HON. HERMENEGILDO “BINDOY” T. VILLANUEVA
HON. HERMENEGILDO “BINDOY” T. VILLANUEVA
Writer : Prof. Penn T. Larena ,CPS,MPA
Writer : Prof. Penn T. Larena ,CPS,MPA
Hermenegildo Villanueva was born on September 25, 1896 in the municipality of Bais, Negros Oriental, Philippines, son of Hermenegildo Regis Villanueva and Anselma Pinili Teves. He was Filipino citizen married to Asuncion dela Peña Larena who was the eldest daughter of prominent sugar baron Demetrio Larena and Maria Luisa dela Peña.
He learned his first lessons from his private tutor employed by his parents. He continued his studies in Cebu, attending one of the best schools of that time there, where he finished his secondary training. He finished a business course in Iloilo City.
Just budding into full manhood during the early part of the revolution, young Hermenegildo saw glamours in the services for his country. Immediately at the outbreak of hostilities, he became Chief of the Local Revolutionary Army and secretary of War in the Negros Republic. He was also largely responsible for the strong organization and morale of his corps.
Hermenegildo Villanueva and his father-in-law, Demetrio Larena were the two men most responsible for the location in Dumaguete of what is now Siliman University, for they the ones who in 1901 masterfully convinced visiting Presbyterian missionaries to set up their proposed school in Dumaguete and not in the Zamboanga, Cebu, Bacolod, or Aparri. Villanueva and Larena strongly believed that the future lay with American rule, but that it was imperative for their people must have good and proper education, to cope with life under the new system.
Hermenegildo succeeded Larena as governor in 1906 after his term as Presidente of Bais, his hometown. He served a four-year term as governor of the province from 1906 to 1910 and then again 1931 to 1935. He was elected delegate to the first Philippines Assembly in 1909. He asserted the independence of Negros Oriental from Occidental in any way he could, such as creating a constabulary post separate from that of the other province.
Bindoy Villanueva, as he was more popularly called, governed a fractious populace split into an unimaginable variety of fractions, each fraction out only for its interest, or to destroy the others. Religious factionalism, in particular, a tri-headed dragon representing the Roma Catholic clergy, their traditional enemy, the Philippines Independent Church or the Aglipay as it is popularly called, and the various new Protestant missions, tore society apart. Thought the friars had lost direct political power, they controlled a large following among the people and were perfectly capable of fomenting dispute and social unrest.
When he was reelected governor in 1930s, the provincial ambiance had changed. A waterworks system now provided potable water to Dumaguete; a Pier had been constructed, facilitating trade with other Visayan Islands; the literacy situation, once deplorable, had improved a great deal. He became senator of the Eight National District, delegate of the First District of Negros Oriental Constitutional Convention in 1934. He was thus one of the forgers of the Philippine Republic. He also became Secretary of Labor and Presidential adviser to President Manuel L. Quezon on Labor Matters in 1941.
Thus, one of the much selected few of our public men in the Philippines today, Governor Villanueva has an enviable record in the service of his country. For more than twenty-five years, he has been playing the rule of a senior statesman and administrator of affairs and of men and there had never been any occasion in his life, throughout his political career where the people registered their opposition to his leadership through the polls. All that is known so far is that Governor Villanueva was loved by the entire electorate and by the people of Negros Oriental. He was one of the Board of Directors of the Central Azucarera de Bais and was also one of the founders of the Asociacion Agricola de Bais y Tanjay. He was a member of the following well-known clubs in Manila: Columbia Filipino, Tiro Al blanco.
He died at the age of 72, one of those that sunk with S. S Corregidor on December 17, 1941 when it struck a mine in Manila Bay, nine days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the start of the Philippines involvement in World War II.
He learned his first lessons from his private tutor employed by his parents. He continued his studies in Cebu, attending one of the best schools of that time there, where he finished his secondary training. He finished a business course in Iloilo City.
Just budding into full manhood during the early part of the revolution, young Hermenegildo saw glamours in the services for his country. Immediately at the outbreak of hostilities, he became Chief of the Local Revolutionary Army and secretary of War in the Negros Republic. He was also largely responsible for the strong organization and morale of his corps.
Hermenegildo Villanueva and his father-in-law, Demetrio Larena were the two men most responsible for the location in Dumaguete of what is now Siliman University, for they the ones who in 1901 masterfully convinced visiting Presbyterian missionaries to set up their proposed school in Dumaguete and not in the Zamboanga, Cebu, Bacolod, or Aparri. Villanueva and Larena strongly believed that the future lay with American rule, but that it was imperative for their people must have good and proper education, to cope with life under the new system.
Hermenegildo succeeded Larena as governor in 1906 after his term as Presidente of Bais, his hometown. He served a four-year term as governor of the province from 1906 to 1910 and then again 1931 to 1935. He was elected delegate to the first Philippines Assembly in 1909. He asserted the independence of Negros Oriental from Occidental in any way he could, such as creating a constabulary post separate from that of the other province.
Bindoy Villanueva, as he was more popularly called, governed a fractious populace split into an unimaginable variety of fractions, each fraction out only for its interest, or to destroy the others. Religious factionalism, in particular, a tri-headed dragon representing the Roma Catholic clergy, their traditional enemy, the Philippines Independent Church or the Aglipay as it is popularly called, and the various new Protestant missions, tore society apart. Thought the friars had lost direct political power, they controlled a large following among the people and were perfectly capable of fomenting dispute and social unrest.
When he was reelected governor in 1930s, the provincial ambiance had changed. A waterworks system now provided potable water to Dumaguete; a Pier had been constructed, facilitating trade with other Visayan Islands; the literacy situation, once deplorable, had improved a great deal. He became senator of the Eight National District, delegate of the First District of Negros Oriental Constitutional Convention in 1934. He was thus one of the forgers of the Philippine Republic. He also became Secretary of Labor and Presidential adviser to President Manuel L. Quezon on Labor Matters in 1941.
Thus, one of the much selected few of our public men in the Philippines today, Governor Villanueva has an enviable record in the service of his country. For more than twenty-five years, he has been playing the rule of a senior statesman and administrator of affairs and of men and there had never been any occasion in his life, throughout his political career where the people registered their opposition to his leadership through the polls. All that is known so far is that Governor Villanueva was loved by the entire electorate and by the people of Negros Oriental. He was one of the Board of Directors of the Central Azucarera de Bais and was also one of the founders of the Asociacion Agricola de Bais y Tanjay. He was a member of the following well-known clubs in Manila: Columbia Filipino, Tiro Al blanco.
He died at the age of 72, one of those that sunk with S. S Corregidor on December 17, 1941 when it struck a mine in Manila Bay, nine days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the start of the Philippines involvement in World War II.
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