Diosdado Macapagal

His father was Urbano Romero Macapagal (c. 1887 – 1946), a poet who wrote in the local Pampangan language, and his mother was Romana Pangan Macapagal, daughter of Atanacio Miguel Pangan (a former cabeza de barangay of Gutad, Floridablanca, Pampanga) and Lorenza Suing Antiveros.

Urbano's mother, Escolástica Romero Macapagal, was a midwife and schoolteacher who taught catechism.

Diosdado is a distant descendant of Don Juan Macapagal, a prince of Tondo, who was a great-grandson of the last reigning lakan of Tondo, Lakan Dula.

He is also related to well-to-do Licad family through his mother Romana, who was a second cousin of María Vitug Licad, grandmother of renowned pianist, Cecile Licad.

Romana's own grandmother, Genoveva Miguel Pangan, and María's grandmother, Celestina Miguel Macaspac, were sisters.

Their mother, María Concepción Lingad Miguel, was the daughter of José Pingul Lingad and Gregoria Malit Bartolo.

Diosdado's family earned extra income by raising pigs and accommodating boarders in their home.

Due to his roots in poverty, Macapagal would later become affectionately known as the "Poor Boy from Lubao".

Diosdado was also a reputed poet in the Spanish language although his poetic work was eclipsed by his political career.

Macapagal excelled in his studies at local public schools, graduating valedictorian from Lubao Elementary School, and salutatorian at Pampanga High School.

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.

Diosdado Pangan Macapagal (September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the ninth President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice President, serving from 1957 to 1961.

Diosdado Macapagal was born on September 22, 1910, in Lubao, Pampanga, the third of five children in a poor family.

He finished his pre-law course at the University of the Philippines, then enrolled at Philippine Law School in 1932, studying on a scholarship and supporting himself with a part-time job as an accountant.

While in law school, he gained prominence as an orator and debater.

However, he was forced to quit schooling after two years due to poor health and a lack of money.

Returning to Pampanga, he joined boyhood friend Rogelio de la Rosa in producing and starring in Tagalog operettas patterned after classic Spanish zarzuelas.

After receiving his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1936, he was admitted to the bar, topping the 1936 bar examination with a score of 89.95%.

It was during this period that he married his friend's sister, Purita de la Rosa, in 1938.

He had two children with de la Rosa, Cielo and Arturo.

Macapagal raised enough money to continue his studies at the University of Santo Tomas.

He also gained the assistance of philanthropist Don Honorio Ventura, the secretary of the interior at the time, who financed his education.

He also received financial support from his mother's relatives, notably from the Macaspacs, who owned large tracts of land in barrio Sta.

Maria, Lubao, Pampanga.

He later returned to his alma mater to take up graduate studies and earn a Master of Laws degree in 1941, a Doctor of Civil Law degree in 1947, and a PhD in economics in 1957.

His dissertation had "Imperatives of Economic Development in the Philippines" as its title.

After passing the bar examination, Macapagal was invited to join an American law firm as a practicing attorney, a particular honor for a Filipino at the time.

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 stood for re-election in 1965, and was defeated by Ferdinand Marcos.

He also served as a member of the House of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970.

Under Marcos, Macapagal was elected president of the 1970 constitutional convention that would later draft what became the 1973 Constitution, though the manner in which the charter was ratified and modified led him to later question its legitimacy.

He died of heart failure, pneumonia, and renal complications, in 1997, at the age of 86.

Macapagal was also a poet in the Spanish language, though his poetic oeuvre was eclipsed by his political biography.

He was the father of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who followed his path as President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010.

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.