Amando Avanceña

Amando Avanceña y Quiosay (February 6, 1879 — August 1, 1953) was a Filipino lawyer, hacendero, and politician. He became a member of the Philippine Assembly from 1907 to 1909 and 1912 to 1914 and served as governor of Iloilo from 1914 to 1916.

He was also president of the ''La Confederacion de Asociaciones y Plantadores de Caña Dulce, Inc.'' during the 1920s and 1930s.

Biography

He was born in Molo, Iloilo on February 6, 1879. He studied at Colegio Seminario de Jaro from 1893 to 1897 and entered the University of Santo Tomas.

When the Philippine Revolution broke out, he served in the revolutionary army. Upon the establishment of the civil government by the Americans, he studied law in the Colegio de Abogados de Manila in 1902. In 1904, he was admitted to the bar.

As a political activist, he had been a contributor to ''La Revolucion'', a newspaper published during the war against Spain, and ''El Pais'', a newspaper suspended by the American military.

In 1907, he was elected to the Philippine Assembly representing Iloilo's 1st district. As an assemblyman, he was a member on the committees on elections, public lands, state mines, and forestry. He served until 1909. He was again reelected in 1912, representing Iloilo's 4th district. He held this position until his resignation in 1914.

In 1914, he was provincial governor of Iloilo.

Post-political life

Confederation of Associations and Planters of Sugar Cane

In 1924, four planter groups from Talisay, Bacolod, Ma-ao, and Isabela created the ''La Confederacion de Asociaciones y Plantadores de Caña Dulce, Inc.'' With a subsidy of two centavos per picul of sugar milled, this organization attracted more planter groups from other major milling areas in Negros and Pampanga. The confederation, through the help of Amando Avanceña as its president and chief spokesman, worked to secure better loan terms and lobbied in Manila and Washington.

During the post- 1921 Philippine financial crisis, prosperity during the central era did not create harmony in the sugar industry, as profit distribution caused tensions. Planters saw stockholders at bank centrals making high dividends while they were in debt and believed they deserved a larger share. Hacenderos, mainly tied to thirty-year contracts, aimed to enhance their situation sooner. Due to this, the hacenderos pressured the Philippine Legislature in mid-1929 seeking to increase their share of milled sugar from 55 percent to 60 percent. Within a year, they proposed a legislative bill to change this, but it was narrowly defeated due to Senate President Manuel L. Quezon's constitutional objections.

Amando Avanceña proposed that the government should make the bank centrals offer higher participation voluntarily. However, the Philippine National Bank (PNB) declined this proposal. The bank centralists argued that landowners, rather than planter-lessees, would benefit from this change. As a result of the hacenderos' defeat, they threatened to vote for the opposing Democrata Party and to decrease cane production.

Philippine Independence

During 1930s, there were widespread discussions on Philippine independence among economic and political leaders regarding its economic impact on the islands. Avanceña declared in 1933 that the United States should give the Philippines complete independence stating:

References

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1879 births
1953 deaths
University of Santo Tomas alumni
Members of the Philippine Legislature
Governors of Iloilo
Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Iloilo
20th-century Filipino lawyers