[3] Returning to Pampanga, he joined boyhood friend Rogelio de la Rosa in producing and starring in Tagalog operettas patterned after classic Spanish zarzuelas.

[9] After passing the bar examination, Macapagal was invited to join an American law firm as a practicing attorney, a particular honor for a Filipino at the time.

[7] After the war, Macapagal worked as an assistant attorney with one of the largest law firms in the country, Ross, Lawrence, Selph and Carrascoso.

[7] With the establishment of the independent Third Republic of the Philippines in 1946, he rejoined government service when President Manuel Roxas appointed him to the Department of Foreign Affairs as the head of its legal division.

[6] In 1948, President Elpidio Quirino appointed Macapagal as chief negotiator in the successful transfer of the Turtle Islands in the Sulu Sea from the United Kingdom to the Philippines.

[11] He was a Philippine delegate to the United Nations General Assembly multiple times, taking part in debates over communist aggression with Andrei Vishinsky and Jacob Malik of the Soviet Union.

[7] In the May 1957 general elections, the Liberal Party drafted Congressman Macapagal to run for vice president as the running-mate of José Y. Yulo, a former speaker of the House of Representatives.

Assigned to performing only ceremonial duties as vice president, he spent his time making frequent trips to the countryside to acquaint himself with voters and to promote the image of the Liberal Party.

In the 1961 presidential election, Macapagal ran against Garcia's re-election bid, promising an end to corruption and appealing to the electorate as a common man from humble beginnings.

In 1950, President Elpidio Quirino deviated from free enterprise launching as a temporary emergency measure the system of exchange and import controls.

[13] The first fundamental decision Macapagal had to make was whether to continue the system of exchange controls of Quirino, Magsaysay and Garcia or to return to the free enterprise of Quezon, Osmena and Roxas.

So on January 21, 1962, after working for 20 straight hours he signed a Central Bank decree abolishing exchange controls and returning the country to free enterprise.

[13] During the 20 days available to make a decision on choice between controls and free enterprise, between his inauguration as president and before the opening of Congress, Macapagal's main adviser was Andres Castillo, governor of the Central Bank.

[6] The removal of controls and the restoration of free enterprise was intended to provide only the fundamental setting in which Macapagal could work out economic and social progress.

[13] A specific and periodic program for the guidance of both the private sector and the government was an essential instrument to attain the economic and social development that constituted the goal of his labors.

[13] Such a program for his administration was formulated under his authority and direction by a group of able and reputable economic and business leaders the most active and effective of which was Sixto Roxas III.

[13] The essential foundations having been laid, attention must then be turned to the equally difficult task of building the main edifice by implementing the economic program.

Although the success of Macapagal's Socio-Economic Program in free enterprise inherently depended on the private sector, it would be helpful and necessary for the government to render active assistance in its implementation by the citizens.

[13] Such role of the government in free enterprise, in the view of Macapagal, required it (1) to provide the social overhead like roads, airfields and ports that directly or proximately promote economic growth, (2) to adopt fiscal and monetary policies salutary to investments, and most importantly (3) to serve as an entrepreneur or promote of basic and key private industries, particularly those that require capital too large for businessmen to put up by themselves.

3844) which provided for the purchase of private farmlands with the intention of distributing them in small lots to the landless tenants on easy term of payment.

[14] It is a major development in history of land reform in the Philippines, In comparison with the previous agrarian legislation, the law lowered the retention limit to 75 hectares, whether owned by individuals or corporations.

[14] The major flaw of this law was, however, that it had several exemptions, such as ort (big capital plantations established during the Spanish and American periods); fishponds, saltbeds, and lands primarily planted to citrus, coconuts, cacao, coffee, durian, and other similar permanent trees; landholdings converted to residential, commercial, industrial, or other similar non-agricultural purposes.

[6] The administration alluded to the brothers as "Filipino Stonehills who build and maintain business empires through political power, including the corruption of politicians and other officials".

[15] Macapagal's secretary of justice, Jose W. Diokno investigated Stonehill on charges of tax evasion, smuggling, misdeclaration of imports, and corruption of public officials.

[19][20] Years later, Macapagal told journalist Stanley Karnow the real reason for the change: "When I was in the diplomatic corps, I noticed that nobody came to our receptions on the Fourth of July, but went to the American Embassy instead.

[25][26] It was revoked in 1989 because succeeding Philippine administrations have placed the claim in the back burner in the interest of pursuing cordial economic and security relations with Kuala Lumpur.

[27] To date, Malaysia continues to consistently reject Philippine calls to resolve the matter of Sabah's jurisdiction to the International Court of Justice.

[29] In July 1963, President Diosdado Macapagal convened a summit meeting in Manila in which a nonpolitical confederation for Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia, Maphilindo, was proposed as a realization of José Rizal's dream of bringing together the Malay peoples, seen as artificially divided by colonial frontiers.

[30] Chester Cooper, former director of Asian affairs for the White House, explained why the impetus came from the United States instead of from the Republic of South Vietnam: "The 'More Flags' campaign ... required the application of considerable pressure for Washington to elicit any meaningful commitments.

[34][35] President Benigno S. Aquino III declared September 28, 2010, as a special non-working holiday in Macapagal's home province of Pampanga to commemorate the centennial of his birth.