THE BIOGRAPHY OF TOMAS CONFESOR
TOMAS CONFESOR
(1891-1951)
Tomas Confesor had always been a fighter – in time of war and in time of peace – always for the good of the people. His heroic defiance of the Japanese Imperial Army earned for him the commendation of the American people, as voiced by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. On the other hand, his patriotic and unselfish labors as statesman and legislator won him the sobriquet “Stormy Petrel of Congress.”
The inspiring story of Tomas Confesor started on March 2, 1891, when he was born in Cabatuan, Iloilo to the spouses Julian Confesor and Prospera Valezuela. He attended the elementary school in his hometown and graduated from the Iloilo High School in 1908. Inasmuch as high school graduates at that time were already qualified to teach and because he needed money, he taught in the public schools from 1909 to 1910.
TOMAS CONFESOR
Ambitious, not much for himself as for his people, he decided to pursue higher education so that he might be of greater service to his country. For this purpose, he sailed for the United States. He attended the University of California for two years, then transferred to the University of Chicago where he earned his Bachelor of Philosophy degree with a major in economics in 1916. Why he majored in economics is obvious. He wanted to do his share in advancing the economic condition of his people.
Upon his return from America, he again served the government as a public school teacher, and later as associate professor in the University of the Philippines. His career as an educator was capped by his appointment as dean of the College of Business Administration of the University of Manila.
Teaching is a very noble profession, but Confesor felt that his ability and talent could be put to greater use as a politician, so into politics he went. In 1922, he ran for the House of Representatives for the third district of Iloilo and was elected. He was re-elected for two more terms, in 1925 and 1928.
In the House of Representatives, the crusading legislator from Iloilo showed his characteristic qualities. He authored and sponsored legislation that was aimed at ameliorating the condition of the masses. During his three terms in Congress, his home district received plenty in public work projects, especially school buildings.
From 1930 to 1934, he filled the position from which his educational training fitted him, that of Director of the Bureau of Commerce. Then came the election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1935. Confesor once again carried his district and was among the ten delegates of Iloilo.
Subsequently, he was elected assemblyman of the third district in the First National Assembly under the Commonwealth. Here his eloquence and fighting fervor made him known as the “Stormy Petrel.” From the National Assembly, politics transferred him to the provincial capitol of Iloilo. This was in 1937 when he was elected provincial governor, the first from an interior town to hold the office since Adriano Hernandez of Dingle occupied it in 1912, and the first governor to come from the truly timawa group. All his predecessors -- Martin Delgado, Raymundo Melliza, Benito Lopez, Ruperto Montinola, Gregorio Yulo, Jose Ledesma, Mariano Arroyo, Jose Yulo and Timoteo Consing -- were scions of illustrados and moneyed families.
It was Confesor’s re-election bid in 1940 that catapulted him into national prominence as a politician because of his decisive victory over Dr. Timoteo Consing who had the backing of President Quezon and the whole Nacionalista organization in the province. The main issue which he raised was that of vested interest.
Although he opposed Quezon, Confesor’s ability and achievements elicited the president’s administration. As a result, Quezon called him to organize and head the National Cooperative Administration even before his term as governor was over. The NCA was a major agency of the national government for carrying out a major economic policy.
Unfortunately, Confesor had not had enough time to put his plans into operation when the Pacific War broke out. He was caught in Manila by the Japanese invasion. The Japanese Imperial Military forces summoned him to serve in the occupation government, but he evaded them. Dramatically, he succeeded in escaping by sailboat, reaching Capiz on March 3, 1942, and afterwards, Iloilo. President Quezon, who was then in Negros en route to Australia, ordered him to resume his position in the island of Panay. Upon receiving the orders, Confesor immediately made preparations for the provincial government to move out to the mountains as soon as the enemy forces invaded Iloilo. Thus, it was that when the Japanese landed, they found the provincial government gone.
Confesor announced by a proclamation dated March 8, 1942 that he was assuming extraordinary powers of the civil government on the same day he issued Executive Order No. 1, which divided the province into nine administrative districts, each under a deputy governor. This was done in order to coordinate the activities of the civil government with those of the army under Lt. Col. Macario Peralta, Jr.
Also on May 8, Confesor issued a manifesto, giving notice to the people that the provincial government and the municipal governments in the province were still intact and functioning.
The first conference of all officials of the provincial government was called by Confesor at Bucari, Leon, in early June, 1942. It was at that historic conference that he revealed the instructions of President Quezon to him in case of Japanese invasion of Panay.
In the conference, Confesor won the full support of the civil officials for the civil resistance government. With the support backing him, he immediately implemented his plan of organization.
The Japanese knew that they could not possibly gain the sympathy of the people of Iloilo unless they won Confesor over. They made Dr. Fermin Caram governor of the province in the Japanese-sponsored government, write Confesor to ask him to surrender for the sake of “relief, peace and tranquility.” Confesor received the letter on January 14, 1943. On February 20, he penned the now famous letter to
Upon his return from America, he again served the government as a public school teacher, and later as associate professor in the University of the Philippines. His career as an educator was capped by his appointment as dean of the College of Business Administration of the University of Manila.
Teaching is a very noble profession, but Confesor felt that his ability and talent could be put to greater use as a politician, so into politics he went. In 1922, he ran for the House of Representatives for the third district of Iloilo and was elected. He was re-elected for two more terms, in 1925 and 1928.
In the House of Representatives, the crusading legislator from Iloilo showed his characteristic qualities. He authored and sponsored legislation that was aimed at ameliorating the condition of the masses. During his three terms in Congress, his home district received plenty in public work projects, especially school buildings.
From 1930 to 1934, he filled the position from which his educational training fitted him, that of Director of the Bureau of Commerce. Then came the election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1935. Confesor once again carried his district and was among the ten delegates of Iloilo.
Subsequently, he was elected assemblyman of the third district in the First National Assembly under the Commonwealth. Here his eloquence and fighting fervor made him known as the “Stormy Petrel.” From the National Assembly, politics transferred him to the provincial capitol of Iloilo. This was in 1937 when he was elected provincial governor, the first from an interior town to hold the office since Adriano Hernandez of Dingle occupied it in 1912, and the first governor to come from the truly timawa group. All his predecessors -- Martin Delgado, Raymundo Melliza, Benito Lopez, Ruperto Montinola, Gregorio Yulo, Jose Ledesma, Mariano Arroyo, Jose Yulo and Timoteo Consing -- were scions of illustrados and moneyed families.
It was Confesor’s re-election bid in 1940 that catapulted him into national prominence as a politician because of his decisive victory over Dr. Timoteo Consing who had the backing of President Quezon and the whole Nacionalista organization in the province. The main issue which he raised was that of vested interest.
Although he opposed Quezon, Confesor’s ability and achievements elicited the president’s administration. As a result, Quezon called him to organize and head the National Cooperative Administration even before his term as governor was over. The NCA was a major agency of the national government for carrying out a major economic policy.
Unfortunately, Confesor had not had enough time to put his plans into operation when the Pacific War broke out. He was caught in Manila by the Japanese invasion. The Japanese Imperial Military forces summoned him to serve in the occupation government, but he evaded them. Dramatically, he succeeded in escaping by sailboat, reaching Capiz on March 3, 1942, and afterwards, Iloilo. President Quezon, who was then in Negros en route to Australia, ordered him to resume his position in the island of Panay. Upon receiving the orders, Confesor immediately made preparations for the provincial government to move out to the mountains as soon as the enemy forces invaded Iloilo. Thus, it was that when the Japanese landed, they found the provincial government gone.
Confesor announced by a proclamation dated March 8, 1942 that he was assuming extraordinary powers of the civil government on the same day he issued Executive Order No. 1, which divided the province into nine administrative districts, each under a deputy governor. This was done in order to coordinate the activities of the civil government with those of the army under Lt. Col. Macario Peralta, Jr.
Also on May 8, Confesor issued a manifesto, giving notice to the people that the provincial government and the municipal governments in the province were still intact and functioning.
The first conference of all officials of the provincial government was called by Confesor at Bucari, Leon, in early June, 1942. It was at that historic conference that he revealed the instructions of President Quezon to him in case of Japanese invasion of Panay.
In the conference, Confesor won the full support of the civil officials for the civil resistance government. With the support backing him, he immediately implemented his plan of organization.
The Japanese knew that they could not possibly gain the sympathy of the people of Iloilo unless they won Confesor over. They made Dr. Fermin Caram governor of the province in the Japanese-sponsored government, write Confesor to ask him to surrender for the sake of “relief, peace and tranquility.” Confesor received the letter on January 14, 1943. On February 20, he penned the now famous letter to
Dr. Caram:
He dismissed the allegation that if he should surrender, the people will cease to suffer by saying:
If our people are undergoing hardships now, and are doing it gladly, it is because they are will to pay the price for their constitutional liberties and privileges. You can become wealthy by honest means without sweating heavily. You very well know that the principles of democracy and democratic institutions were brought to life through bloodshed and fire.
He added, “should I surrender… and with me the people… I would be surrendering something more precious than life itself; the principles of democracy and justice and the honor and dignity of our people.” Copies of the letter were secretly circulated, and it electrified the whole resistance movement in the country and elicited laudatory comments from President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The war ended with the figure of Tomas Confesor emerging large as a hero and patriot. In recognition of his wartime record, President Osmeña, upon the reestablishment of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1945, did not hesitate to appoint him Secretary of the Interior, then considered as the chief position in the Cabinet. Subsequently, he was sent to America as a member of the Far Eastern Commission.
In the first postwar elections (1946), Confesor was elected senator for a term of six years. His last three years in office, however, were hampered by failing health which caused him to go to the United States several times for medical treatment. It was while he was preparing for another such trip abroad that he was fatally stricken in 1951.
The illustrious statesman was married to Rosalina Grecia of Jaro, Iloilo City, who died two weeks before he did. They had three children: Roberto, Jeanette and Tomas, Jr. (Regalado and Franco, History of Panay. Iloilo City: Central Philippine University, 1973)
Visit Cabatuan.com or geocities.com for other details about the town's hero...
