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Jose J. Roy (July 19, 1904 – March 14, 1986) was a Filipino lawyer,
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
, and
politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who served for 25 consecutive years as a
congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
and
senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
in the
Congress of the Philippines The Congress of the Philippines ( fil, Kongreso ng Pilipinas, italic=unset) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House of R ...
. Known as the "poor man's economist", he drafted, authored and sponsored laws to improve the lot of the peasantry. As a member of Congress, he took particular pride in the sponsorship of almost all laws on land reform. He is also considered to be the "Father of the Philippine Banking System" because of his authorship and involvement in almost all the major finance and tariff
measures Measure may refer to: * Measurement, the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event Law * Ballot measure, proposed legislation in the United States * Church of England Measure, legislation of the Church of England * Measu ...
since the beginning of the
Third Philippine Republic Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...
in 1946.


Early life

Roy was born and raised in
Moncada, Tarlac Moncada, officially the Municipality of Moncada ( pag, Baley na Moncada; ilo, Ili ti Moncada; tl, Bayan ng Moncada), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 62,81 ...
. His family were
tenant farmers A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...
and he attended public schools. As a young boy, his first ambition was to become a writer and one of the topics he wrote on for a school paper was crop-sharing. Seeing and much affected by the oppression surrounding the farmers around him, he thought crop-sharing would be the best remedy for the life of disparity that existed between the wealthy landlords and the poverty-stricken tenant farmers. Roy worked his way through college and graduated 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 ...
with an
Bachelor of Laws 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 in 1930. With his knowledge of Spanish, English,
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 ...
, Ilocano and Pampango, he was able to support himself through law school by working as an interpreter in the Public Service Commission. After graduation, he continued working at the PSC where he later became a special attorney specializing in transportation. At that time, he was just one of three public utility practitioners who specialized in transportation. In 1936, the mining boom came and Roy expanded his practice to become a
corporate lawyer A corporate lawyer or corporate counsel is a type of lawyer who specializes in corporate law. Corporate lawyers working inside and for corporations are called in-house counsel. Roles and responsibilities The role of a corporate lawyer is to ...
. He organized mining corporations. His career flourished until the
Second World War 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 ...
broke out.


Political career

After the war in 1946, the first elections were held. The presidential candidate of the
Liberal party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
was Manuel A. Roxas. Roxas persuaded Roy to run for
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
. Roy agreed only after being promised that if they won, Roxas would consider supporting the 70-30 Rice Share Tenancy law he was planning to author. This law would provide that 70% of the rice crop be given to the tenant farmers and 30% to the landowners in all rice-producing regions of the Philippines and, after studying the matter, Roxas found that it had its merits. The 1946 election was a very difficult one. Roy was elected to congress as representative of the 1st district of Tarlac. He was the lone Liberal Party candidate to win in Central Luzon. Over the next 16 years, Roy was elected to four consecutive terms as congressman of Tarlac's 1st District. He was instrumental in the drafting and passage of important finance and socio-economic measures which he authored or co-authored. Among them were the Central Bank Act, Rehabilitation Finance Corporation Act (R.A.85), Development Bank Act, the General Banking Act, the Rural Bank Act, Philippine Veterans Bank Act (R.A. 3518), the Philippines Deposit Insurance Corporation Act (R.A.3591); the Industrialization Act (R.A.901); Ramie Incentive Act, Agricultural Tenancy Act, 70-30 Rice Share Tenancy Act, Land Tenure Act, the Land Reform Code, the original Anti-Graft Law, the Congressional 5-Year Development Plan, Tax Exemption to Basic Industries, Laurel-Langley Agreement, the Tariff and Customs Code of 1957, an Act providing the creation, organization and operation of an internal audit service for all departments, bureaus and offices of the national government. He was a member of the Philippine Council of Leaders, the Development Council, the
Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...
and Security Council. In the general election of 1961, Roy was elected as senator for the Fifth Congress. He was one of only two
Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party (Filipino and Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; ) is the oldest political party in both the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in general. It is responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th ce ...
senatorial candidates who was elected. In the November 14, 1967 Senate election, Roy garnered the highest number of votes in his re-election bid for senator receiving over 51 percent of the votes and more than half a million votes over his nearest pursuer. He was the lone incumbent to defend his seat. The Nacionalista Party won seven of the eight possible senate seats. As senator, Roy was elected as the Majority Floor Leader and later that year President Pro-tempore of the Sixth Congress in 1966and President Pro-tempore of the Seventh Congress and a member of the
Commission on Appointments The Commission on Appointments ( fil, Komisyon sa Paghirang, abbreviated as CA) is a constitutional body which confirms or rejects certain political appointments made by the President of the Philippines. The current commission was created by th ...
. As President Pro-tempore, Roy urged then
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
to reduce the power of various political warlords throughout the country by forcing them to disband their private armies and His efforts failed, however, and the Seventh Congress was eventually abolished when Marcos declared
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...
in 1972.


Other

Roy had the distinction of being the only legislator in both houses to serve continuously for 25 years. He never lost an election and was the only member of Congress who was chosen as one of the ten best congressmen each year from 1948 to 1961 by civic organizations, members of the press and national periodicals. An experienced speaker and debater who had a knack for explaining the intricacies of economics, banking and finance in terms understandable to the masses, he was quite popular with the Filipino people. In his time, Roy was a frequent delegate to international conferences. He represented the country as a delegate 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 ...
in 1950, 1952, 1968 and 1969. In 1952, he was a delegate to the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
and World Bank Conference in Mexico City, and in Washington DC in 1954 and 1956. He was also delegate of the Philippine Economic Mission for the revision of the Phil-US Trade Act in Washington DC in 1954. In 1958, by invitation of Her Majesty's Government, Roy was an official guest of the British Government for a
goodwill tour A goodwill tour is a tour by someone or something famous to a series of places, with the purpose of expressing benevolent interest or concern for a group of people or a region, improving or maintaining a relationship between parties, and exhibiting ...
of the United Kingdom. In 1960 Roy made an economic survey of Scandinavian countries and of Western Europe. In 1962 he was a member of the Philippine delegate to the Inter-Parliamentary Congress Conference in Brazilia, Brazil. Member of the Joint Phil-US Veterans Commission to Washington DC. Roy headed the 1969 Philippine delegation to the Inaugural Conference of the Asian Coconut Community in Ceylon and delegate to the 1970 Pacific Asia Conference of Ministers in Jakarta and the SEATO Ministers conference in Manila. Roy was a lifetime member of the Philippine Historical Society, Knight Commander of the
Knights of Rizal The Knights of Rizal is an Order of Chivalry from the Philippines, created to honor and uphold the ideals of Philippine national hero José Rizal. The civic organisation of the "Order of the Knights of Rizal" was established in 1911 by Colonel An ...
, president of the Philippine Philatelic Association as well as a lifetime member of several veterans' organizations. He was the
chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the 5th General Conference of the
World Anti-Communist League The World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD) is an international non-governmental organization of anti-communist politicians and groups. It was founded in 1952 as the World Anti-Communist League (WACL) under the initiative of Chiang Kai-sh ...
and a member of the Asian People Anti-Communist League. Roy also served as chairman of the
board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
of the
Angeles University Foundation The Angeles University Foundation ( fil, Pundasyong Pamantasan ng Angeles) also referred to by its acronym AUF, is a Private university, private Roman Catholic non-stock, a non-profit educational institution run by lay persons in Angeles City. ...
, a university in
Angeles, Pampanga , anthem = Himno ning Angeles (Angeles Hymn) , subdivision_type3 = District , subdivision_name3 = , established_title = Settled , established_date = 1796 , established_title1 = Chartere ...
. Outside of public service, Roy remained a stalwart of the Philippine Bar. He was one of the moving spirits of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and was elected president of the Philippine Lawyers Association in 1968 while managing Jose J. Roy and Associates Law Offices.


Personal life

Jose de Jesus Roy Sr. was married to Consolacion Ruiz Domingo (Dec. 26, 1910-Aug. 5, 1992) and had three children, Jose Domingo Roy Jr., Vilma Domingo Roy-Duavit and Ronald Domingo Roy.


Death

Jose Roy died on March 14, 1986.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Jose 1904 births 1986 deaths Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Tarlac Presidents pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines Majority leaders of the Senate of the Philippines Senators of the 7th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 6th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 5th Congress of the Philippines Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Nacionalista Party politicians Presidents of the Nacionalista Party 20th-century Filipino lawyers 20th-century Filipino economists University of the Philippines alumni People from Tarlac