THE National Historical Commission, in collaboration with the President Elpidio Quirino Foundation, is now celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of our second president with a series of lectures on a number of important topics. This piece is not about any of the lectures, which are all worth following, but about two controversial issues that continue to haunt the life of one of our greater presidents. These refer to allegations of corruption and allegedly excessive pro-Americanism.

Quirino was born on Nov 16, 1890 and died on Feb. 29, 1956. He served as vice president under Manuel Roxas from 1946 until 1948 when Roxas died, and continued as president until 1953, when he lost the election to Ramon Magsaysay, his former secretary of national defense. To more than two generations of Filipinos, who got their political education from the freewheeling and rambunctious press, Quirino’s presidency is best remembered for his allegedly expensive bed and “golden urinola” (bedpan) and his excessive kowtowing to the Americans.

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