Jesse Mallares Baltazar, who joined the U.S. armed forces after the Japanese attack on the Philippines during World War II, endured the Bataan Death March, and later became one of the first native-born Filipino officers of the U.S. Air Force, died of cancer on April 12, 2016 at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland (USA). He was 95.
On April 12, 1967, Filipino volcanologist Dr. Arturo P. Alcaraz and his team successfully lit several electric light bulbs in Barrio (now Barangay) Cale, Tiwi, Albay using electricity generated from geothermal steam, marking the first time in Philippine history that power was produced from the heat of the earth. This small but historic demonstration proved that the country's volcanoes and geothermal fields could be harnessed as a viable source of electricity and is widely regarded as the birth of geothermal power generation in the Philippines.
On April 12, 1953, the Nacionalista Party, in its national convention held in the Fiesta Pavilion of the Manila Hotel, nominated recently resigned National Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay as its candidate for the presidency by a vote of 702 against 49 votes for Camilo Osias. Magsaysay was proposed for nomination by Senator Jose P. Laurel. Cipriano Primicias, in proposing Osias, was not allowed by the convention to finish his speech, and Osias, himself, in a two-hour speech on his own behalf was repeatedly booed whenever he voiced direct or indirect criticism of Magsaysay.
The event on April 12, 1895, at Pamitinan Cave in Montalban is often cited by historians as the "First Cry" or the true first declaration of Philippine independence, predating the more famous Cry of Pugad Lawin by over a year.
The intellectual shift between Spanish rule and American administration was shaped by thinkers who believed true liberation required more than driving out foreign troops. Among them, Dr. Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera, who was was born on , in the Escolta district of Manila, stood out as one of the most prominent - and most complex - figures of the era.
On April 13, 1904, Fernando Lopez, a public servant of unsullied reputation and record of performance, vice-president and cabinet secretary under two Presidents, and senator for three terms, was born in Jaro, Iloilo to Benito Lopez and Presentacion Hofileña. Graciano Lopez-Jaena was his forebear.
On April 13, 1872, Ramón Avanceña y Quiosay was born in Molo, Iloilo. He would rise from provincial revolutionary leader to become the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, serving from 1925 until the eve of the Japanese occupation in 1941 and leaving a lasting imprint on Philippine jurisprudence.
Senator Rodolfo "Pong" Gaspar Biazon was a prominent Filipino politician and military officer who made significant contributions to both the military and political landscape of the Philippines. Born on April 14, 1935, in Batac, Ilocos Norte to Rufino Biazon and Juliana Gaspar, Biazon faced early hardships, losing his father at a young age and working to support his family.
On April 14, 1900, Pio Duran, a brilliant lawyer who became a successful businessman and a respected politician, an open "Japanophile" who helped establish the MAKAPILI, was born in Guinobatan, Albay to Jose E. Duran and Miguela Salvador.
On April 14, 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan serving the Spanish royalty erected a wooden cross on the shores of Cebu.