Jose C. Locsin Ancestral House

This wouldn’t be the first time I would be visiting Negros Occidental, having visited Bacolod City during a GPS mapping tour, but this would be the first time I would be visiting Silay City, hometown of my late mom.  With me was my wife Grace, my son Jandy and daughter Cheska.  Arriving at the New Bacolod-Silay International Airport, via a Cebu Pacific flight from Manila, we would be attending the 8^th Nationwide Locsin Family Grand Reunion to be held from April 9 to 10.

Check out “New Bacolod-Silay International Airport”

Historical plaque installed by the National Historical Institute (now National Historical Commission of the Philippines) in 1995

Upon arrival, we were picked up at the airport by my cousins (both a generation younger than me) Neil Solomon “Solo” and Lorenzo “Enzo” Locsin.  After a short 15min. (11.2-km.) drive, we arrived at Silay City.

The living area

Upon arrival, Solo billeted us at the one-storey house of the late Tita Conchi Locsin, my mom’s first cousin and sister of the late Philippine Free Press editor Teodoro M. Locsin Sr. (father of Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr.).  Solo now resides here.  Just across is the 80 year old, two-storey ancestral house of my late maternal grandfather Dr. Jose Corteza Locsin.

Portrait of Sen. Jose C. Locsin

Born in Silay on August 27, 1891 in Silay, Jose Corteza Locsin was the third child among the five children of Domingo Locsín and Enriqueta Corteza, devout Roman Catholics who were originally from Molo, Iloilo but resettled in Silay, acquired lands there and engaged in sugarcane farming.  After finishing his primary education in Silay, José C. Locsín was sent to Manila to study, first at Liceo de Manila, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1907, and afterwards at the Universidad de Santo Tomas where, at age 21, he graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, receiving the honor “Meritissimus.”

Starting his medical profession in Silay, he established the Maternity and Children’s Hospital (later the Silay General Hospital) and was also responsible for the establishment of a Rest and Resettlement Center for Tuberculosis in the mountain barangay of Patag. He also organized several women’s clubs to run puericulture centers  and was also responsible for the establishment of the Negros Occidental Provincial Hospital (and, later, its School of Nursing). He was named representative of the Social Welfare Commissioner in Negros Occidental, elected president of the Negros Occidental Medical Association and, in 1938, he became president of the Philippine Medical Association (reelected in 1939).

Although a medical practitioner, he had an inclination for politics and, because of his service to the people of Silay, he decided to run for public office and was elected as Municipal Councilor . After that, he was elected Provincial Board Member of Negros Occidental and, in 1925, became Governor of the Province of Negros Occidental, building roads and bridges throughout the province, establishing a waterworks system and, together with the Provincial Board, initiated the construction of the Provincial Capitol building. Placing a high priority in improving the province’s educational system, he was responsible for having had more schools built during his term than all the governors before him combined.

After his three year term as governor, he ran for Congress and, in 1928, was elected Representative of the 1st District of Negros Occidental, a district whose primary means of livelihood rely on the sugar industry. He worked for the modernization of sugar centrals, increased the share of sugarcane planters in the sugar produced, and raised the wages of farm laborers. As Chairman of the Committee on Public Instruction for three years, he worked on the establishment of schools in remote barrios and well as plazas in towns to promote cultural events.

As a delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention, he was chairman of that body’s Committee on Nationalization of Natural Resources where he advocated safeguards to protect the national patrimony. He was responsible for the inclusion of social justice in the Constitution’s declaration of principles. He was a member of the Philippine economic mission headed by Senator Laurel which worked for the Laurel-Langley Trade Agreement of 1945.  From 1945 to 1946, Dr. Locsín served under President Sergio Osmena as Secretary of the Department of Health and Public Welfare to help people recuperate from the ravages of World War II.

From 1951 to 1957, he served the country as a senator and was chairman of two Senate committees: Account and Health as well as a member of other Senate committees. As Chairman of the Health Committee, he worked for the approval of various measures to ensure and promote the health and safety of people through the establishment of Rural Health Units, the standardization of hospital services, and the National Campaign Against Tuberculosis. In addition, he also secured appropriations for the construction of new hospitals, health centers, clinics and other health care facilities and, at the same time, worked for the improvement of salary levels of public health care personnel, especially doctors. As Chairman of the Committee on Accounts, in order to prevent any deficiency during his term, he strived to maintain the annual appropriation.

As a senator, his other achievements include sponsorship of the Rural Banks Act; authorship of the Flag Ceremony Law (which gave importance to recognizing and respecting the Philippine flag); increase of the salary of public school teachers; and passage of a measure to celebrate the centennial of the birth of Dr. Jose Rizal in an appropriate manner.  It was during his term as senator that Pres. Carlos Garcia signed Republic Act 1621 in June 12, 1957 making Silay the second town in Negros Occidental to become a city.

His greatest contribution to the upliftment of the Filipino people was during his term (from 1958 to 1961) as Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC, now the National Economic and Development Authority, or NEDA) when he authored the bill popularly known as the “Filipino First Policy,” which gave impetus and encouragement to agro-industrial development, resulting in the establishment of more cement factories, flour mills, and FILOIL–the first of the Filipino-owned gasoline companies.

It also led to the banning of importation of plywood, the financing of irrigation and fertilizer programs, the construction of artesian wells and hydro-electric power plants in different parts of the Philippines, and the development of new industries through the Industrial Dispersal Program, and the program for social and economic development of the Mindanao Region.

At the same time that he was Chairman of NEC, he headed the National Productivity Board of the Philippines, contributing to the establishment of the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) of which he was unanimously elected its first Chairman in May 1961 during its inaugural meeting in Tokyo, Japan, an honor not only to himself but to the Philippines which he represented.

In 1961, when his term as NEC Chairman ended, he was appointed as Acting Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources where he had the licensing of forest concessions investigated which led to a marked reduction in the granting of such licenses and the filing of legal cases against illegal logging in the country.

As a staunch member of the Nacionalista Party, Dr. Locsín was a dedicated advocate of its principles and a loyal supporter of its members, supporting Ferdinand Marcos’ candidacy for president in 1965 after he switched allegiance and ran under the Nationalista Party. However, when Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, he was disheartened and regretted having given his support to Marcos’ presidency. Although no longer active in politics during the time of Martial Law, Dr. Locsín wore a black ribbon, even on his deathbed, as a sign of protest against Marcos symbolizing his mourning of the death of democracy.

In 1974, Dr. Locsín suffered a stroke (which some say was brought about by his frustration with not being able to directly do anything about abolishing Martial Law) and, from then on, underwent several surgical procedures due to problems with his gallbladder and prostate.  In 1976, because of complications brought about by old age and his illnesses, he became bedridden and, on May 1, 1977, he died at the age of 88.

He married the former Salvacion Locsin Montelibano and had eighteen children with her (one of whom, Julio Cesar, died of typhoid at the age of four). In 1959, he experienced another loss when his wife died of cardiac arrest at the age of 61. In 1962, at the age of 70, he remarried. His second wife, Delia Ediltrudes Santiago, a social worker from Bacolod, bore him a son (Popeye) and a daughter (Marla).

Salvacion and Jose Locsin

Built in in the 1930s in the Art Deco style of architecture, the house, fondly called Balay Daku (“Big House”), is beautifully preserved and one of the biggest in the city.  It has been named as a Heritage Houses of the Philippines by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines on April 6, 1993 and an NHCP marker, installed in 1995, can be found outside the front door of the house.

AUTHORS NOTES:

The central façade has a Spanish Mission Revival style, with arcades (a series of arches supported by columns) on the ground floor entrance porch and the second floor balcony with its projecting vigas (exposed beams). Arches are also seen in other windows as well as moldings above the windows.  Elsewhere in the façade are huge French windows with sliding wood and glass and persiana panels, below which are grilled ventanillas with sliding wooden panels for added ventilation.

Now resided in by my elderly aunt Rosario “Charet” Locsin (sister of Conchi), it still retains most of the original furniture of the house (upright piano, aparadors, china cabinet, solihiya chairs, etc.),  baldosa (tilework) and hardwood flooring.

There were portraits of the late senator’s parents, painted by Fernando Amorsolo (National Artist of the Philippines for Painting in 1972) as well as photos of the senator with different Philippine presidents.

On the steps leading up to the second floor of the house is a haunting bronze bust of four-year-old Julio Cesar created by sculptor Guillermo Tolentino (National Artist of the Philippines for Sculpture in 1973).  At the informal dining area is a spiral staircase with exquisite fretwork patterns.

The exquisite spiral staircase

During our stay in Silay, Solo would sometimes invite us to have our breakfast there or for snacks of homemade Silaynon delicacies such as tsokolate (made from round cacao tablets and fresh carabao’s milk), bizcocho (thin slices of toasted bread much like the biscocho, but without the butter and sugar), the sweet and decadent dulce gatas (a mixture of fresh carabao’s milk and muscovado sugar reduced to a thick caramel-like concoction) and meringue prepared by my Tita Charet.

The informal dining area

L-R: Cheska, Grace, Solo and Jandy

Jose C. Locsin Ancestral House: Juan Valencia cor. J.Pitong Ledesma Sts., Silay City Heritage Zone, Silay, Negros Occidental Philippines. Coordinates: 10.7981254, 122.9741791