2 provinces, 2 cities, 22 towns named after Philippine former presidents

Quezon City (Tripzilla. ph)

Manila: Two of the 145 cities in the Philippines, 22 towns out of a total of 1,489 and two of the country’s 81 provinces have been named in honor of seven former presidents.

The presidents are Emilio F. Aguinaldo (1898-1901), Manuel L. Quezon (1935-1944), Jose P. Laurel (1943-1945), Manuel A. Roxas (1946-1948), Elpidio R. Quirino (1948-1953), Ramon F. Magsaysay (1953-1957), and Ferdinand E. Marcos (1965-1986).

According to a study by the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Quezon City has been named after the late Commonwealth President Quezon and Roxas City in Capiz province takes its name from President Roxas.

The two provinces named after presidents are Quezon in Region 4-A (Calabarzon) and Quirino in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley). Their names honor Presidents Quezon and Quirino respectively.

Based on the 2015 Manila Bulletin Yearbook published on Feb. 2, 2015, in observance of that publication’s “115th Years of Service to the Nation,” 22 towns in 18 provinces have been created in honor of seven deceased former presidents, the news agency said.

There are two towns named after President Aguinaldo. They are in the provinces of Cavite of the Calabarzon region and Ifugao in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

There are six towns named after President Quezon in the provinces of Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya (Cagayan Valley), Nueva Ecija (Central Luzon or Region 3), Quezon (Region 4-A), Palawan (4-B or Mimaropa), and Bukidnon (Region 10 or Northern Mindanao).

One municipality in Batangas (Region 4-A) has been named Laurel after President Laurel.

President Roxas has been honored with four towns–one each in Isabela (Region 2), Oriental Mindoro and Palawan (Region 4-B), and North Cotabato (Region 12).

There are three towns named after President Quirino in the provinces of Ilocos Sur (his home province in Region 1), Isabela (Region 2), and Sultan Kudarat (Region 12).

President Magsaysay has five towns named after him. They are in Occidental Mindoro and Palawan (Region 4-B), Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental (Region 10), and Davao del Sur (Region 11).

One town in Ilocos Norte, the home province of President Marcos in Region 1, has been named in his honor.

However, four dead former presidents, Sergio S. Osmena Sr. (1944-1946), Carlos P. Garcia (1957-1961), Diosdado P. Macapagal (1961-1965), and Corazon C. Aquino (1986-1992), have yet to be honored with a town, city or province named after them.

Four living former Philippine presidents, Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1998), Joseph E. Estrada (1998-2001), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (2001-2010), and Benigno S. Aquino III (2010-2016), have no places named after them.

The decision is based on the policy of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines that no town, city, place or structure can be named after a living person.

The country’s current chief executive, its 16^th since 1898, is President Rodrigo R, Duterte who will govern until June 30, 2022.