Alejandro Durano Almendras (27 February 1919 – 4 August 1995) was a Filipino politician who served as a

Senator of the Philippines The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives a ...

. He was also governor of the then united Davao province.

Early life and education

Almendras was born in Danao, Cebu on February 27, 1919 to Paulo Almendras and Elisea Mercado Durano. He finished his secondary education studies at the Cebu Provincial High in 1938. He attended the Far Eastern University taking up aeronautical engineering as his college degree but his studies was interrupted in 1941 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war, Almendras went back to his studies and attended Mindanao Colleges in

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...

World War II

Almendras was enlisted with the

Philippine Army Air Corps The Philippine Army Air Corps ( fil, Pulutong Himpapawid ng Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas; es, Cuerpo Aéreo del Ejercito Filipino) was created in 1935 as the air component of the Philippine Army. It was the predecessor of the Philippine Air F ...

during the

. Following the surrender of the

United States Army Forces in the Far East United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) ( Filipino: ''Hukbong Katihan ng Estados Unidos sa Malayong Silangan/HKEUMS''; Spanish: ''Fuerzas del Ejército de los Estados Unidos en el Lejano Oriente'') was a military formation of the Unit ...

(USAFFE) to the

Japanese Imperial Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...

, he went back to Cebu and served under the command of Col. James M. Cushing. At age 23, Almendras was named as commander of the 88th Infantry Regiment of the Cebu Area Command. After the war, Almendras was awarded the Outstanding Veteran in 1958 for his contribution for the country during the war.

Political career

In 1951, Almendras who was a third year law student of Mindanao Colleges at that time ran for governor of Davao province against incumbent Ricardo D. Miranda of Liberal Party, who took office in 1948 and the first elected governor since the aftermath of World War II. Almendras became the youngest governor in the country at that time and was re-elected again in 1955. Almendras served as governor until 1958, when he was succeeded by

Vicente Duterte Vicente Gonzales Duterte (; November 23, 1911 – February 21, 1968), also known by his nicknames Nene and Teti, was a Filipino politician and lawyer. He became Governor of the then-unified province of Davao, succeeding Alejandro Almendras who w ...

. The foreign correspondents’ Association of the Philippines conferred him with the "Outstanding Governor" award. For the 1959 senatorial election, Almendras was named as part of the senatorial slate of the Nacionalista Party of the then incumbent President

Carlos P. Garcia Carlos Polestico Garcia (November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971) was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist, guerrilla and Commonwealth military leader who was the eighth president of the Philippines. A l ...

. On May 8, 1959, months later after he was named part of the slate, Almendras was appointed as the first secretary of the Department of General Services by President Garcia. In early February 1959, Almendras was named as the "Most Outstanding Cabinet Member” by the Confederation of Filipino Veterans. At the 1959 senatorial elections on November 10, Almendras was elected as senator taking up the eight and last slot for the position. He was re-elected in 1971, and served as senator until 1972. After the declaration of Martial Law by Ferdinand Marcos, Almendras became a Member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa representing

Southern Mindanao Davao Region, formerly called Southern Mindanao ( ceb, Rehiyon sa Davao; fil, Rehiyon ng Davao), is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region XI. It is situated at the southeastern portion of Mindanao and comprises fiv ...

or Region XI. He served the position from June 12, 1978 until June 5, 1984.

Death and legacy

Almendras died on August 4, 1995 due to a lingering illness. The senators of the

10th Congress of the Philippines The 10th Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: ''Ikasampung Kongreso ng Pilipinas''), composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives, met from July 24, 1995, until June 5, 1998, during the last three years of Fidel Ramos's pre ...

credited him for the passing of Republic Act 3018 which

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

the rice and corn industry and the law that is responsible for the foundation of the Veterans Bank. Then house speaker, Jose de Venecia Jr. noted his role for the partition of Davao province which he said brought socio-economic development in area which was part of the former province. Due to his work and the resulting province Almendras is known as the "Father of Davao".

Personal life

Almendras was married to Caridad Cabahug of Borbon, Cebu with whom he had seven children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almendras, Alejandro 1919 births 1995 deaths Governors of former provinces of the Philippines People from Danao, Cebu Senators of the 7th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 6th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 5th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 4th Congress of the Philippines Far Eastern University alumni Members of the Batasang Pambansa Garcia administration cabinet members