First Filipino in Politics, Military, and Government

Alaskeros Filipino laborers who formed the 1st Filipino-led union in the U.S., Cannery Workers’ and Farm Labors’ Union Local 18257 (1933)

Alexander C. De Ocampo 1st Filipino President of the California Young Democrats

Alfred Laureta 1st Filipino-American State Director of Labor and Industrial Relations

Andrés Bonifacio Leader of the 1st Revolution in Asia against European colonial rule (1892)

Antonio Luna Founder of the 1st Military Academy of the Philippines

Apolinario Mabini 1st Filipino Prime Minister of the 1st Philippine Republic (1899)

Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. 1st Filipino youngest vice-governor (1961) 1st Filipino youngest elected senator (1967)

Benjamin Cayetano 1st Filipino-American U.S. Governor (1994)

Carlos P. Romulo 1st Filipino and 1st Asian President of the United Nations General Assembly (1949)

Conrad Santos 1st Filipino-Canadian elected in Canada’s Manitoba Legislature (1981)

Corazon “Cory” Aquino 1st Filipina President and Asia's 1st Female President 1st Filipina President of the 5th Republic of the Philippines (1986)

David Valderrama 1st Filipino-American elected to a state legislature on the mainland United States

Deodato Arellano first president of the Katipunan

Dolores Sibonga 1st Filipina-American to serve on Seattle's City Council

Eduardo Malapit 1st Filipino-American Mayor of a U.S. county, Kauai, Hawaii

Edward Soriano 1st Filipino Soldier to become a General in the U.S. Armed Forces

Emilio Aguinaldo 1st Filipino President of the 1st Philippine Republic (1899)

Felipe Salonga 1st Filipino to be exiled by Spanish colonizers

Ferdinand E. Marcos 1st Filipino President of the 4th Republic of the Philippines (1978) 1st Filipino President of the Republic of the Philippines to be elected to a full second term (1969)

Francisca Reyes Aquino 1st Filipina to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service (1962)

Gabriela Silang 1st Filipina Leader in a revolt against the Spanish colonization of the Philippines

Gene Canque Liddell 1st U.S. Filipina Mayor

Geronima Tomelden-Pecson 1st Filipina Senator

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo 1st Filipina President, 1st Asian President, and the 1st woman leader to preside over the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) session (2005) 1st Filipina Vice-President of the Philippines (1998)

Irene Natividad 1st Filipina-American and 1st Asian-American President of the National Women's Political Caucus

Isabelo delos Reyes 1st Filipino labor union leader (1902) Founder and President of the 1st Philippine labor union, Union Obrera Democratica Filipina (Philippine Democratic labor Union, 1902)

José Aguilar 1st Filipino to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service (1959)

José Rizal The National Hero of the Philippines Asia's 1st Modern Peaceful Proponent of Political Reforms

Joseph Hudson 1st Filipino-American US Army officer to become prisoner of the Iraq War (2003)

Lapu-Lapu 1st Filipino National Hero

Macario Sakay 1st Filipino President of the Tagalog Republic, Katagalugan (1902)

Manuel L. Quezon 1st President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935) 1st Filipino to win the Philippine's 1st National Presidential Election (1935) 1st Filipino Senate President (1916)

Mariano Trias 1st Filipino vice-president (1897)

Mike Guingona 1st Filipino-American City Council Member and youngest Mayor of Daly City, California

Pete Fajardo 1st Filipino-American City Council Member and Mayor of Carson City, California

Dr. Reynaldo Pagtakhan 1st Filipino in the Canadian Parliament, Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific; 1st Filipino to become a member of a federal legislature in the whole of North America

Rep. Robert Cortez-Scott 1st Filipino-American in US Congress

Robert Rivas 1st U.S. East Coast Filipino-American Mayor

Rogelio dela Rosa 1st Filipino Actor to become Senator (1957)

Sergio Osmeña 1st Filipino Speaker of the Philippine Assembly (1907)

Tess Santiago 1st Filipina Mayor of the city of Delano, California, USA (1994)

Velma Veloria 1st Filipina-American and 1st Asian-American elected to a Washington State Legislature

Vicente Lim 1st Filipino graduate of West Point