Carlos Polestico Garcia KR (Tagalog: [ˈkaːɾ.los poˌlɛːs.tɪˈxo gɐɾˈsiː.ɐ]; November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971), often referred to by his initials CPG, was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist, guerrilla and Commonwealth military leader who was the eighth President of the Philippines from 1957 to 1961.

He was the Nacionalista Party's nominee for vice president as the running mate of Ramon Magsaysay in the presidential election of 1953, which they won.

[5] At the time of President Magsaysay's sudden death due to an airplane crash on March 17, 1957, Garcia was heading the Philippine delegation to the SEATO conference then being held at Canberra, Australia.

Chief Justice Ricardo Paras of the Supreme Court administered the oath of office, which took place at 5:56 PM PHT on March 18, 1957.

His running mate, House Speaker Jose B. Laurel Jr., lost to Pampanga 1st district Representative Diosdado Macapagal.

This was the first time in Philippine electoral history where a president was elected by a plurality rather than a majority, and in which the winning presidential and vice-presidential candidates came from different parties.

Garcia took his oath of office on December 30, 1957, at the Independence Grandstand in Manila, commencing his second consecutive and only full term.

Despite the pressure exerted against the congressional measure, Garcia signed the aforementioned bill into law as Republic Act No.

7636 during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos,[12] which legalized the Communist Party of the Philippines, other underground movements[13] and subversion, though sedition remained a crime.

According to central bank governor Miguel Cuaderno Sr., the United States rejected the Philippines' request for a stabilization loan of 25 million USD.

In a speech during a joint session of Congress on September 18, 1946, Garcia said the following: We are called upon to decide on this momentous debate whether or not this land of ours will remain the cradle and grave, the womb and tomb of our race – the only place where we can build our homes, our temples, and our altars and where we erect the castles of our racial hopes, dreams and traditions and where we establish the warehouse of our happiness and prosperity, of our joys and sorrows.

To expand membership of the association, original members, including the Philippines under Garcia, deliberately deleted provisions from the 1961 Bangkok Declaration that contained Cold War content.

However, these moves by the Philippines did not sit well with the U.S.[17]: 96 In the face of the trying conditions in the country, Garcia initiated what has been called "The Austerity Program".

On March 3, 1960, he affirmed the need for complete economic freedom and added that the government no longer would tolerate the dominance of foreign interests (especially American) in the national economy.

The second, on the Angat River in Central Luzon, is near Manila which will provide 230,000 kilowatts to support a new industrial complex, costing 20 million USD.

The power-harnessing program will be kept up with increasing momentum to realize our desire for rural electrification.President Garcia, with the strong advocacy of Agriculture and Natural Resources Secretary Juan G. Rodriguez, invited the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation "to establish a rice research institute" in Los Baños, Laguna.

[21] In addition to his laws and programs, the Garcia administration also put emphasis on reviving the Filipino culture.

[23] At the end of his second term, he ran for re–election in the presidential elections of November 14, 1961, but was defeated by Vice President Diosdado Macapagal, who belonged to the rival Liberal Party.

[24] Garcia was the first layman to lie in state in Manila Cathedral—a privilege once reserved for the Archbishops of Manila—and the first president to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.