Leonila Garcia Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honorable
Leonila Dimataga Garcia
Order:8th First Lady of the Philippines
Term Label:In role
Term Start:March 18, 1957
Term End:December 30, 1961
President:Carlos P. Garcia
Predecessor:Luz Magsaysay
Successor:Eva Macapagal
Office1:Second Lady of the Philippines
Term Label1:In role
Term Start1:December 30, 1953
Term End1:March 18, 1957
Vicepresident1:Carlos P. Garcia
Predecessor2:Maria Salvacion Javellana
Successor2:Eva Macapagal
Birth Name:Leonila de la Serna Dimataga
Birth Date:17 July 1906
Birth Place:Opon, Cebu, Philippine Islands
Death Place:Quezon City, Philippines
Children:Linda Garcia-Campos
Profession:Pharmacist
Party:Nacionalista
Alma Mater:University of Santo Tomas

Leonila "Inday" de la Serna Dimataga Garcia (July 17, 1906 – May 17, 1994) was a Filipino pharmacist who was the eighth First Lady of the Philippines. She was the wife of Philippine President Carlos P. Garcia. She assumed the title on March 18, 1957, upon the accession of her husband, who was then-Vice President, shortly after the death of President Ramon Magsaysay.

Fondly called "Inday", the native of Opon (now Lapu-Lapu City), Cebu was a pharmacist graduate of the University of Santo Tomas. She met her future husband Carlos while working at a drug store in Tagbilaran, Bohol that he had frequented.[1] They married on May 24, 1933, and had a daughter together, Linda Garcia-Campos.[2]

As First Lady, Garcia became active in cultural and social activities in line with her husband's Filipino First Policy.

She vied for a Senate seat in 1971, but lost.

Notes and References

  1. News: Dolor . Danny . Leonila D. Garcia:Gracious First Lady . December 4, 2021 . . May 20, 2018 . en.
  2. News: Oaminal . Clarence Paul . Pres. Carlos P. Garcia, the Boholano who married a Cebuana . June 17, 2021 . The Philippine Star . July 20, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210617104306/https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/opinion/2016/07/20/1604689/pres-carlos-p-garcia-boholano-who-married-cebuana . 17 June 2021.