answer taken from: http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100221212635AAPihdU
Highway 54 -former name of the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue(EDSA). Stretching some 54 kilometers, Highway 54 serves as a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Filipinos passing or doing business in Metro Manila]. It formed a major part of the circumferential roads in Metro Manila. From the south, it passes through five cities Pasay, Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, and Caloocan. Its southern endpoint is at the rotunda near the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City while its northern point is at Monumento in Caloocan City near the Andres Bonifacio monument. When the avenue was constructed in 1940 by engineers led by Florencio Moreno and Osmundo L. Monsod, it was first named as North and South Circumferential Road. But at the end of World War II, the American occupiers changed the name to Highway 54. Epifanio delos Santos, also known as "Don Panyong" was a lawyer, journalist, historian, philosopher, bibliophile, biographer, painter, poet, musician, literary critic, antique collector, and librarian. He was born April 7, 1871 in Malabon, Rizal province. He was a member of the Malolos Congress, and served as fiscal of Nueva Ecija. At the time of his death on April 18, 1928 at the age 57, he was the director of the National Library and National Museum. His assistant then, the late Senate President Eulogio Rodriguez, was a prime mover in renaming Highway 54 to EDSA, but he died before his dream was realized. It was Juan Francisco Sumulong, a lawmaker from Rizal province and a classmate from his law school days at the University of Santo Tomas, who continued the campaign. "There are praiseworthy sons of the province. Why are we always borrowing from the honor of others?" Sumulong asked. In between name changes, the Americans wanted it called (Gen Douglas) McArthur Highway, supporters of the late President Ramon Magsaysay wanted it named after him, while loyalists of Rizal fought for 19 de Junio, the national hero's birthday. EDSA won, supported by a number of associations including the Philippines Historical Committee, Philippines Historical Association, Philippines Library Association, Association of University and College Professors, Philippine China Cultural Association, and Philippine National Historical Society. But in 1959, by virtue of Republic Act 2140, the highway was renamed in honor of Epifanio de los Santos, a famous statesman of the province of Rizal.
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