Today in History : March 18th

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1945: Panay is invaded by the American forces. Panay is located in the western part of the Visayas. Politically, it is divided into five provinces: Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Guimaras, all in the Western Visayas Region. It is located southeast of the island of Mindoro and northwest of Negros, separated by the Guimaras Strait. Between Negros and Panay Islands lie the island-province of Guimaras. To the north is the Sibuyan Sea and the islands of Romblon; to the southwest is the Sulu Sea and the Panay Gulf.

1957: Vice-President Carlos P. Garcia is sworn in as President of the Philippines. Incumbent President Carlos P. Garcia won his opportunity to get a full term as President after the untimely death of Ramon Magsaysay in a plane crash. His running mate, Senator Jose Laurel, Jr. lost to Pampanga Representative Diosdado Macapagal. This was the first time in Philippine electoral history where a president was elected by a plurality and not majority, and in which the president and vice president came from different parties.

Today in History : March 17th

On this date in...

1521: Magellan lands in Limasawa. Limasawa is a 6th class municipality and an island of the same name in the province of Southern Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 5,157 people in 1,108 households, it lies south of Leyte, in the Mindanao Sea and is about 10 km from north to south.

1761: Francisco Javier de la Torre becomes ad interim governor of the Philippines. During hi term laws regulating commerce, the army, and the welfare of the islands are established.

1874: Manuel Blanco Valderama becomes ad interim governor-general of the Philippines.

1877: Birth of Patricio Mariano at Santa Cruz, Manila. Patricio was a Filipino writer, poet, journalist and translator in the early 20th century Philippines. He wrote several Tagalog novels, which include Ang mga Anak Dalita and Ang Tala sa Panghulo. Mariano died at the age of 58 on January 25, 1935.

1898: A Spanish vessel enters Batangas Bay and siezes the Santisima Trinidad owned by General Francisco del Castillo where the secret papers of the Katipunan are kept.

1898: The Naic Assembly introduces a change in the Filipino flag. The Malayan letter K is replaced by a big sun with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. It was the first official flag of the Filipino.The flag remains in use until the signing of the Pact of Biyak-na-Bato in December, 1897.

1957: President Ramon Magsaysay dies in a plane crash in Cebu. Magsaysay left Manila for Cebu City where he spoke at three educational institutions. That same night, at about 1 a.m., he boarded the presidential plane "Mt. Pinatubo", a C-47, heading back to Manila. In the early morning hours of March 17, his plane was reported missing. It was late in the afternoon that day that newspapers reported that the airplane had crashed on Mt. Manunggal in Cebu and that 25 of the 26 passengers and crew aboard were killed. Vice-President Carlos P. Garcia assumes the presidency.