Francisco Afan Delgado (January 25, 1886 – October 27, 1964) was a Filipino diplomat who served as a Resident Commissioner from the

Philippine Islands 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 ...

from 1935 to 1936.

Early life

He was born in

Bulacan Province Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Metr ...

, in then

Captaincy General of the Philippines The Captaincy General of the Philippines ( es, Capitanía General de Filipinas ; tl, Kapitaniya Heneral ng Pilipinas) was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire in Southeast Asia governed by a Governor-General of the Philippines, gove ...

on January 25, 1886 to a Spanish-Filipino mestizo family. His parents were Nemesio Delgado and Manuela Afan. He was the cousins of Jose Maria Delgado and his son Antonio C. Delgado, Philippine Ambassadors to The Vatican, and a descendant of

General Martin Delgado A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Education

He studied at

San Juan de Letran 250px, Basilica and Palace - side view Lateran and Laterano are the shared names of several buildings in Rome. The properties were once owned by the Lateranus family of the Roman Empire. The Laterani lost their properties to Emperor Constantine ...

Ateneo de Manila , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_affi ...

, Colegio Filipino, Los Angeles (California) High School, and Compton (California) Union High School;

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

at Bloomington, LL.B., 1907 and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

, LL.M., 1909; was admitted to the bar in 1908 and commenced practice in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Political career

Delgado returned to the Philippine Islands in 1908 and was employed with the Philippine Government as a law clerk and later as chief of the law division of the executive bureau until 1913, when he returned to the private practice of law. He served in the Philippine National Guard in 1918 and a member of the National Council of Defense for the Philippines in 1918. He also served in the Philippine house of representatives 1931–1935 and was elected as a Nationalist a Resident Commissioner to the United States and served from January 3, 1935 until February 14, 1936, when a successor qualified in accordance with the new form of government of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands. He was appointed justice of the court of appeals February 1936 – 1937. He resumed the practice of law; delegate to the International Committee of Jurists at Washington, D.C., and to the United Nations Conference at San Francisco in April 1945 and a member of the Philippine War Damage Commission from June 4, 1946, to March 31, 1951. He became a member of the

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

from 1951 to 1957. And lastly, he became Ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, September 29, 1958 – January 1, 1962.

Achievements

In court, Delgado was unmatched in upholding the ideals and noble precepts of his profession. He strongly denounced lawyers who worked for money sake and the many foul tactics employed by government prosecutors. Philippine Ambassador Francisco A. Delgado Wednesday jointed the exclusive "club" of victims of Soviet Premier Krushchev's table-pounding outbursts (United Nations, Oct. 6). Krushchev pounded the bench with his fists several times in response to Delgados fiery speech ''"denouncing the evils of Western colonial imperialism in season and out of season, the Communists are merely playing the cunning game of wolf in sheeps clothing."'' Ambassador Delgado was quoted in saying after his speech: ''"I think Krushchev's table pounding was the best endorsement of the truth of my speech."'' Ambassador Delgado was also an active member of the Freemasons, being a Shriner and The Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Freemasonry between 1926 and 1927 and founder of the Masonic Hospital for Children in Manila. He was the first Filipino made an active member of the American Bar Association in 1919 and organizer/director of the International Bar association.

Death

Upon his retirement, he resided in the province of Bulacan, north of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

; died in Manila, October 27, 1964.

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