Eva Macapagal completed her medical studies at the University of Santo Tomas and passed the medical board in 1938.[2] A physician by profession, she founded several health and education centers for the poor throughout the country such as the Elsie Gaches Village, a center for the underprivileged in the south of Manila, and financially supported the Medical Research Foundation of the Philippines. She campaigned for quality films and TV shows and promoted the use of the patadyóng kimona and the terno among women. In events in the Malacañang Palace, she sought to display simplicity, elegance, punctuality and cordiality.
Eva Macapagal was known for frequently wearing the national dress. She wore ternos as well as María Claras for formal occasions or state functions, but preferred to wear the patadyóng kimona for simplicity and ease of movement. She favored a handful of Filipino couturiers, including Pitoy Moreno, who adhered to her preferred style of simple but elegant lines.
Among Eva's projects as First Lady was the promotion of a Philippine-made and durable textile called the “Pag-asa cloth”, with an emphasis on its affordable price. Eva Macapagal and her daughter Gloria, then in her teens, sometimes wore dresses fashioned from the Pag-asa cloth.
Eva Macapagal's training as a physician influenced her to promote cleanliness and neatness in the rooms and appointments of the Malacañang Palace. Repairs, refurnishing, repainting, and redecoration were effected in the palace. She made inspection tours to supervise efficiency towards this aim. She tended the grounds of the palace and the executive building as a garden, planted new trees and flowering shrubs, and demolished old wooden structures, recommending that no new building be constructed in the Malacañang grounds to maintain the green spaces belonging to the palace complex.
Eva Macapagal discovered that the Palace had a wealth of fine woodwork made of high-quality Philippine hardwoods. She also discovered handsome pieces of furniture and decorations stacked in storerooms, offices and garages in the Palace complex, which she salvaged and refurbished. Long-forgotten heirloom pieces were cleaned and polished and displayed in the different rooms, halls, and walls of the palace. At the time, President Heinrich Luebke of Germany once paid the palace a compliment when he said that having seen virtually all the palaces in the world, he believed that although not as large as other palaces, the Malacañang Palace was one of the best that could be found anywhere.[citation needed].
1 Married after their spouse's presidency 2 Died prior to their spouse's presidency 3 Marriage annulled prior to spouse's presidency. 4 Unmarried domestic partner* Benigno Aquino III was unmarried See also: First ladies and gentlemen of the Philippines
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