Carlos Polestico García (Tagalog: [ˈkaːɾ.los poˌlɛːs.tɪˈxo gɐɾˈsiː.ɐ]; November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971), often referred to by his initials CPG, was the eighth president of the Philippines, serving from 1957 to 1961. He served as the fourth vice president of the Philippines from 1953 to 1957.
A lawyer by profession, Garcia entered politics when he became the representative of Bohol’s third district in the House of Representatives. He then served as a senator from 1945 to 1953.
He was the Nacionalista's nominee for vice president as the running mate of Ramon Magsaysay in the presidential election of 1953, which they won. After the death of Magsaysay in 1957, he succeeded to the presidency, winning a full term in his own right in the presidential election that same year. He was subsequently defeated by his vice president Diosdado Macapagal in the 1961 presidential election.
Garcia was born in Talibon, Bohol, Philippines, on November 4, 1896, to Policronio Garcia and Ambrosia Polestico, who were both natives of Bangued, Abra.
Garcia grew up with politics, with his father serving as a municipal mayor for four terms. He acquired his primary education in his native town Talibon, then took his secondary education in Cebu Provincial High School, now Abellana National School, both at the top of his class. Initially, he pursued his college education at Silliman University in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, and later studied at the Philippine Law School, then the College of Law of National University, where he earned his law degree in 1923 and later, where he was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa from the National University in 1961. He also received an honorary doctorate degree from Tokyo University in Japan. He was among the top ten law students in the 1923 bar examination.
Rather than practicing law right away, he worked as a teacher for two years at Bohol Provincial High School. He became famous for his poetry in Bohol, where he earned the nickname "Prince of Visayan Poets" and the "Bard from Bohol."
Garcia entered politics in 1925, scoring an impressive victory to become representative of the third district of Bohol. He was elected for another term in 1928 and served until 1931. He was elected governor of Bohol in 1933, but served only until 1941 when he successfully ran for Senate, but he was unable to serve due to the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. He assumed the office when Congress re-convened in 1945 after Allied liberation and the end of the war. When he resumed duties as senator after the war, he was chosen Senate majority floor leader. The press consistently voted him as one of the most outstanding senators. Simultaneously, he occupied a position in the Nacionalista Party.
Garcia was the running mate of Ramon Magsaysay in the 1953 presidential election in which both men won. He was appointed secretary of foreign affairs by President Magsaysay, and for four years served concurrently as vice-president.
Garcia acted as chairman of the eight-nation Southeast Asian Security Conference held in Manila in September 1954, which led to the development of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
At the time of President Magsaysay's sudden death due to an airplane crash on March 17, 1957, Garcia was heading the Philippine delegation to the SEATO conference then being held at Canberra, Australia. Having been immediately notified of the tragedy, Vice President Garcia enplaned back for Manila. Upon his arrival, he directly reported to Malacañang Palace to assume the duties of president. Chief Justice Ricardo Paras of the Supreme Court administered the oath of office, which took place at 5:56 PM PHT on March 18, 1957. President Garcia's first actions were to declare a period of national mourning and to preside over the burial ceremonies for Magsaysay.
President Garcia won a full term as president with a landslide win in the national elections of November 12, 1957. Garcia, the Nacionalista candidate, garnered around 2.07 million votes or 41% of the total votes counted, defeating his closest rival, Jose Y. Yulo of the Liberal Party. His running mate, House Speaker Jose B. Laurel Jr., lost to Pampanga first district Representative Diosdado Macapagal. This was the first time in Philippine electoral history where a president was elected by a plurality rather than a majority, and in which the winning presidential and vice-presidential candidates came from different parties. Garcia took his oath of office on December 30, 1957, at the Independence Grandstand in Manila, commencing his second consecutive and only full term. The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Ricardo Paras. Juan Pajo, the then-governor of Bohol, held the Bible which Garcia took oath on, breaking the tradition wherein it is held by presidential spouses.
After much discussion, both official and public, the Congress of the Philippines, finally approved a bill outlawing the Philippine Communist Party. Despite the pressure exerted against the congressional measure, Garcia signed the aforementioned bill into law as Republic Act No. 1700 or the Anti-Subversion Act on June 19, 1957.
The act was superseded by Presidential Decree No. 885, entitled "Outlawing Subversive Organization, Penalizing Membership Therein and For Other Purposes", and was later amended by Presidential Decree No. 1736 and later superseded by Presidential Decree No. 1835, entitled, "Codifying The Various Laws on Anti-Subversion and Increasing the Penalties for Membership in Subversive Organization." This, in turn, was amended by Presidential Decree No. 1975. On May 5, 1987, Executive Order No. 167 repealed Presidential Decrees No. 1835 and No. 1975 as being unduly restrictive of the constitutional right to form associations.
However this was eventually repealed on September 22, 1992 with Republic Act No. 1700, during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos, which legalized the Communist Party of the Philippines, other underground movements and subversion, although sedition remained a crime.
The Garcia administration's pro-nationalist stance on the country's economy was disliked by foreign countries especially by the United States. To counter Garcia's economic controls, as early as 1957, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pressured the Philippines that if the country did not lift their controls, then the Philippines shall not receive any loans from the IMF. According to central bank governor Miguel Cuaderno Sr., the United States rejected the Philippines' request for a stabilization loan of 25 million USD. The passage of the Filipino First Policy further worsened the relations of the U.S. with the Philippines.
Garcia exercised the "Filipino First Policy", for which he was known. This policy heavily favored Filipino businessmen over foreign investors. He was also responsible for changes in retail trade which greatly affected the Chinese businessmen in the country. In his speech as senator during a joint session of Congress on September 18, 1946, Garcia said the following:
We are called upon to decide on this momentous debate whether or not this land of ours will remain the cradle and grave, the womb and tomb of our race – the only place where we can build our homes, our temples, and our altars and where we erect the castles of our racial hopes, dreams and traditions and where we establish the warehouse of our happiness and prosperity, of our joys and sorrows.
Despite deteriorating relations with the U.S. as a result of this policy, the Philippines utilized it to induce industrialization and put Filipinos in control of industry and economy. The Philippines' manufacturing sector grew to 29 percent per year from 1949 to 1960. The manufacturing sector was considered the fastest growing sector accounting for 8.1 percent of the Philippine economy in 1949 to 17.7 percent by 1960. During his term, a wider push for machinery was introduced, especially by nationalist entrepreneurs and the industrial working class.