On This Day - June 11, 1978 - by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1530, the Pag-IBIG Fund was established

On June 11, 1978, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1530, the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), more popularly known as the Pag-IBIG Fund was established to answer to the need for a national savings program and an affordable shelter financing for the Filipino worker. Pag-IBIG is an acronym which stands for Pagtutulungan sa Kinabukasan: Ikaw, Bangko, Industria at Gobyerno.

Under the said law, there were two agencies that administered the Fund. The Social Security System (SSS) which handled the funds of private employees and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) handled the savings of government workers. Less than a year after on March 1, 1979, Executive Order No. 527 was signed directing the transfer of the administration of the Fund to the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation, which was one of the operating agencies of the then Ministry of Human Settlements.

Seeing the need to further strengthen the stability and viability of the two funds, Executive Order No. 538 was issued on June 4, 1979, merging the funds for private and government personnel into what is now known as the Pag-IBIG Fund. However, it was only on December 14, 1980 when Pag-IBIG was made independent from the NHMFC with the signing of PD 1752, which amended PD 1530. With the improved law in effect, the Fund's rule-making power was vested in its own Board of Trustees. Likewise, PD 1752 made Pag-IBIG membership mandatory for all SSS and GSIS member-employees.

The administration Fund underwent some changes after former President Corazon C. Aquino assumed leadership of the country. Pag-IBIG contributions were suspended from May to July 1986. This gave way to the Presidential Task Force on Shelter to conduct a thorough review of the Fund and its operations. The task force later affirmed that Pag-IBIG Fund was run professionally and that there were no anomalies in the Fund.

On August 1, 1986, former President Aquino directed the resumption of Pag-IBIG membership under Executive Order No. 35. Membership was still on a mandatory basis but under more liberal terms. For one, contribution rate was reduced from three percent to one percent for employees earning over P1,500. Employer share was likewise cut from three percent to a fixed rate of two percent. The Maximum Fund Salary was raised from P3,000 to P5,000. On January 1, 1987 voluntary membership to the Pag-IBIG Fund was returned under Executive Order No. 90. While many companies chose to discontinue their Pag-IBIG membership, quite a number, including big companies like PLDT and Dole Philippines opted to retain their membership to the Fund despite the voluntary nature of registration.

Facing challenges head on, confronted with the sudden reduction in its membership base, Pag-IBIG stood unfazed and took the challenges head on. As a first step, the Fund implemented an intensified marketing campaign that focused on membership retention and generation. It was during the years as a voluntary fund that Pag-IBIG evolved from an institution primarily for savings and housing into an agency with a wider reach that covers almost all other needs.

Pag-IBIG introduced innovative benefit programs that heeded the calls for expansion of membership to include self-employed groups with informal income, overseas Filipino workers, and non-earning spouses. It also launched other novel programs such as the Multi-Purpose Loan for its short-term loans program, and shelter programs that address both individual and institutional housing requirements. Clearly, the voluntary nature of Pag-IBIG membership did not stop the Fund from growing in depth and breadth. During the period, the Pag-IBIG Fund has claimed its rightful place in the country's economic and financial system, finally gaining the acceptance of its members, not by force, but by its continuing efforts to impress upon the members that the Fund exists solely for their benefit as well as their beneficiaries.

On June 17, 1994, after eight years as a voluntary fund, the nature of Pag-IBIG membership reverted to mandatory when President Fidel V. Ramos signed Republic Act 7742. The new law became effective on January 1, 1995.

Today, more than a decade after the universal Pag-IBIG coverage law was implemented, the Pag-IBIG Fund continues to be a strong partner in realizing Filipino workers' dreams. Over the years, it initiated more programs and projects, particularly those that address the needs of members belonging to the bottom economic level. The Fund has established special housing partnerships with teachers and uniformed men, among others. The Rent-to-Own Program was introduced, providing members another affordable way of homeownership. The Fund's efforts towards housing the Filipino did not go unnoticed. During the World Habitat Day celebration in October 2006, Pag-IBIG was given the prestigious Scroll of Honour Awards by the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) for "making the dream of affordable housing a reality for hundreds of thousands of households." Pag-IBIG is the first Philippine government agency to be awarded such recognition. The Fund likewise strengthened its partnership with accredited developers by way of its various institutional lending programs, among which is the much-sought after program for the development of medium and high-rise condominium buildings. The program provides a ready inventory of condominium units for sale at affordable prices, and allows members to experience condominium style living in areas close to their places of work.

In recent years, the Fund has embarked on its successful bid in the financial market, moving a step closer to its vision of becoming a premier and globally competitive provident financial institution. In 2001, the Fund floated P2 billion-worth of Pag-IBIG Housing Bonds to generate additional funds for its shelter financing programs, which was warmly received by both institutional and individual investors. The bonds matured in late 2006.

HDMF Law of 2009 Recognizing HDMF's contributions through the years and the need to further strengthen its capability as the biggest source of housing finance in the country to date, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed into law Republic Act No. 9679 or the Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 2009. The law was signed on July 21, 2009. Under the new HDMF law, membership to the Pag-IBIG Fund is made mandatory for all SSS and GSIS covered employees; uniformed members of the AFP, BFP, BJMP and PNP; as well as Filipinos employed by foreign-based employers.

Now more than ever, Filipino workers will enjoy the benefits that are available only to Pag-IBIG members. Likewise, the law grants the HDMF exemption from tax payments like other government provident institutions. With its tax-exempt status reinstated, Pag-IBIG will have more funds to finance housing and short-term loans as well as investments in government securities. Income from these endeavors is distributed exclusively to Pag-IBIG members in the form of dividends. The HDMF Law of 2009 also gives the Board of Trustees the authority to set the contribution rates, thereby paving the way for members to save more for their future. Similarly, this will bolster the Fund's resources for home financing.

To this day, the Pag-IBIG Fund continues to harness these four sectors of the society to work together towards providing Fund members with adequate housing through an effective savings scheme.

References

Philippine News Agency archives

About page, Home Development Mutual Fund (http://www.pagibigfund.gov.ph/)


Home Development Mutual Fund (PAG-IBIG fund).

On-This-Day - June 10,1928 - Birth of Mercedes B. Concepcion is a Filipino social scientist who was named a National Scientist of the Philippines in 2010

On-This-Day - June 10,1928 - Birth of Mercedes B. Concepcion is a Filipino social scientist who was named a National Scientist of the Philippines in 2010. Concepcion was also dubbed the "Mother of Asian Demography" because of her contributions in population studies and policy within the region.

Mercedes B. Concepcion (born June 10, 1928) is a Filipino social scientist who was named a National Scientist of the Philippines in 2010. Concepcion was also dubbed the "Mother of Asian Demography" because of her contributions in population studies and policy within the region. In 2002, she was named the "First Filipino Demographer" by the Philippine American Foundation. A few years later, she won the 2005 United Nations Population Award for her outstanding work in population studies on social and economic development, urbanization, and public health and welfare. Concepcion is currently the Vice President of the Executive Council of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and is a Trustee for both the Philippine Center for Population and Development (PCPD) and Foundation for Adolescent Development, among several other roles.

Education

Concepcion earned her bachelor's degree in Chemistry at the University of the Philippines in 1951. From 1953 to 1954, she studied Biostatistics at the University of Sydney School of Hygiene and Public Health under the Colombo Plan Fellowship.^[1] Years later, she received another fellowship from the Population Council of New York to pursue a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago.^[2]

Career and research

Shortly following her studies at the University of Sydney, Concepcion returned to the Philippines in 1955 to become first Filipino staff member of the United Nations Statistical Training Centre at the University of the Philippines. After finishing up her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, she returned to the Philippines again to serve multiple leadership roles. She was member and chairperson of the Preparatory Committees for the Asian Population Conferences of 1963, 1972, 1984, and 1994. Concepcion also worked with the Vatican as one of the two Asian members of the Birth Control Commission in 1964.^[3] This commission led to the formation of the famous encyclical Humanae Vitae in 1968. She also became the first Director of the newly established UP Population Institute (UPPI) in 1964.^[4] In 1967, she was the first and sole Philippine Representative to the United Nations (UN) Population Commission.^[2] In addition, Concepcion was the first Woman to chair this UN Population Commission from 1969 to 1977, and the first Asian woman to be elected President of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population in 1981-1985.^[5]^[6]

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she headed the Organization of Demographic Associates (ODA) composed of population institutes in Asia.^[2] Here, she implemented research studies on migration, urbanization, the elderly, and population and development issues. She also chaired the Steering Committee on the Social and Psychological Determinants of Fertility Regulation of the World Health Organization. This Committee reviewed research and action program proposals for funding.^[2]

In 1986, Concepcion chaired the Committee to Review the Philippine Statistical System. Approximately twenty years later, she was again appointed to the Committee to Review the Philippine Statistical System which recommended legislation for setting up the Philippine Statistics Authority which was passed into law on 31 October 2013.^[7] Her reviews led to the creation of the National Statistical Coordination Board as well as the reorganization of agencies such as the National Statistics Office, Statistical Research and Training Center, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, and Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics.^[8]

Concepcion was also involved with different social science organizations. She was one of the founding members of the Philippine Social Science Council and served as its first chairperson. She remains an active member of the Philippine Sociological Society, Philippine Statistical Association, and Philippine Population Association.^[8]

Adding to the list of roles, Concepcion has also served as a consultant for several international organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund, the UN Development Fund, the UN Statistical Office, the UN Training and Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.^[2]

Awards and recognition

In 2002, Concepcion was named the "First Filipino Demographer" by the Philippine American Foundation.^[2]

In 2005, she won the United Nations Population Award for work in population studies on social and economic development, urbanization, and public health and welfare.^[9]

In 2010, she was bestowed the honor of "National Scientist of the Philippines " according Proclamation No. 1980 signed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. ^[10]

On This Day - June 9, 1904 - Artemio Ricarte was accused of conspiracy, rebellion and insurrection against the Americans

On June 9, 1904, noted Filipino General, Artemio "Vivora" Ricarte was accused of illegal possession of firearms, conspiracy, rebellion and insurrection against the Americans.

(General Artemio "Vivora" Ricarte)

Dubbed as the "Father of the Philippine Army", Ricarte was the Chief of Operations of the Philippine forces during the Philippine-American War which started in 1899.

Ricarte was captured in Manila in 1900 and deported to Guam along with other leaders of the insurrection. General Ricarte, Apolinario Mabini and others were eventually pardoned and were allowed to return home in 1903. Mabini pledged his allegiance to the Americans but died few weeks later of cholera. Ricarte who refused to take the oath was not allowed to set foot in the Philippines and was instead shipped to Hong Kong. He secretely returned shortly after and raised a revolt in the Rizal province area.

Ricarte would spend the next six years at Bilibid Prison.

In 1910 upon his release from prison he was again ordered to pledge his oath of allegiance to the United States but would again refuse and would again be deported to Hong Kong.

Ricarte and his wife eventually moved to Yokohama, Japan where they lived in self exile until the invasion of the Philippines by Japan in 1941. It is said that the Japanese flew "Vibora" back home to help the Japanese pacify the Filipinos.

In 1944, during the Japanese occupation, Ricarte together with fellow veteran revolutionist Generals Leon Villafuerte, and Andres Villanueva, Benigno Ramos of Ganap Party (formerly Sakdal Party), Pio Duran and others, established the MAKAPILI (Kalipunang Makabayan ng mga Pilipino- "Patriotic League of Filipinos"), an armed pro-Japanese militia to fight the American forces.

Some accounts said that towards the end of World War II, Ricarte was asked by a Japanese military officer to evacuate the Philippines but Ricarte declined, stating:

"I can not take refuge in Japan at this critical moment when my people are in distress. I will stay in my Motherland to the last."

Due to the hardship and difficulties from evading American and Filipino attacks, Ricarte became ill and suffered from debilitating dysentery.

On July 31, 1945 at Hungduan, Ifugao, Artemio "Vivora" Ricarte died at the age of 78.

Sources:

Philippines News Agency archives
American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Volume 29, Number 2, February 1953
History of the Philippines, David P. Barrows, 1925

On This Day - June 8, 1625 - The revolt of Nueva Segovia took place led by Miguel Lanab and a person only known as Alababan an Itneg tribesmen in Abulag

On June 8, 1625, the revolt Nueva Segovia (present day Cagayan province) took place in a village called Abulag led by Don Miguel Lanab and a person only known as Alababan. The rebellion started with the killing of Fray Alonso Garcia and Fray Onofre Palao by Lanab and Alababan, followed by burning a church.

The following is the account of this event extracted from Chapter XXVIII of Aduarte's Historia, The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803, Vol. 1, no. 32, Emma Helen Blair, et. al.

On the eighth of June, the first Sunday after the most Holy Trinity, a great misfortune occurred in the revolt of some Indians of the province of Nueva Segovia. Turning their backs on the faith, they gave it up and fled to the mountains - a thing which caused great grief to the ministers of the holy gospel.

In that province, above a village named Abulug, near a river which comes down from the mountain, two villages had been formed by gathering the inhabitants together. They were called Nuestra Sefiora del Rossario de Fotol, as has been recounted in this history, and San Lorenzo de Capinatan. In the latter there lived some Indians known as Mandayas, a wild and fierce tribe whose native abode was in mountainous places about the bay of Bigan in Ylocos.

The religious ministered to them and assisted them in their necessities, taught them the law of God, and baptized many people, for these people generally asked holy baptism from them. Their evil nature, which was perverse and restless, and their affection for their ancient places of abode so attracted them that it seemed as if in that village they were caught fast by the hair. Three times they endeavored to escape to the mountains; and though they were prevented twice, and their efforts came to nothing, this last time they so planned their attempt, and kept it so secret, that they carried out their evil purpose. With this object, they stirred up the old inhabitants of Capinatan, and persuaded those of Fotol, bringing them to join them by means of threats and prayers. Some of the people of Fotol became so obstinate that they were worse than the Mandayas, the first movers of the insurrection. Afterward the Mandayas who were in Capinatan rose; and two of them, Don Miguel Lanab and another chief named Alababan, set the enterprise in motion by going to the church to speak to the religious who was there at the time. This was father Fray Alonso Garcia, a son of the convent of San Pablo at Valladolid, who had said a first mass in the village of Fotol, and a second in Capinatan, and was now at dinner with brother Fray Onofre Palao, a lay religious from the convent of Manila. They were seated at their meal in a little corridor of the house.

Their assailants came up, and each one standing beside the religious whom he was to decapitate, they made a pretense of asking permission to go to some villages on their ancient lands. Father Fray Alonso, who had but recently come, referred the request to the regular minister of the village, and asked them to wait till he should come, because he was in another village. At this point Alababan raised his arm, and with his balanao or knife he struck such a blow on the neck of Fray Onofre that he cut off his head to the backbone, leaving it hanging by only a little bit of skin. Don Miguel Lanab, who had not acted so promptly, lifted his knife, and father Fray Alonso naturally raised his hand to protect his head. The knife cut through this and the blow went on and reached his head. Father Fray Alonso rose from the table and fell on his knees like a gentle lamb; and the Mandaya traitor repeated the blow, giving him another on the head.

The Indian boys who served at the table began to scream; and the transgressors, that they might not be caught in so perfidious an act, made their escape. Some Indians who were ignorant of the conspiracy came, and took father Fray Alonso to the house of a chief, where some medicines were applied to the wound. As they were preparing a barge in which to take him down to the village of Abulug, the Mandayas came, and prevented them from doing so by threats. They took him back to the house of the chieftainess: and while father Fray Alonso was exhorting the people to come back to obedience, and expounding to them the evil of which they were guilty in apostatizing from the faith, three Mandayas came in, and with their keen balanaos or knives cut to pieces the confessor of Christ. They afterward threw out the pieces from the house, to be eaten by the swine who were there.

As a result of this atrocious deed, the Mandayas rose in a body and roused the Capinatas; and, coming down to Fotol, they forced the people there by menaces to flee with them to the mountains. They set fire to the churches, and, as members of Satan, they defiled them by a thousand sacrileges. They struck off the head of a Christ, and cut the body down the middle, dividing it into two parts, which were afterward found by the religious who came to bring them back to obedience. The religious buried these, the uprising of the Mandayas (of whose severe punishment we shall soon hear) allowing no opportunity for anything else.

With regard to Fray Alonso Garcia, several matters worthy of remark were noted. The first was this. Some months before, while he was living in the convent in Capinatan, he one night had put himself into the posture of prayer in the dormitory, with his breviary in his hand. At this time the convent was disturbed by an imp who caused so much trouble that he would not give the religious any rest, and from whose visitations there was not in all the convent any place that was free. He disturbed them in the dormitory, he made a noise in the cells, he feigned the noise of a struggle in the church; and sometimes he let himself fall with a clatter that was heard in the village, and he would throw himself down from the choir. He used to walk up and down in the church, and he made his appearance in the larders, where he broke all the plates there were; he made a noise under the beds, and struck the heads of the bedsteads; and sounded the strings of a harp which they had for use at masses on some feasts. This disturbance lasted until the breaking-out of the uprising, and must have been a prognostication of it, and a sign of what the devil was devising to disquiet the Christians of this village.

Now while father Fray Alonso was praying, the imp came to him, invisible to everyone in the dormitory, and struck the father a heavy blow, so that he felt pain in the same hand and wrist, in the place where the blow afterward fell which cut it off. This was the first of the things referred to. The second was that he thought so little of himself, and had so little confidence in his own works, that he was accustomed to say that if he did not die by some fortunate blow which should take away his life and despatch him to heaven, he did not know whether he should go there. This he said because of his humility, and the event was as he said. Another matter was that, although father Fray Alonso was not a very skilful linguist, and not one of those who had made the greatest progress in speaking the language of that tribe, yet when he was wounded by the first blows and was urging the Indians not to flee, and telling them of the harm which would come to them if they did so, he spoke with such elegance and precision that the Indians were amazed to hear him; and they noted this as a striking fact at the time, and told of it afterward. He was very charitable, and was in the habit of praising all and of speaking of the defects of himself alone. He came to the Philippinas in the year 1622, and lived in the province of Nueva Segovia- where, in his third year, he met with the happy death which keen knives, directed by hands of apostates from the faith, bring to ministers of the holy gospel.

The intermediate chapter of 1628 made mention of these two religious in the following words: "In the province of Nueva Segovia father Fray Alonso Garcia, a priest, and brother Fray Onofre Palao, a lay brother, died happily by the hands of impious apostates, an uprising of the Indians to whom they ministered having occurred."

In the place where father Fray Alonso was cut to pieces, there was afterward raised in his honor a small shrine. The Indians were brought back in the following year, and this tribe used devoutly to frequent this shrine. The dwelling of the religious had stood where Fray Onofre had been killed, and here it was erected again.

Since the first building was burned, it was supposed that the fire had consumed his body at the same time - although some Spaniards have some small bones which they value, believing that these are his, because they found them where he was decapitated.

References

Philippines News Agency archives
Chapter XXVIII of Aduarte's Historia (via The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803, Vol. 1, no. 32, Emma Helen Blair et al, 1911, University of Michigan Digital Library).

On This Day - June 7, 1889 Valeriano Weyler, received orders have telephone services in Philippines

On This Day - June 7, 1889, Valeriano Weyler, Governor-General of the Philippines, received orders from the Spanish government to grant private companies the right to establish telephone services in the Philippines.

The following year, the first telephone service began operating in the country.

Weyler was born in 1838 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. His distant paternal ancestors were originally Prussians and served in the Spanish army for several generations.^[3] He was educated in his place of birth and in Granada.^[4] Weyler decided to enter the Spanish army, being influenced by his father, a military doctor.

He graduated from the Infantry School of Toledo at the age of 16.^[4] At 20, Weyler had achieved the rank of lieutenant,^[4] and he was appointed the rank of captain in 1861.^[5] In 1863, he was transferred to Cuba, and his participation in the campaign of Santo Domingo earned him the Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand.^[5] During the Ten Years' War that was fought between 1868 and 1878, he served as a colonel^[5] under General Arsenio Martínez Campos, but he returned to Spain before the end of the war to fight against Carlists in the Third Carlist War in 1873.^[2] In 1878, he was made general.^[4]

Canary Islands and Philippines

From 1878 to 1883, Weyler served as Captain-General of Canary Islands. In 1888, Weyler was made Governor-General of the Philippines.^[2] Weyler granted the petitions of 20 young women of Malolos, Bulacan, to receive education and to have a night school. The women became known as the Women of Malolos. The original petition was denied by the parish priest of Malolos, who argued that women should always stay at home and take care of the family.

Weyler happened to visit Malolos afterward and granted the petition on account of the persistence the women displayed for their petition. José Rizal wrote a letter to the women, upon request by Marcelo H. del Pilar, praising their initiative and sensibility on their high hopes for women's education and progress. In 1895, he earned the Grand Cross of Maria Christina for his command of troops in the Philippines^[2] in which he fought an uprising of Tagalogs^[6] and conducted an offensive against the Moros in Mindanao.

Spain

On his return to Spain in 1892, he was appointed to command the 6th Army Corps in the Basque Provinces and Navarre, where he soon quelled agitations. He was then made captain-general at Barcelona, where he remained until January 1896. In Catalonia, with a state of siege, he made himself the terror of the anarchists and communists.^[3]

Cuba

After Arsenio Martínez Campos had failed to pacify the Cuban Rebellion, the Conservative government of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo sent Weyler out to replace him. That met the approval of most Spaniards, who thought him the proper man to crush the rebellion.^[3]

He was made Governor-General of Cuba with full powers to suppress the insurgency (rebellion was widespread in Cuba) and restore the island to political order and its sugar production to greater profitability. Initially, Weyler was greatly frustrated by the same factors that had made victory difficult for all generals of traditional standing armies fighting against an insurgency.

While the Spanish troops marched in regulation and required substantial supplies, their opponents practiced hit-and-run tactics, lived off the land, and blended in with the noncombatant population. He came to the same conclusions as his predecessors as well: to win Cuba back for Spain, he would have to separate the rebels from the civilians by confining the latter to towns and forts protected by loyal Spanish troops. By the end of 1897, General Weyler had divided the long island of Cuba into different sectors and forced more than 300,000 men, women and children into areas nearby cities. By emptying the land of a sympathetic population, and then burning crops, preventing their replanting, and driving away livestock, the Spanish military made the countryside inhospitable to the insurgents.

Weyler's reconcentrado policy made his military objectives easier to accomplish, but it had devastating humanitarian and political consequences. The reconcentrados, separated from their livelihoods in the countryside and poorly housed at close quarters in the tropical climate, suffered greatly from starvation and disease. Death toll estimates range from 150,000 to 400,000 people.^[7]^[8] Much was made of their suffering in the American press where Weyler became known as The Butcher.^[9] The wave of negative publicity contributed to an atmosphere conducive to the U.S. declaration of war against Spain two months after the sinking of the USS Maine in 1898. The Spanish Conservative government supported Weyler's tactics wholeheartedly, but the Liberals denounced them vigorously for their toll on the Cuban people.

Similar civilian internment policies were applied in the Second Boer War concentration camps by the British (1900-1902),^[7] the United States during the Philippine–American War (1899–1902),^[7]^[10] Germany against the Herero (1904-1907) and later by other governments.^[7]

On This Day - June 6, 1875 - Norberto Romualdez Sr. was born

On June 6, 1875, Norberto Romualdez Sr., Leyte's favorite son and delegate to the first constitutional convention, was born in Burauen, Leyte. He was the brother of Vicente Orestes Romualdez, the father of Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

(Norberto Romualdez Sr)

Romualdez was one of the "Seven Wise Men" who drafted the 1935 Constitution for the Philippine Commonwealth.

He finished his Bachelor of Arts with honors at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1895 and earned his title of Maestro de Segunda Ensenanza (high school teacher) at the University of Santo Tomas before the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution.

He studied law during the American Occupation and passed the Bar in 1903.

The Americans took notice of his qualifications and appointed him assistant city attorney of Manila in 1910, judge of the Court of Land Registration in 1911, judge of the Court of First Instance for the 22nd District (Capiz, Iloilo, Antique, and Negros Occidental) in 1914, and associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1921.

Notably, when he attended the Postal Convention in Barcelona, Spain, in 1920, he worked for the adoption of the Philippine peso as the postal monetary unit of the country, and also performed other significant services while in Spain.

He initiated moves for the return of the Spolarium, the famous painting of Juan Luna. He was also commissioned to bring home the remains of Marcelo H. Del Pilar, which he accomplished on December 3, 1920.

In the Commonwealth National Assembly, he was chairman of the Committee on National Language. He sponsored Act No. 184 which provided for the adoption of the National Language and the creation of the National Language Institute. Romualdez was the author of Philippine Orthography where he proposed how to systematically write in the native language.

While growing up in his native Leyte province, he first achieved status as a writer in the Waray-Waray language. He published his Bisayan Grammar which was intended to be for American soldiers stationed in Tacloban, Leyte who wanted to learn the language.

Leytenos respected him as an educator when he taught at the family's Colegio de San Jose.

Until his death, he was president of Sanghiran San Binisaya, a group which he founded and initiated projects to cultivate and enrich the Waray-waray language.

Norberto died in Palapag, Samar (present day Northern Samar) on November 4, 1941.

Reference: Philippines News Agency archives

On This Day - June 5, 1899 - General Antonio Luna was killed by Aguinaldo's men in Cabanatuan

On June 5, 1899, General Antonio Luna was killed in the plaza of a rectory in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. Luna was to attend a council of war called by General Emilio Aguinaldo.

(General Antonio Luna (left), and General Emilio Aguinaldo)

Luna arrived with two aides-de camp and a mounted escort of twelve men. After dismounting and dismissing his escort, he proceeded alone to the rectory where Aguinaldo had his headquarters. On mounting the stairs, he was met by a junior officer, who informed him that Aguinaldo had left with his command. Luna felt slighted and expressed himself very strongly on the matter and prepared to take his departure. As he turned to leave the room, a sergeant of one of the two companies that Aguinaldo had left at Cabanatuan, sprang from behind the door, where he had been concealed, and attacked Luna from behind, inflicting a severe wound with a bolo.

General Luna, seeing himself surrounded and realizing that he was practically in the same strait as Andres Bonifacio had been at Naic, some three years previously, drew his revolver to defend himself. Not wishing to be overcomed by numbers in a hand to hand struggle in the rectory, he forced his way through his assailants and rushed down stairs into the plaza to summon his escort to his assistance. On arriving in the plaza, he was confronted by one of the companies that Aguinaldo had left in Cabanatuan to arrest him at all costs. The officer in command, judging that Luna, if arrested alive, would only be a source of embarassment to Aguinaldo, ordered his men to fire a volley. Luna fell at the first discharge but did not die before he wounded a number of assailants with his revolver.

Earlier, on about March or April, 1899, there were some overtures between Emilio Aguinaldo, Felipe Buencamino, and Pedro Paterno on the one hand and the American authorities on the other, towards a compromise on the basis of an autonomous government. It is unknown with whom these overtures originated, but Aguinaldo was disposed to listen to them. General Antonio Luna heard of this and, at a cabinet meeting at Cabanatuan, reproached the dictator with wishing to betray the "extreme" party. It was this party, according to Luna, which represented the people at large. It certainly did represent the majority of the Filipino leaders and Katipuneros who had gone into the field to fight for complete independence. They would be satisfied by no such half measure as autonomy.

The conversation became heated. Luna, who had a violent temper, threatened to kill Aguinaldo. The latter, however, managed to avoid an encounter just then. But Luna followed up and struck Buencarnino in the face. Buencamino then made his escape with Pedro Paterno and both took refuge in a stable.

To Aguinaldo, compromise or no compromise, autonomy or complete independence, there was not sufficient room in the Philippines for himself and General Luna. He thereupon determined to lay a trap and rid himself of the violent patriot for once and all. To this end he summoned General Luna to attend a council of war at Cabanatuan.

References

An army officer's Philippine studies, Captain John Young Mason Blunt, University Press, Manila, 1912