Lito Osmeña
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Emilio Mario Renner Osmeña Jr. (September 11, 1938 – July 19, 2021), better known as Lito Osmeña, was a Filipino politician. A grandson of former
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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
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 ...
, he served as
Governor of Cebu The governor of Cebu () is the chief executive of the provincial government of Cebu, Philippines. The first governor appointed by the Spanish Crown was Miguel López de Legazpi, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, and during the history of the Philippines ...
from 1988 to 1992. He was the founding chairman of
PROMDI The Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiatives or Probinsya Muna Development Initiative (; ), abbreviated as PROMDI or Abag-Promdi, is a political party in the Philippines based in Cebu. The party was founded in 1997 by Lito Osmeña, ...
, under which he ran for
President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...
in the
1998 Philippine presidential election The 1998 Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections were held on May 11, 1998. In the presidential election, Vice President of the Philippines, Vice President Joseph Estrada won a six-year term as President of the Philippines, Presid ...
but lost to
Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor, who served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 until his resignation in 2001. ...
. He also ran for Vice President as the running mate of
Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...
in the 1992 national elections but lost also to Estrada, six years before the latter would defeat him again.


Early life and career

Lito was born on September 11, 1938 in
Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...
to Emilio Veloso Osmeña and Maria Luisa Renner. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the
University of San Carlos The University of San Carlos (USC or colloquially San Carlos) is a private, Catholic, research, coeducational basic and higher education institution administered by the Philippine Southern Province of the Society of the Divine Word missionarie ...
in
Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...
. Early in life, Lito managed Hacienda Lugo. He developed Maria Luisa Estate Park, a family owned residential subdivision. In 1973, he became a political prisoner during
Martial Law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
at
Fort Bonifacio Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) is the site of the national headquarters of the Philippine Army (Headquarters Philippine Army or HPA) located in Taguig, Philippines. The camp is named after Andres Bonifacio, the revolutio ...
for nine months, and was placed under house arrest for four years. After his release, he focused on developing real estate projects. It was not until the assassination of former senator
Ninoy Aquino Benigno "Ninoy" Simeón Aquino Jr., (, ; November 27, 1932 – August 21, 1983) was a Filipino politician who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac (1963–1967). Aquino was the husban ...
in 1983 that Osmeña got involved in politics. He ran for
governor of Cebu The governor of Cebu () is the chief executive of the provincial government of Cebu, Philippines. The first governor appointed by the Spanish Crown was Miguel López de Legazpi, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, and during the history of the Philippines ...
in 1988 and won.


Governor of Cebu

Osmeña served as the governor of Cebu from February 2, 1988, to June 30, 1992.


Economic reforms

After the reorganization of local governments and the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, he ran for the position of governor for the province of Cebu in 1988 and won. During his term as Governor of Cebu, Osmeña was able to increase the provincial budget to 1 billion pesos per annum. He made possible the construction of flyovers and causeways, and purchased heavy equipment that caused the opening and maintenance of several barangay roads and bridges as well as the farm-to-market roads and began construction of the Transcentral Highway, connecting Cebu City to the West. Osmeña launched a Water Distribution Program in the entire island, making water available to 90% of the population, as opposed to the 56% before his incumbency. He set up the municipal telephone system throughout the province. Osmeña initiated the modernization of Cebu's Mactan International Airport (now
Mactan–Cebu International Airport Mactan–Cebu International Airport (MCIA) is the main international airport serving Metro Cebu and is the main gateway to the Central Visayas region in the Philippines. Located on a site in Lapu-Lapu City on Mactan island, it is the secon ...
). He also worked with Fr. Francisco G. Silva in developing "Rural Electrification" for remote areas of the province. He also initiated direct flights from Cebu to the different parts of the world. He was elected as Chairman of the League of Governors of the Philippines from 1990 to 1992. It was during his watch as Governor of Cebu that Cebu experienced an economic boom.


1992 vice presidential election

After
Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...
bolted the Laban in 1992, he invited Osmeña to his newly created party Lakas and offered to be his running mate in the May 11 elections. Osmeña accepted Ramos' invitation and accepted his offer citing his vision to follow his grandfather's footsteps. He however lost to
Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor, who served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 until his resignation in 2001. ...
in a 7-way race for Vice President.


Post-governorship


Chief economic adviser

Osmeña served as Executive Vice President of Lakas and Chief Economic Adviser of President Fidel V. Ramos from 1993 to 1997. He also Chaired the Presidential Committee on Flagship Programs and Projects and finished or substantially undertook the following projects: The General Santos Airport, the Mactan Cebu International Airport, the upgrading of the Batangas port, the upgrading of the General Santos Seaport, the Rehabilitation of the Pan-Philippine Highway, the Quirino Highway, the Southern Tagalog Arterial Highway (Sto. Tomas-Lipa Section), C-5 Road (from South Luzon Expressway to Katipunan Avenue), the Metro Manila Skyway (Buendia to Bicutan), the Edsa/Boni underpass, the Kalayaan/EDSA flyover, the Ayala-Pasay Road interchange, the EDSA-Shaw flyover, the Bohol Circumferential Road, the Bataan Combined Cycle Power Plant (600MW), the Palimpinon Geothermal Plant (80MW), the Pagbilao Plant (700MW), the Upper Mahiao & Malitbog Geothermal Plant in Leyte (231MW), the Rehabilitation of PNR South Line, Line 2, Line 3 and the Deregulation of the Telecom Sector.


1998 presidential election

In 1997, he bolted Lakas and formed his own party he called
Probinsya Muna Development Initiative The Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiatives or Probinsya Muna Development Initiative (; ), abbreviated as PROMDI or Abag-Promdi, is a political party in the Philippines based in Cebu. The party was founded in 1997 by Lito Osmeña, ...
or PROMDI, with Ismael Sueño as his running mate. Both of them ran for the position of president and vice president in the 11-way presidential election but lost to Joseph Estrada, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo respectively.


Later activities

Osmeña returned to private life after the elections handling the party he founded as a party-list party. In the House of Representatives, the party was represented by
Joy Augustus Young Joy Augustus Go Young is a Filipino politician currently serving as a member of the City Council representing Cebu City's North District. He served as Vice Mayor of Cebu City from 2010 to 2013 and was a member of the Philippine House of Repre ...
. Osmeña did not run in the 2004 elections and supported his former political rival
Raul Roco Raul Sagarbarria Roco (October 26, 1941 – August 5, 2005) was a Filipino politician. He was the founder and presidential nominee of '' Aksyon Demokratiko'', which he founded in 1997 as a vehicle for his presidential bid in 1998 and his second ...
's presidential run. His party was disqualified in the party list elections, citing that the party was a national political party. Osmeña ran in 2010 for senator but lost.


Personal life

Lito, as he was often called, was married to Annette Versoza and had three children, namely Mariano, Maria Luisa, and Emilio III. He had eight grand children – Annette, Santino, Marie, Katrien, Alexander, Emilio IV, Illeana, and Julia. Lito was part of the Osmeña clan, a very influential political family in the Philippines. Other prominent family members include former Senators Sergio Osmeña III,
John Henry Osmeña John Henry Renner Osmeña (January 17, 1935 – February 2, 2021), also known as Sonny Osmeña or simply John Osmeña, was the grandson of Philippines, Philippine President of the Philippines, President Sergio Osmeña. He served as a senator of ...
and
Sergio Osmeña Jr. Sergio "Serging" Veloso Osmeña Jr. (December 4, 1916 – March 26, 1984) was a Filipino politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines, and ran against Ferdinand Marcos in the 1969 Philippine Presidential election. He was the son of Se ...
; former Cebu City Mayor
Tomas Osmeña Tomas "Tommy" de la Rama Osmeña (; born July 26, 1948) is a Filipino politician who was recently elected as the Vice Mayor of Cebu City in 2025 elections. He previously served as Mayor from 1987 to 1995, 2001 to 2010, and 2016 to 2019. He als ...
, former 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 ...
, former Cebu Vice Governor John Gregory Osmeña, as well as his sister, real estate developer Annabelle "Annie" Osmeña-Aboitiz.


Death

Osmeña died on July 19, 2021, in his hometown of
Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...
from
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
. He was 82 years old. His wife Annette also died from complications of the virus two weeks later, on July 31.


References


External links


Philippine Daily Inquirer: Three parties seal alliance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osmena, Lito 1938 births 2021 deaths Governors of Cebu Advisers to the president of the Philippines Candidates in the 1998 Philippine presidential election Candidates in the 1992 Philippine vice-presidential election People from Cebu City Emilio Lakas–CMD (1991) politicians Probinsya Muna Development Initiative politicians University of San Carlos alumni Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines) Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines Filipino people of German descent