- Eulogio Rodriguez
Eulogio "Amang" Adona Rodriguez, Sr. (
January 21 ,1883 –December 19 ,1964 ) was a Filipino politician, the longest serving Senate President afterManuel L. Quezon , serving the post fromApril 30 ,1952 toApril 17 ,1953 andMay 20 ,1953 toApril 5 ,1963 .Rodriguez was born in Montalban (renamed "Rodriguez" in his honor), Distrito de Morong on
January 21 ,1883 to Petronilo Rodriguez and Monica Adona. He first studied at the Spanish-run public school in Montalban, then took his secondary course at theColegio de San Juan de Letran inManila , where he completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1896. He then studied law under a private tutor.Political life
Rodriguez first served as Municipal President of Montalban, Rizal from 1906–1916; became Governor of Rizal in June 1916; and was reelected in June 1922. He was appointed Mayor of
Manila by Governor GeneralLeonard Wood on July 23, 1923, and later served as Representative ofNueva Vizcaya District from February 1924 to May 1925. He became the Representative of the Second District ofRizal in 1925 and was reelected in 1931 and 1934. He was also appointed Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce by Governor Frank Murphy onJuly 26 ,1934 , re-appointed by PresidentManuel L. Quezon onJanuary 15 ,1940 , and served as such untilAugust 28 ,1941 . After his resignation as Mayor ofManila , he campaigned for a seat in the Senate and was elected senator in 1941. OnMay 20 ,1953 , he was elected Senate President, a position he occupied for the next ten years.“Amang” started his career in politics as a Democrata or a member of the opposition party, and not until there was a general realignment of parties due to the divisive struggle over the approval of the Independence Law in 1933, did he switch to the majority or the
Nacionalista Party , to which he remained faithful until the day of his death three decades later. He nursed the party during its darkest hours, and steered it successfully through the political reefs and typhoons that rocked the local scene, thus earning for him the sobriquet “"Mr. Nacionalista"”. Unlike so many others, he did not switch parties for personal convenience.As a legislator, he always supported measures improving the lot of common man, for he knew that the upgrading of the masses was the best way of retaining democracy in the country. Many were sometimes politically at odds with him, but they always found him to be a reasonable opponent who played clean in a game known for its mendacity and unpricipled moves. A man of integrity, who played fair even with his opponents, and who could be generous in victory, Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez was a man, a politician and a public official of sterling attributes.
He had seven children by his first wife,
Juana Santiago , namely Eulogio, Jr., Jose, Ruperto, Leonor, Isidro, Constancio and Adelaida. With his second wife,Luisita Canoy , he had three children, namely, Baby, Linda and Rafael.References
* [http://www.senate.gov.ph Senate of the Philippines]
*Paras, Corazon. "The Presidents of the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines." Quezon City: Giraffe Books, 2000. ISBN 971-8832-24-6
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