The Anthem Philatelist

Carlos P. Garcia was born in Talibon, Bohol on November 4, 1896, to Policronio Garcia and Ambrosia Polistico. He studied in Cebu Provincial High School and Silliman University then Philippine Law School and graduated in 1923. Garcia was famous for his poetry in Bohol where he earned the nickname Prince of Visayan Poets.   Garcia became a school teacher then a representative in the Philippine Congress in 1925. He was elected governor of Bohol in 1931 and re-elected 1940. Garcia became a senator in 1941. He was re-elected in 1945 and again in 1953. During the Japanese occupation , Garcia was an active member of the resistance. After the war, he was the one who missioned the Philippine Rehabilitation at War Damage claims in 1945 in the United States.   Garcia was elected as vice-president in 1953 and was appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs under President Ramon Magsaysay . He assumed the presidency the day after Magsaysay's death. After Garcia finished Magsaysay's term, ...

Maximo Maguiat Kalaw (1891-1955) is a renowned writer from Lipa,Batangas. He studied at the Philippine Normal School and the University of the Philippines wherein he became the editor of Collegio Folio, the first school paper in UP. He also obtained a Bachelor of Laws from Georgetown University in 1915 and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Michigan in 1924. He became an associate editor of the Manila Times, a professor of political science at the University of the Philippines, an exchange professor at the University of Michigan, becoming the first Filipino to teach in an American university. He was also a private secretary in the office of Manuel L. Quezon and a representative of the 3rd district of Batangas in the first legislature of the Commonwealth. His published works include Usapin ng mga Pilipino (1915), The Development of Philippine Politics (1926), The Filipino Rebel: A Romance of the American Occupation of the Philippines (1930), The Philippine Question: An Analysis...

Vicente F. Fabell a (1891-1959). Educator, economist, civic leader and the first Filipino certified public accountant . He was the founder of Jose Rizal College .  He was born on May 7, 1891 in Pagsanjan , Laguna , the third of six children of Juan Fabella, who served as mayor of Pagsanjan during the Spanish and American regimes, and Damiana Fernandez.    He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Philippines in 1912 and then continued his studies in the United States, obtaining concurrent degrees of bachelor of philosophy from the University of Chicago and diploma in commerce from Northwestern University in 1915. That same year, he became a certified public accountant in the state of Wisconsin .   In 1916, upon his return to the Philippines, he became a professional lecturer in accounting and auditing at the University of the Philippines . At the same time, he opened the accounting firm, Vicente Fabella and Company.   He was inst...

Jose P. Laurel (March 9, 1891 - November 6, 1959) was the third president of the Republic of the Philippines. An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court before becoming president, he was also an educator, having founded the Lyceum of the Philippines. Laurel was born on 9 March 1891 in Tanauan, Batangas to Sotero Laurel and Jacoba Garcia. His father, who was the Secretary of the Interior in Emilio Aguinaldo's cabinet and a signatory to the Malolos Constitution, was taken prisoner during the Filipino-American War and died in captivity in 1902 when Laurel was only 11 years old. This led the young Laurel to work as an altar boy and chorister, later taking on a job as a part-time laborer at the Bureau of Forestry when he turned 18, for the money he needed to continue his studies. He later became a clerk for the Code Committee, where he met Thomas Atkins Street, a future member of the Philippine Supreme Court and who served as his mentor. After graduating from the Manila High School (now...

Paras had an illustrious career in the judiciary starting as a judge in the Court of First Instance in Samar, Ilocos Sur, Abra and Pangasinan. In 1936, President Quezon appointed him as one of the original members of the Court of Appeals. He also served as associate Justice of the supreme court during the Japanese occupation. Ricardo M. Paras (February 17, 1891 - November 25, 1984) was the Chief Justice of the Philippines from April 2, 1951 until February 17, 1961. He graduated his Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines in 1913, and placed second (after future president Manuel Roxas) in the Bar Examinations that same year. He engaged in private law practice before being elected in the House of Representatives in 1919. His judicial career started when he was appointed judge in 1924, and later on appointed in 1936 to the Court of Appeals. He became an associate Justice in 1941, and was a member of the wartime judiciary during the Japanese Occupation. Paras made a fr...

Jorge B. Vargas (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) was a lawyer and youth advocate born in Bago City , Negros Occidental , Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Bacolod High School in 1909 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911 and a Bachelor of Law degree with honors in 1914, both from the University of the Philippines .    He was a founding member of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (now the Philippine Olympic Committee) in 1911 and served in its Executive Committee in 1918. He served as its second Chairman from 1935 to 1955. He was also the first Filipino member of the International Olympic Committee.   After being admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1914, he was appointed as law clerk in the Philippine Commission. He quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to the position of Chief Clerk of the Department of the Interior in 1917.   In 1918 he served as the legislative secretary to Speaker Sergio Osmeña of the House of Represe...

Vicente R. Lukbán (February 11, 1860–November 16, 1916), was a Filipino officer in Emilio Aguinaldo's staff during the Philippine Revolution and the politico-military chief of Samar and Leyte during the Philippine-American War. The Americans credited him as the mastermind of the infamous Balangiga massacre, in which more than forty American troopers were killed. Later investigations by historians, however, disclosed that Lukban played no actual part in the planning of the attack.   Lukbán was born in Labo, Camarines Norte on February 11, 1860 to Agustin Lukbán of Ambos Camarines and Andrea Rilles of Lucban, Tayabas. He completed his early education at Escuela Pia in Lucban, continued his studies at Ateneo Municipal de Manila, and took up Bachelor of Laws at the University of Santo Tomas and Colegio de San Juan de Letran.   He returned to Labo after resigning from his job at the Manila Court of First Instance. He married Sofía Dízon Barba and the union produced four children:...

Graciano López y Jaena (December 18, 1856 - January 20, 1896), was a Filipino writer and journalist in the Philippine Revolution. He was recognized as the "Prince of Filipino Orators" who wrote great and striking articles in the infamous newspaper La Solidaridad in Barcelona, Spain. López Jaena was born in Jaro, Iloilo to Placido López and María Jacoba Jaena. His parents were poor; his mother was a seamstress and his father a general repairman. At the age of six, López Jaena was placed under the care of Friar Francisco Jayme who raised him. His parents sent López Jaena to the Seminario de San Vicente Ferrer in Jaro which had been opened under the administration of Governor General Carlos María de la Torre. While studying at a seminary institution, López Jaena served as a secretary to an uncle named Claudio López who was the honorary vice consul of Portugal in Iloilo. His ambition of becoming a physician, convinced his parents that this was the better course of action. López ...

Brigadier General Vicente Lim (1889 – 1944) was a World War II general. He was born in Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines, which is also the birthplace of José Rizal, the country's national hero. Lim was the first Filipino graduate of the United States Military Academy (Class of 1914) at West Point, General Lim served as a 2nd Lieutenant during World War I. At the war’s end, he returned to the Philippines, where he continued his military career and quickly rose in rank (initially with the Philippine Scouts and later with the Philippine Army). By 1940, he was appointed to the post of Chief of Staff of the Philippine Army. When the Philippine Army was incorporated into the American Armed Forces on July 16, 1941, Lim was given the rank of Brigadier General and became the top–ranking Filipino under General Douglas MacArthur, placed in command of the 41st Philippine Division, tasked with the defense of southern Luzon. On April 9, 1942, the 41st surrendered on Bataan, along with all...

Lapu-Lapu (1491–1542) was the datu of Mactan, an island in the Visayas in the Philippines, who is known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted Spanish colonization. He is now regarded as the first Filipino hero. On the morning of April 27, 1521, Lapu-Lapu led approximately 1,500 Mactan warriors armed with spears, kampilan and kalasag, in a battle against 49 Christian soldiers led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. In what would later be known as the Battle of Mactan, Magellan and several of his men were killed. According to Sulu oral tradition, Lapu-Lapu was a Muslim chieftain, and was also known as "Kaliph Pulaka". Other Moros also recognize him as a Muslim and as a Tausūg. A variant of the name, as written by Carlos Calao, a 17th century Chinese-Spanish poet in his poem "Que Dios Le Perdone" (Spanish, "That God May Forgive Him") is "Cali Pulacu". In the 19th century, the propagandist Mariano Ponce used a variant name,...

Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat (also spelled Qudarat) (1581–1671) was a Sultan of Maguindanao in the Philippines. During his reign, he successfully opposed the Spaniards who attempted to conquer his villages and hindered the Christianization of the island of Mindanao. He was a direct descendant of Shariff Kabungsuan, a Muslim missionary who brought Islam to the Philippines between the 13th and 14th century. The Philippine province of Sultan Kudarat is named after him. After succeeding his father in 1619, he defeated several tribes and proclaimed his kingdom as the Datu (king) of the Pulangui region. He also governed a settlement in what is now Cagayan de Oro, Caraga, and established Misamis and Bukidnon as his tributaries. He also made friendly relations with the Spaniards and the Dutch, however the Spaniards tried to conquer his tribes, but failed and were forced to ransom their soldiers from the sultan. Governor-General Alonso Fajardo signed a treaty with Kudarat on June 25, 1645 which a...

Princess Tarhata Kiram , (1904-1979). Like the slender curves of a Moro kris, her name conjures the image of Oriental grace and fierceness. Princess Hadja Tarhata Kiram was a Tausug blue blood, born in 1904 in the Sulu archipelago, the oldest sultanate in the Philippines. Her father was the sultan of Sulu, Mohammed Esmali Kiram. She was, however, adopted by her uncle, Sultan Jamalul Kiram II. Strong-willed and liberal-minded, she held feminist views that preceded those espoused by the modern women’s liberation movement in the Philippines by decades. Known for her beauty, she one graced the cover of the Philippine Free Press magazine. Her life style, too, was jaw-dropping. It seemed that wherever she went her retinue led by a governess trailed not far behind her. As a young woman brimming with intellect, she was sent to the United States in 1920 as the first woman pensionado. As expected, her entourage accompanied her. At a time when women were generally considered as home keepers, ...

Teodoro M. Kalaw (1884-1940) was one of the most outstanding trilingual writers and historians of the Philippines. He was born on March 31, 1884 in the town of Lipa, Batangas. He was first and foremost a bibliophile and he specialized in the collection of original documents, which became the basis for much of his historical research. He was a true Renaissance man, at various times he was a journalist, publisher, government bureacrat and elected public official. As a teen he collected revolutionary leaflets and newspapers and built a small collection of papers centered on the revolution. Among those papers were those of Apolinario Mabini and the most valuable was the record of the Andres Bonifacio trial. He finished his law degree in Manila and became the youngest editor of El Renacimiento, an extreme nationalist newspaper. At that time the nationalist struggle moved underground to the free press and he was its prime exponent. His editorials staunchly defended the national interest and...

Emilio Jacinto (15 December 1875 – 16 April 1899) was known as the “Brains of the Katipunan.” He was a Filipino revolutionary and writer. Jacinto was born on 15 December 1875 in Trozo, Tondo, Manila to Mariano Jacinto and Josefa Dizon. His father having died shortly after he was born, Jacinto was sent to live with his uncle, Don Jose Dizon. He was educated in both Spanish and Filipino and attended the Colegio de San Juan Letran. He later transferred to the University of Santo Tomas where he studied law; however, he did not finish the course. At the age of 19, Jacinto joined the Katipunan and became one of its leaders. He served as Andres Bonifacio's secretary and fiscal, and also supervised the manufacture of gunpowder to be used by the Katipuneros in battle. A gifted writer, Jacinto also became the editor of Ang Kalayaan, the newspaper of the Katipunan. He wrote the Kartilya ng Katipunan which contains the rules and regulations of the movement. He also wrote the poem “A La Patria,...

Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla (21 February 1855 - 13 March 1913) was a Filipino artist. He is acknowledged as one of the great Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having been an acquaintance and inspiration for members of the Philippine reform movement which included José Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, Mariano Ponce and Graciano López Jaena, although he neither involved himself directly in that movement, nor later associate himself with the First Philippine Republic under Emilio Aguinaldo. His winning the silver medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts, along with the gold win of fellow Filipino painter Juan Luna, prompted a celebration which was a major highlight in the memoirs of members of the Philippine reform movement, with Rizal toasting to the two painters' good health and citing their win as evidence that Filipinos and Spaniards were equals. Hidalgo was born in Binondo Manila on February 21, 1855. He was the th...

Fernando María Guerrero (1873-1929) is one of the most outstanding Filipino poet, journalist, politician, lawyer, polyglot and educator during the Philippine's golden era of Spanish literature, a period ranging from 1890 to the outbreak of World War II. Guerrero wrote during the years 1898 to 1900. As a lawyer-educator he taught natural law, criminology and forensic oratory. He served as chairman of the board of examiners at the law school La Jurisprudencia. He was a Manila councilor, Secretary of the Senate and Secretary of the Philippine Independence Commission. He was also a director of the Academia de Leyes. Apart from Spanish, Guerrero spoke Latin and Greek. He was once an editor of El Renacimiento, La Vanguardia and La Opinion. He was a member of the First Philippine Assembly, the Academia Filipina and also became an appointee to the Municipal Board of Manila. He was also a correspondent to the association Real Española de Madrid. His book of Spanish poems, Crisalidas, was p...

Maria Paz Mendoza Guanzon , a medical practitioner, educator, scientist, writer, social reformer, feminist, philanthropist and civic leader, was the first woman doctor of the Philippines and the first woman in the history of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine.   She was an outstanding socio-civic leader and the founder of several women's organizations as well as an educator. In 1912, she was the first woman to graduate from the U.P. College of Medicine. Dr. Mendoza-Guazon excelled in her researches in pathology and was known for her philanthropic work.   Maria Paz Mendoza Guanzon was born on May 10, 1884 in Pandacan, Manila. She was also the founder of the National League of Filipino Women, and was the first woman member of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines.   In 1951 she awarded a gold medal and an Award of Merit in 1963. She is a member in many organizations. She received three distinctive awards last year. The Philippine F...

Lt. Jose "Pepe" Gozar was a young pilot whose bravery in the air battles of World War II earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism. He was on his wasy from Mindoro to Leyte to join Gen. Douglas MacArthur's forces when he was captured and executed by the Japanese. Pepe, was born in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, on April 8, 1918; son of Juan Gozar and Calixta Cangco. He completed his elementary schooling and graduated as salutatorian from the Mindoro High School in March, 1936. He enrolled at the University of the Philippines College of Commerce and worked as a student assistant in the College. After completing the required units, he enlisted in the Air Corps, Philippine Army, in April, 1938; entered the Flying School in October, 1938 and graduated in 1940. He served as instructor in the Flying School at Zablan Air Field until the outbreak of the war on December 8, 1941. With Captain Collin Kelly and Col. Jesus Villamor, he received a citation from Gen. Douglas M...

Bienvenido Maria Gonzales was a two-term president of the University of the Philippines. Gonzales was born on November 22, 1893 in Apalit, Pampanga. His father was the illustrious Joaquin Gonzales, the rector of Universidad Literaria de Filipinas, the first institution of higher learning that was created by President Emilio Aguinaldo during the Philippine Revolution. He took up agriculture at the same state university and pursued further studies as one of the first Filipino pensionados at the University of Wisconsin, where he obtained a master in science. He took up doctoral studies at John Hopkins University. Upon his return to the Philippines, he was named an assistant professor of animal husbandry at the university and reached tenure in just six years. He was promoted to become the department head, followed by successive stints as dean of the College of Agriculture in 1928. He was appointed the sixth president of the University of the Philippines in 1939, amidst opposition because ...

Elpidio Rivera Quirino (November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was the sixth President of the Philippines. The abrupt death of President Manuel Roxas brought Elpidio Quirino to presidency. Upon his ascent, Quirino brought with him tremendous experience as public servant, having been a cabinet member, a representative, and a senator during previous regimes. Quirino served as president from April 17, 1948 to December 30, 1953.   Born in Vigan, Ilocos Sur to Mariano Quirino and Gregoria Rivera, a Spanish-mestiza, Quirino spent his early years in Aringay, La Union. He received secondary education at Vigan High School, then went to Manila where he worked as junior computer in the Bureau of Lands and as property clerk in the Manila police department. He graduated from Manila High School in 1911 and also passed the civil service examination, first-grade.   Quirino attended the University of the Philippines in 1915, earning his law degree and practicing law until he was elected as ...