Eulogio "Amang" Adona Rodriguez Sr. (born Eulogio Rodríguez y Adona; January 21, 1883 – December 9, 1964) was a Filipino politician who twice served as

President of the Senate of the Philippines The president of the Senate of the Philippines ( or ), commonly referred to as the Senate president, is the presiding officer and the highest-ranking official of the Senate of the Philippines, and third highest and most powerful official in the ...

. He was known for vehemently confronting corruption during the administration of Carlos P. Garcia, alleging he held a list of corrupt officials close to the president which the media dubbed the "White Paper".

Early life and education

Rodriguez was born on January 21, 1883, in Montalban (now ''Rodriguez''), Rizal Province, to Petronilo Rodriguez and Monica Adona. At the time of his birth, Montalban was part of Manila Province but it was later renamed Rodriguez in his honor. His younger brother, Julian, would become a last appointed mayor of

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao, is a City of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the List of Philippine cities and municipalities ...

from 1954 to 1955, where he become a successful landowner after moving there. He first studied at the Spanish-run public school in Montalban, then took his secondary course at the

Colegio de San Juan de Letran The Colegio de San Juan de Letran (), also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. I ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, where he later completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1896. He then studied law under a private tutor. To help himself in his studies, he worked as a farmer.

Political career

Rodriguez first served as Municipal President of Montalban, Rizal from 1906 to 1916 and became

Governor of Rizal The governor of Rizal is the local chief executive of the Philippine province of Rizal (province), Rizal. List This is the list of governors of Rizal from its inception in 1901. The longest-serving governors are Isidro Rodriguez (politician), I ...

from 1916 to 1919 and from 1922 to 1923. He was appointed

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

by Governor General

Leonard Wood Leonard Wood (October 9, 1860 – August 7, 1927) was a United States Army major general, physician, and public official. He served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, List of colonial governors of Cuba, Military Governor of Cuba, ...

on July 23, 1923, and later appointed as Representative of Nueva Vizcaya from February 1924 to May 1925. He became the elected Representative of the Second District of Rizal from 1925 to 1928 and from 1931 to 1935. He was also appointed Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce by Governor-General Frank Murphy on July 26, 1934, re-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 people, Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1 ...

on November 15, 1935, and served as such until 1938. After his resignation as Mayor of Manila, he campaigned for a seat in the Senate and was elected senator in

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

. However, he would begin serving his first Senate term in 1945 due to

Imperial Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

's invasion of the Philippines during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the middle of his first Senate term, he ran for

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

as the running mate of President

Sergio Osmeña Sergio Osmeña Sr. (, ; zh, c=吳文釗, poj=Gô͘ Bûn-chiau; September 9, 1878 – October 19, 1961) was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the List of presidents of the Philippines, fourth president of the Ph ...

, but lost to fellow Senator

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Philippine nationality law, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 6th President of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered p ...

. He lost his Senate re-election bid in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

. He returned to the Senate in 1949 and served until his death in 1964. Eulogio Amang Rodriguez

On May 20, 1953, he was elected Senate President, a position he occupied for the next ten years. As the third highest government official, he steered the Senate into greater heights in terms of legislation. He was replaced by then-Senator

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

, then the Minority Floor Leader, as Senate President in a leadership coup on 1963, ending his long leadership of the Upper Chamber.

Party affiliation

Rodriguez began his political career as a member of the opposition party, known as the Democrata, but later switched to the

Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party (Filipino language, Filipino and Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; , NP) is a political party in the Philippines which is the oldest existing party in the country and in Southeast Asi ...

, the ruling party, in 1933, following a political realignment prompted by the contentious debate over the Independence Law. He remained a loyal member of the Nacionalista Party for the rest of his life, spanning over three decades until his death. He nursed the party during its darkest hours and steered it successfully through the political reefs and typhoons that rocked the local scene, thus earning him the nickname "''Mr. Nacionalista''". Unlike many politicians of his time, he did not switch parties for personal convenience.

Personal life

Rodriguez had seven children by his first wife, Doña Juana Santiago (1881-1954): Eulogio Jr., Jose, Ruperto, Leonor, Isidro, Constancio and Adelaida. Santiago Rodriguez, the namesake of the street in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

(now known as Broadway Avenue, adjacent to E. Rodriguez Avenue), passed away before Senator Rodriguez, who subsequently remarried Doña Luisita Canoy. With his second wife, Luisita, he had three children: Adelaida, Erlinda and Rafael. He later married a third wife, Pilar Leyba. His grandchildren include former Rizal congressman, Isidro Rodriguez Jr. The grandchildren are noteworthy for refusing to name projects after themselves, a trait inculcated by Eulogio Rodriguez into his descendants. Rodriguez was the older brother of a lawyer and

last-appointed mayor Julian Rodriguez, who became a successful landowner in that city where he migrated in 1919, when Davao at that time was still a booming town. Julian was also a technical assistant to the Mindanao and Sulu Commission prior to his mayorship.

Death

Rodriguez died in his sleep on December 9, 1964, at his home in Pasay City due to

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at the age of 81. The sudden death of Rodriguez, president of the Nacionalista Party for the past 18 years, marked the “passing of a great tradition,” quoted President

Diosdado Macapagal Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr. (; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the 9th President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the 5th Vice President of the Philippines, V ...

. Many came to visit the funeral of the man they called ''"Don Yoyong"''. Macapagal declared on December 9 until his burial a period of national mourning, where all flags would be flown at

half-staff Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a sal ...

. Rodriguez's remains were laid to rest at a cemetery behind his ancestral home in Montalban, Rizal.

Legacy

After Rodriguez's death, Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center, a private hospital in

Marikina Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 4 ...

, was named after him. Rodriguez became famous for his malaprops, and it raised his reputation as a beloved

everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin and history The term ''everyman'' was used ...

of the people. Eulogio Rodriguez Vocational High School (now Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology) was established in 1945 and was named after him. The Amang Rodriguez Elementary School in

Malabon Malabon, officially the City of Malabon (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 380,522 people. Located just north of the city of Manila, Malabon is ...

, Eulogio Rodriguez Integrated School in

Mandaluyong Mandaluyong ( ; ), officially the City of Mandaluyong (, ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly-urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popula ...

, and Eulogio Rodriguez Sr. Elementary School in

are also named after him. The aforementioned cities were formerly part of Rizal province, where Rodriguez served as its governor. España Boulevard Extension in Quezon City and an avenue between barangays Rosario and Dela Paz in

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig (), is a highly-urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the eastern border of Metro Mani ...

were renamed in his honor, as well as the municipality of Montalban.

References

Sources