Manuel Roxas

Manuel Acuña Roxas or Manuel Roxas (y Acuna) (1892 - 1948) was a Philippine political figure. He was the president of the Philippines between 1946 and 1948.

He was born on January 1, 1892 in a city that was named, postmortem, after him, Roxas City, Capiz to parents Gerardo Roxas and Rosario Acuna. He studied law at the University of the Philippines and was the Bar topnotcher. He was a career politician who started being a provincial fiscal. He served in various capacities under Manuel L. Quezon's commonwealth government. In 1921, he was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives and in the following year he became speaker. After the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established (1935), Roxas became a member of the National Assembly, served (1938-1941) as the Secretary of Finance in President Manuel Quezon's cabinet, and was elected (1941) to the Philippine Senate. In World War II, he was captured (1942) by the Japanese invasion forces. During WWII, however, he served under the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Republic. During this time he also served as an intelligence agent for the underground Philippine guerilla forces. The returning American forces arrested him a Japanese collaborator. After the war, Gen. Douglas MacArthur pardoned him and reinstated his commission as an officer of the US armed forces. This resuscitated his political career, and with MacArthur's support, he won as the candidate of the Liberal Party the 1946 presidential election over Sergio Osmeña. As president, he then pardoned the Japanese collaborators. He marked history with his versatile achievements by being a man of many talents. On April 15, 1948, he succumbed to a fatal heart attack after delivering a speech at Clark Air Base.