of the Philippines, serving the remainder of President Roxas’s term after Roxas passed away, and then winning a fresh mandate in 1948, with Fernando Lopez as vice president. He ran for reelection in 1953 but was defeated by Ramon Magsaysay.

Although he served longer than both his predecessor and successor, Quirino is not as well-remembered. His presidency saw many historic moments; he was the first Philippine president to visit the United States since we became fully independent; Carlos P. Romulo was elected president of the UN General Assembly, the first Asian to hold this distinction; and Quezon City was made the country’s capital, replacing Manila. Though the nation was facing new issues, the country had positive projections. Economic recovery advanced successfully and development opportunities were expanding. In actuality, the Philippines was in a good position to succeed by 1953.

When it came to postwar prosperity and reconstruction, the nation was the envy of many. Unfortunately, his term was also marred with accusations of government corruption. Some historians believe that Quirino was given a raw deal by being highly vilified by a virulent and biased press, making his administration look corrupt when it was actually very effective. He was made fun of for decisions he most likely wasn't completely aware of, including even the most superficial of things like two expensive purchases in Malacañang as it was being renovated --a new bed and an orinola (chamber pot).

Politics was dirty during Quirino’s term and the media did not help with their bias and vitriol. Things truly have not changed much today. Looking back at our history, we see many similarities between then and now. Truly, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.