Rodolfo Tiamson Ganzon Sr. (25 March 1922 - 29 October 2003) was a Filipino politician and lawyer from

Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...

who became

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 ...

and was known as the ''Grand

Timawa The ''Timawa'' were the feudal warrior class of the ancient Visayan societies of the Philippines. They were regarded as higher than the '' uripon'' (commoners, serfs, and slaves) but below the ''Tumao'' (royal nobility) in the Visayan social ...

'' (Freeman).

Early life and education

He was born on 25 March 1922 in Molo (now a district of

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on t ...

) to Leopoldo Ganzon, who later became Mayor of

, and Marcela Tiamson. He graduated ''summa cum laude'' from the College of Law of the Iloilo City Colleges in 1950 and placed third in the bar examinations the same year with an average of 91.10%.

Political career

In 1951, Ganzon entered politics as an elected member of the Iloilo City Council. He then ran for and won a seat in

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 ...

as the Representative of

's 2nd District. He served from 1953 to 1955 when he resigned his post after becoming the first elected

mayor of Iloilo City The mayor of Iloilo City ( hil, Alcalde sang Ciudad sang Iloilo) is the head of the executive branch of government in Iloilo City, in the Philippines. The mayor holds office at the Iloilo City Hall in Iloilo City Proper. The mayor can serve for thr ...

. During his campaign, he presented himself as a

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

who railed against the influence of the wealthy Lopez family. In one rally, he criticized the Lopezes for building their own private cemetery and touted the new municipal cemetery whose construction he had enabled, saying there he would be together with his constituents in death. In 1961, he left the mayorship to successfully reclaim his post as Congressman of the 2nd District, serving until 1963 when he was elected to the

Philippine Senate 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 ...

as a Nacionalista candidate, staying in office until 1969. As a senator, Ganzon headed the committees on government reorganization, health and labor and immigration, civil service, and agriculture and natural resources. In 1972, he was again elected Mayor of Iloilo City but was removed from office in October of that year following the declaration of

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 ...

by President Ferdinand Marcos. He subsequently became one of the longest serving political detainees during the dictatorship, being placed under military custody in 1978 and then moved to house arrest until the fall of the regime in 1986. After his release, he found a local political party, the Timawa Party, and was elected again as Mayor of Iloilo City from 1988 until 1992. Among the legislation passed by Ganzon in Congress was Republic Act 1209 or the Iloilo City Freedom Law, which transferred the power of the

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...

to appoint officials in the city to the electorate.

Personal life and death

Ganzon was married twice, first to Dolores Padojinog with whom he had 10 children, among them Iloilo City Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon, and after her death, to his secretary, Rona Anape. Ganzon died from a lingering illness at the Saint Paul's Hospital in Iloilo City on 29 October 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganzon, Rodolfo 1922 births 2003 deaths Hiligaynon people 20th-century Filipino lawyers 20th-century Filipino politicians Senators of the 5th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 6th Congress of the Philippines Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Iloilo Mayors of Iloilo City Filipino city and municipal councilors Nacionalista Party politicians