RESEMBLANCE OF AMERICAN AND PHILIPPINE HISTORY

In a nutshell, George Washington, one of the founding fathers of the United States, and Emilio Famy Aguinaldo, who led the uprising at the turn of the 20th century against the US, served as High ranking military officials of the revolutionary war in the United States of America and the Philippines. Subsequently, the revolutionists became the first Presidents of their respective countries.

Meanwhile, the second American President, John Adams, and the second Philippine President, Manuel Quezon, were the first presidents to occupy and hold office in the White House and Malacañang, respectively.

Furthermore, America’s 15th President, James Buchanan, was the only bachelor ever elected in the history of the United States as with the Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, a bachelor during his tenure and the 15th President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Both countries elected son and daughter of former Presidents: George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush; Diosdado Macapagal and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo . Incidentally, the two presidents, George W. Bush and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, took their oath of office on 20 January 2001, as the 43rd US President and the 14th Philippine President.

Also, former US President William Jefferson Blythe Clinton and the erstwhile Philippine President Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo were classmates at Georgetown University in the 1960s. The two presidents have into communication since then.

Finally, both countries were former colonies: the United States of America was a former colony of the British Empire; the Philippines was Spain’s protectorate for 333 years.