page_title: Sergio Osmeña
section_title: Vice-Presidency
hierarchical_section_title: Sergio Osmeña / Vice-Presidency
caption_attribution_description: English: J.M. Elizalde, Sergio Osmena, John William Haussermann. Haussermann: Republican. Delegate to Republican National Convention from Philippine Islands, 1932; member of Republican National Committee from the Philippine Islands
context_page_description: Sergio Osmeña Sr. PLH was a Filipino politician who served as the fourth President of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was Vice President under Manuel L. Quezon. Upon Quezon's sudden death in 1944, Osmeña succeeded him at age 65, becoming the oldest person to assume the Philippine presidency until Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016 at age 71. A founder of the Nacionalista Party, Osmeña was also the first Visayan to become president.
  Prior to his accession in 1944, Osmeña served as Governor of Cebu from 1906 to 1907, Member and first Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives from 1907 to 1922, and Senator from the 10th Senatorial District for thirteen years, in which capacity he served as Senate President pro tempore. In 1935, he was nominated to be the running-mate of Senate President Manuel L. Quezon for the presidential election that year. The duo were overwhelmingly re-elected in 1941.
  He was the patriarch of the prominent Osmeña family, which includes his son, former Senator Sergio Osmeña Jr., and his grandsons, senators Sergio Osmeña III and John Henry Osmeña, ex-governor Lito Osmeña and Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña.
context_section_description: In 1924, Quezon and Osmeña reconciled and joined forces in the Partido Nacionalista Consolidado against the threat of an emerging opposition from the Democrata Party. The reunited Nacionalista Party dominated the political scene until the second break-up when the members polarized into Pros and Antis in 1934. Quezon and Osmeña again reconciled for the 1935 Presidential Election. In 1935 Quezon and Osmeña won the Philippine's first national presidential election under the banner of the Nacionalista Party. Quezon obtained nearly 68% of the vote against his two main rivals, Emilio Aguinaldo and Bishop Gregorio Aglipay.
  They were inaugurated on 15 November 1935. Quezon had originally been barred by the Philippine constitution from seeking re-election. However, in 1940, constitutional amendments were ratified allowing him to seek re-election for a fresh term ending in 1943. In the 1941 presidential elections, Quezon was re-elected over former Senator Juan Sumulong with nearly 82% of the vote. Re-elected in 1941, Osmeña remained vice president during the Japanese occupation when the government was in exile. As Vice-President, Osmeña concurrently served as Secretary of Public Instruction from 1935 to 1940, and again from 1941 to 1944.
  The outbreak of World War II and the Japanese invasion resulted in periodic and drastic changes to the government structure. Executive Order 390, 22 December 1941 abolished the Department of the Interior and established a new line of succession. Executive Order 396, 24 December 1941, further reorganized and grouped the cabinet, with the functions of Secretary of Justice assigned to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
caption: Joaquín Miguel Elizalde, Sergio Osmeña and John W. Hausermann, ca. 1938 or 1939, U.S. Library of Congress
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