Jorge Bartolomé Vargas y Celis (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) 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 ...
lawyer, diplomat and youth advocate born in
Bago
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* Bago, Myanmar, a city and the capital of the Bago Region
* Bago District, a district of the Bago Region
* Bago Region an administrative region
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...
,
Negros Occidental,
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 graduated
valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution.
The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...
from
Negros Occidental High School in 1909 and obtained a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree in 1911 and a
Bachelor of Law
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degree with honors in 1914, both from the
University of the Philippines
The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...
. He was a founding member of the
Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation
The Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF) was the governing body of sports in the Philippines and the predecessor of the Philippine Olympic Committee.
History
The Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation was organized in a permanent basis ...
(now the
Philippine Olympic Committee) in 1911 and served in its executive committee in 1918.
He served as its second chairman from 1935 to 1955. He was also the first Filipino member of the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
.
Government service
![Jouge B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Jouge_B._Vargas_and_his_daughter.jpg)
After being admitted to the Philippine
Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in 1914, he was appointed as a law clerk for the Philippine Commission in 1915. He was promoted to the position of chief clerk of the
Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
in 1917.
In 1918, he served as the legislative secretary to
Speaker
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Sergio Osmeña of the
House of Representatives.
In 1921, Vargas succeeded Vicente Morente as director-general of the Philippine Carnival Association which ran the Manila Carnival. He was succeeded by Arsenio Luz the following year.
In 1936, Vargas was appointed by President
Manuel L. Quezon
Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his dea ...
as his
executive secretary
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
,
becoming the first in the country to serve in such a position.
When the Japanese invaded the country in 1941, Vargas was designated to the
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as its secretary. A few weeks later, he was appointed by President Manuel Quezon as mayor of the
City of Greater Manila in 1941. His responsibilities included administering the
open city
In war, an open city is a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open the opposing military will be ...
upon the arrival of occupational troops of the
Imperial Japanese 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 o ...
on January 2, 1942.
By 1942, Vargas became chairman of the Japanese-sponsored
Philippine Executive Commission. During the collaborationist
Second Philippine Republic, he was once asked by the Japanese to assume the Presidency, but he declined. He instead served as the regime's Ambassador to Japan. In that position, he was quoted shortly before Japanese troops were driven from Manila as stating that "we know Japan is destined for sure victory and prosperity for ages to come."
Vargas served as chairman of the National Planning Commission from 1946 to 1954 and was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965. In 1960, the Philippines conferred on him the
Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
with the rank of commander.
Scouting
![UPmuseumjf3012 10](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/UPmuseumjf3012_10.JPG)
Vargas involvement with scouting started in 1935 when he became a member of the executive board of the Philippine Council of the
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...
. Together with other Philippine scouting advocates, he became one of the charter members of the
Boy Scouts of the Philippines
The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) is the national scouting organization of the Philippines in the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The Scout movement was first introduced in the Philippines on 1910 during the American Occupat ...
in 1936.
Upon the death of Manuel Camus in 1949, Vargas was unanimously chosen by the National Executive Board to serve as the
president
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and
chief scout of the
Boy Scouts of the Philippines
The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) is the national scouting organization of the Philippines in the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The Scout movement was first introduced in the Philippines on 1910 during the American Occupat ...
. He served the position of national president until 1961. He became a member of the
World Scout Committee of the
World Organization of the Scout Movement
The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOS ...
from 1951 to 1957.
Vargas was awarded the
Bronze Wolf in 1959 and received other awards including the Silver Tamaraw (Philippines), Silver Fox (Canada), Silver Ibex (Austria),
Silver Wolf (UK), and in 1959 also received the highest distinction of the
Scout Association of Japan
The is the major Scouting organization of Japan. Starting with boys only, the organization was known as Boy Scouts of Japan from 1922 to 1971, and as Boy Scouts of Nippon from 1971 to 1995, when it became coeducational in all sections, leading to ...
, the
Golden Pheasant Award.
He also became the first recipient of the ''Tanglaw ng Kabataan ''(Light of the Youth) Award of the BSP in 1961.
Death
Vargas died on February 22, 1980 in
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 ...
, Philippines at the age of 89.
Honours
*: Grand Cordon (1st Class) of the
Order of the Rising Sun
The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...
(October 1, 1943)
Gallery
File:Jouge B Vargas and Homma Masaharu.jpg, Vargas ''(in white)'' with Japanese General Homma, 1943
See also
*
Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center
The Jorge B. Vargas Museum & Filipiniana Research Center, simply known as the UP Vargas Museum, is a museum located at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman campus which houses the collection of art, stamps and coins, library, personal pa ...
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Jorge B.
1890 births
1980 deaths
Filipino civil servants
Ambassadors of the Philippines to Japan
Filipino collaborators with Imperial Japan
Filipino diplomats
20th-century Filipino lawyers
Filipino Roman Catholics
Mayors of Manila
Secretaries of National Defense of the Philippines
Executive Secretaries of the Philippines
Prime Ministers of the Philippines
People from Negros Occidental
Recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award
Scouting in the Philippines
University of the Philippines alumni
World Scout Committee members
Quezon administration cabinet members
Laurel administration cabinet members
KALIBAPI politicians