Florentino D. Tecson (March 16, 1906 – September 11, 1962) was a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

Visayan Visayans (Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group, ...

lawyer, politician, editor, writer, and labor leader from

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He edited pre-war Cebuano periodicals such as '' Bag-ong Kusog'' and published his own newspaper, ''Ang Mamumuo'', and a book of fiction, ''Lingawon Ko Ikaw''. A known labor leader, he was the president of ''Federacion Obrero de Filipinas''. He served as councilor of

Naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions * Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata'' * Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...

and

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

and was appointed as Vice Mayor of Cebu City (1954–1955).

Early life

Florentino Tecson was born in Naga, Cebu on March 16, 1906. He attended at the Cebu High School (now

Abellana National School Abellana National School (ANS) is located in Cebu City, Philippines. It is a public high school established in the year 1902. History Abellana National School is situated at Osmeña Boulevard, Barangay Sambag II in Cebu City. It was formerly the ...

) and became a lawyer on April 14, 1953.

Career

Editor

While studying at the Cebu High School, he worked as compositor for Vicente Rama's ''Bag-ong Kusog'', a Cebuano periodical''.'' He later became its reporter and editor. Other pre-war Cebuano papers he edited were ''Ang Tigmantala'', ''Nasud'' (which was printed from 1930 to 1941) and his own newspaper, ''Ang Mamumuo''.

Writer

A respected Cebuano writer, he wrote under various pseudonyms including D' Ville, Victor Kutsero, F.D.T., F. Lorentino, Victor Florentin, and Tinoy-od. He also won first prize in a literary contest by Bisaya magazine for his short story, ''Mga Kasingkasing Dagku (Magnificent Heart)''. In addition, he translated Victor Hugo's '' Les Miserables''. ''Lingawon Ko Ikaw'', his only published book of fiction, was a collection of 17 short stories that demonstrated

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

and displayed his adept handling of stories of the rural life. While he criticized figures of society such as landlords, spouse, and politicians for their excess, absence or abuse, he lent the narrative with humor and depicted the poor in sympathetic light without being anti-capitalist.

Labor movement

Tecson was also known as a labor leader. He first got involved with the labor movement when he conducted a press coverage of an ongoing maritime workers' strike in 1934. He then became the auditor, vice president and president of the ''Federacion Obrero de Filipinas''. Its other leaders included Jose Ma. Nava, Manuel Palacios, Zacarias Semenio and Jesus Ma. Nava. On June 29, 1939, he was the group's delegate to national convention of labor unions in the country that was held in

Manila Grand Opera House The Manila Grand Opera House ( Filipino: ''Marangal na Bahay-Opera ng Maynila'', abbreviated MGOH) was a theater and opera house located in the district of Santa Cruz in Manila on the intersection of Rizal Avenue and Doroteo Jose Street. It was ...

, and then he was elected as member of the convention's presidium. Later, he formed his owned labor union called the Philippine Labor Federation.

Politics

Like his contemporaries, journalism led him to politics. Earlier newspapermen like Vicente Rama,

Vicente Sotto Vicente Yap Sotto (born Vicente Sotto y Yap; April 18, 1877 – May 28, 1950) was a Filipino playwright, journalist, and politician who served as a Senator from 1946 to 1950. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1922 to 1925, rep ...

, and

Sergio Osmeña Sergio Osmeña Sr. (, ; 9 September 1878 – 19 October 1961) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fourth president of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was vice president under Manuel L. Quezon. Upon Quezon's sudden ...

belonged to the ''ilustrado'' class and were voted in elective government positions due to their influence on the reading public. More writers from middle class background like Tecson followed suit. He once served as councilor of the municipality of Naga, and then later he was elected member of the council of Cebu City on December 10, 1940. On July 17, 1943, in the midst of

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 opposin ...

, he again was appointed and served in the same post as Member of the City Board of Cebu. After the war, he assumed the same position in the City Board together with Honorata Hermosisima, Cecilio de la Victoria, Florencio Urot, Juan Zamora, Ramon Abellanosa, Numeriano Estenzo, and Alfonso Frias. On January 28, 1954, he was appointed Vice Mayor of Cebu City, succeeding Carlos Cuizon. When the charter of City of Cebu was amended on June 8, 1955, the positions Mayor and Vice Mayor were no longer appointive and instead were filled through election. Tecson was replaced by the first elected Vice Mayor, Ramon Duterte.

Later years

He died on September 11, 1962.

Historical commemoration

* Previously known as San Jose Extension, the Florentino D. Tecson Street in Cebu City was named in his honor by virtue of the City Ordinance No. 1882. It starts from Gorordo Avenue and ends at Rahman Street in Barangay Kamputhaw.

Published works

For a list of published works, please read his entry in the Cebuano Studies Center.

Book

* Lingawon Ko Ikaw: Hugpong sa mga Sugilanon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tecson, Florentino 1906 births 1962 deaths Filipino city and municipal councilors 20th-century Filipino lawyers Filipino male short story writers Filipino short story writers Cebuano writers Filipino male poets 20th-century Filipino poets Writers from Cebu Vice Mayors of Cebu City Filipino editors Filipino newspaper publishers (people)