Fernando Lopez

Infobox_Vice_President
honorific-prefix = The Honourable
name=Fernando López
honorific-suffix = VP
nationality=Filipino


order=4th and 8th Vice President of the Philippines
"2nd Vice President of the 3rd Republic"
"6th Vice President of the 3rd Republic"
term_start=December 30, 1949
term_end=December 30, 1953
December 30, 1965 – January 17, 1973 [Ratification date of the 1973 Constitution, per Presidential Proclamation No. 1102 issued by President Ferdinand E. Marcos]
predecessor=None [No vice president was appointed after Quirino assumed the Presidency from Roxas, as it was not required by the 1935 Constitution]
Emmanuel Pelaez
successor=Carlos P. García
None [Arturo Tolentino (in 1986; Marcos vacated the office of the vice-president when the 1973 constitution was promulgated.)]
birth_date= birth date|1904|4|13|mf=y
birth_place= Iloilo, Iloilo
death_date= death date and age|1993|5|26|1904|4|13|mf=y
death_place= Iloilo, Iloilo
spouse=Mariquit Javella
party=Nacionalista, Liberal
president=Elpidio Quirino
Ferdinand Marcos

Fernando López (April 13, 1904—May 26, 1993) was a Filipino statesman. A member of the influential López Family of Iloilo, Fernando López served as Vice President for three terms, under President Elpidio Quirino (1949—1953) for the Liberals and Ferdinand Marcos (1965—1969 and 1969—1972) for the Nacionalistas.

Biography

López was born on April 13, 1904 in Iloilo City, Iloilo to Benito López and Presentación Hofilena. The López family was a rich and influential family in the province.

López studied high school at San Juan de Letran College, finishing in 1921. He then studied law in the University of Santo Tomas, earning his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1925. After passing the bar examinations, he did not go into private practice but helped his older brother manage the family business.

López was one of the founders of Iloilo College and the FEATI University in Manila. The López family also owned the Iloilo-Negros Air Express Company (the first Filipino owned air service), the Iloilo Times (El Tiempo), the Manila Chronicle and ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation.

In 1945, with no prior political experience, López was picked by President Sergio Osmeña to be mayor of Iloilo City. In 1947, he ran for Senator and won the election. In 1949, he became vice-president under President Elpidio Quirino and concurrently worked as secretary of agriculture, serving until 1953. He was then elected once again as senator, and re-elected in 1959. In 1965, he ran with Ferdinand Marcos and won as vice-president. He was re-elected in 1969.

By the time martial law was declared in 1972, the López family fell out of Marcos' favor and was targeted by the dictatorship because of their denunciations of Marcos' corruption. They were also targeted due to their family's political influence, being members of the entrenched oligarchy. The position of vice-president was dissolved, and the López family was stripped of most of its political and economic assets.

Fernando López died on May 26, 1993 and leaving his wife Mariquit Javella with whom he had six children.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/former_senators/fernando_lopez.htm Senators of the Philippines - Fernando López]