Buenaventura Perez Rodriguez (July 14, 1893 – December 9, 1940) was a playwright, the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

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 ...

from 1937 until 1940, and a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for two terms. He was the first Cebu governor of the

Philippine Commonwealth The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...

Early life and education

The son of Filomino Rodriguez and Ana Perez, Buenaventura Rodriguez was born in Bogo, Cebu on July 14, 1893 and studied at the

Ateneo de Manila University , 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 ...

, Colegio de San Carlos, and Escuela de Derecho. The prominent Rodriguez clan was based in Bogo and possessed extensive sugar landholdings in the northern part of Cebu. They traced their lineage and cultural ties to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and intermarried with Chinese mestizo families.

Playwright

Buenaventura was one of the popular playwrights in

Cebuano language Cebuano (Cebuano
on Merriam-Webster.com ), natively called by its generic term Bisaya or Binisaya (bot ...

during the American occupation. Like his contemporaries, his works featured the theme of rising

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

, combining

social criticism Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The or ...

and entertainment. The propaganda-laden play ''Salilang'' was a story of Rajah Hamabad's daughter and the two rivals competing for her love, one of whom was considered a foreigner and was deemed unfit for the chieftain's daughter's affection. One other play that he wrote was ''El Muñeco Roto (The Broken Doll)'' and on 1915, ''Compañia de Zarzuela Española'' performed the play. He wrote zarzuelas including ''Inday'' that was staged at the Teatro Oriente on August 18, 1917.'''' Additionally, his play entitled ''La Adjusta Leja de la Vaguada'' was adapted into film in 1940. Other notable works include ''Lili,'' ''Balaod sa Kinabuhi (The Laws of Life)'', ''Pahiyum (Smile)'', ''Dinihan,'' ''Bomba Nyor (“Attack, Sir!”),'' and ''Dumagsa (“West Wind”)''. For his novel, ''La Pugna'', he was awarded the

Premio Zobel Premio Zóbel is a Philippine literary award conferred on Filipino writers in Spanish language. It was established to revivify the Spanish language and to promote the best writing created by Filipino authors in the language. Founded in 1920, it ...

(named after Don Enrique Zobel, an advocate of Spanish literature) in 1924.

Politics

Rodriguez was voted as member of the provincial board from 1921 to 1925. Then, he was elected as representative of the 1st district of Cebu in 1931 and served until 1934. Moreover, he won as a member of the House of the Representative in 1934, representing the old 7th legislative district of Cebu encompassing the towns of

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

, Balamban, Bantayan, Daanbantayan, Madridejos, Medellin, San Remigio, Santa Fe, Tuburan, and

Tabuelan Tabuelan, officially the Municipality of Tabuelan ( ceb, Lungsod sa Tabuelan; tgl, Bayan ng Tabuelan), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 28,907 people. Tabuela ...

. During the local election of 1937, he ran for governor under the Nacionalista Party against

Vicente Sotto Vicente Yap Sotto (born Vicente Sotto y Yap; April 18, 1877 – May 28, 1950) was a Filipino playwright, journalist, and politician who served as a Senator from 1946 to 1950. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1922 to 1925, rep ...

, who was campaigning under the newly formed Frente Popular party. On December 14, 1937, he defeated Sotto and was elected governor of Cebu province, becoming the first Cebu governor of the Philippine Commonwealth and to take office in the newly constructed

Cebu Provincial Capitol The Cebu Provincial Capitol is the seat of the provincial government of Cebu in the Philippines. Located at the north end of Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City, it was designed by Juan M. Arellano, a Filipino architect best known for the Manila Metropo ...

that was inaugurated by then 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 de ...

on June 14, 1938. He died on December 9, 1940, a day before the election where he was seeking a second term as governor. He was succeeded by Hilario Abellana, who only had hours to conduct an electoral campaign to promote his candidacy.

Historical commemoration

* The B. Rodriguez Street in Cebu City was named after him. It stretches from the corner of V. Rama Avenue to Fuente Rotunda, along the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. *His short story/play entitled ''Mini (The Fake)'' was part of ''Dulaang Cebuano (Cebuano Plays)'' by Erlinda Alburo,

Resil Mojares Resil Buagas Mojares (born September 4, 1943) is a Filipino historian and critic of Philippine literature best known as for his books on Philippine history. He is acclaimed by various writers and critics as the ''Visayan Titan of Letters'', due t ...

and Don Pagusara published in 1997.

References

1893 births 1940 deaths Filipino writers Cebuano people Visayan people Governors of Cebu Members of the Philippine Legislature Members of the Cebu Provincial Board Ateneo de Manila University alumni University of San Carlos alumni Cebuano writers Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Cebu {{Cebu House Representatives

Early life and education

Playwright

Politics

Historical commemoration

Further reading

References