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SERGIO OSMENA

9 September 1878 to 19 October 1961

Sergio Osmena was President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. He was Vice President under Manuel Quezon, and rose to the presidency upon Quezon's death in 1944.

Emilio Aguinaldo played an instrumental role in Philippine independence during the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American War that resisted American occupation although he eventually pledged his allegiance to the US government.

In 1904, the American colonial administration appointed Osmena governor of Cebu. Two years later he was elected governor of Cebu. While governor, he ran for election to the first Philippine Assembly of 1907 and was elected Speaker of that body. Osmena was only 29 and already the highest-ranking Filipino official.

Osmena was elected as vice-president of the Commonwealth in 1935, with Quezon as president. He was re-elected in 1941. When the Commonwealth government relocated in the US in exile, Osmena went with Quezon. Osmena became president of the Commonwealth on Quezon's death in 1944.

First Day Covers

Philippine Assembly 50th Anniversary#640, 16 Oct 1957

Sergio Osmena was elected as the first Speaker of the Philippine Assembly which was inaugurated on 16 October 1907

Definitive#862, 10 Dec 1963

Presidential Credo#883G and 883H, 12 Jun 1970

Birth Centenary#1358 and 1359, 8 Sept 1978

Overprint for APO Philatelic Society 30th Anniversary#1501, 30 Nov 1980

Landings at Leyte Gulf, 50th Anniversary#2316a and 2316b, 14 Sept 1994

(part of se-tenant block of 4)

When the Commonwealth government relocated in the US in exile, Osmena went with Quezon. Osmena became president of the Commonwealth on Quezon's death. He returned to the Philippines with General Douglas MacArthur and the liberation forces.