Quintín Paredes

Quintín Babila Paredes Sr. (born Quintín Paredes y Babila; September 9, 1884 – January 30, 1973), was a Filipino lawyer, politician, and statesman.

As a member of the House of Representives in the Philippine Commonwealth, he became Resident Commissioner of the Philippines to the United States House of Representatives from 1936. Due to increasing anti-Filipino sentiment in U.S. Congress and the denial of U.S. Senate for the credit line in order to stabilize the Philippine's economy, he resigned in 1938.

From 1941 to 1945, he was elected in the Philippine Senate where he was deemed a Japanese collaborator. After being acquitted from his arrest in 1948, he ran for the Philippine Legislature and once again elected senator from 1949 to 1961.

Early life

He was born in Bangued, Abra, Philippines on September 9, 1884 to Don Juan Félix Paredes y Pe Benito and Regine Babila, daughter of an Itneg tribal leader.

Education and early career

He obtained his elementary education at the school his father had established, and also studied at the Colegio Seminario de Vigan and at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran. He pursued law at the Escuela de Derecho de Manila. Graduating in 1907, Paredes took and passed the bar examinations the same year and started his private practice in Manila.

He was appointed fourth prosecuting attorney on July 9, 1908, first prosecuting attorney on November 1, 1913, and served until March 1, 1917.Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: Paredes, Quintin
(HTML) Accessed August 9, 2007.

Government service

He served as Philippine Solicitor General from March 1, 1917 to 1918, as Attorney-General from 1918 to July 1, 1920, and as Secretary of Justice from 1920 to 1921. As Attorney-General, Paredes was a member of the first parliamentary mission to the United States in 1919. He resumed the practice of law in Manila in 1921.

Political career

House of Representatives

He was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives to represent Abra's lone district in 1925, 1928, 1931, and 1934, serving as Speaker pro tempore of the House of Representatives from 1929 to 1931, and as the Speaker itself from 1934 to 1935. In 1935 he was elected as a member of the Philippine Assembly but he resigned to serve as the Philippines' Resident Commissioner.Official Website of the Senate of the Philippines: Biography of Senate President Paredes
(HTML) Accessed August 9, 2007.

As Resident Commissioner

Under the Tydings–McDuffie Act that created the Philippine Commonwealth Government, Paredes became its first Resident Commissioner, serving from February 14, 1936, until his resignation on September 29, 1938.

As Resident Commissioner, Paredes focused on two key objectives. First, he aimed to revise the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which he believed would harm the Philippines' economic structure. He hoped to secure changes that would allow the Philippines to adapt to the global economy. Second, he sought to protect a significant line of credit with the U.S. Treasury Department to safeguard the Philippines' financial stability.

The Philippine government had previously invested in U.S. banks, but due to a missed opportunity to convert to gold, they incurred significant losses. To compensate for these losses, the U.S. Congress authorized a $24 million credit line. However, there were attempts to repeal this credit line, and Paredes, as the Resident Commissioner, had to fight to protect it. Despite his limited time in Washington, he presented his case to the Senate Banking and Currency Committee in March 1936. Unfortunately for Paredes, the U.S. Senate committee chose to repeal the measure and stated that the credit line was "misunderstood" by Congress.

During Paredes' time in the House, isolationist sentiments in U.S. Congress grew, with many American lawmakers wanting the U.S. to withdraw from the Pacific. This shift in public opinion, influenced by certain industries, made it harder for Paredes to advocate for the Philippines' interests. He faced accusations of ingratitude and faced growing prejudice against the Philippines. Feeling defeated, he resigned as Resident Commissioner.

Upon his resignation in September 1938, Manuel Quezon, despite their rivalry in politics, complemented Paredes saying:

In 1938, he was again elected a member of the Philippine Assembly, and served as the Majority Floor Leader during this term.

Philippine Senate (1941–1945)

He was also elected as a member of the Philippine Senate from 1941 to 1945 that did not sit in session due to the onset of World War II and the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines. As a senator under the administration of President Jose P. Laurel, he became commissioner of public works and was chosen as secretary of justice once again.

Under Japanese control, the Philippine government recognized that inadequate irrigation was a major obstacle to agricultural development. To address this, they initiated the Agno River Control Project. Paredes, being the commissioner of public works, made use of the manpower available to the state in order to build dikes along the Agno River. The built dikes were utilized to prevent flooding and harnessing the river's water to irrigate fertile lands in several provinces, including Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Norte, Pampanga, and Nueva Ecija.

The U.S. Military arrested Paredes with charges up to 21 counts of treason as a Japanese collaborator. He was acquitted in 1948 by Filipino courts.

After the Second World War, Paredes ran again for his old post representing Abra in the Philippine House of Representatives, and won. He held this post from 1946 to 1949. Despite him being a Japanese collaborator, he was elected to the Philippine Legislature throughout the 1950s.

Philippine Senate (1949 – 1961)

In the Philippine elections of 1949, Paredes topped the Senatorial race as a candidate of the Liberal Party. He briefly became the President of the Philippine Senate in 1952, and was reelected as a Philippine Senator in 1955, finishing his second term in 1961. Retiring from politics in 1963, Paredes died ten years later in Manila.

Other posts held

*Dean of the law school (Escuela de Derecho) of Manila, 1913 to 1917
*President of the General Bank & Trust Co., 1963 to 1969

See also

*List of Asian Americans and Pacific Islands Americans in the United States Congress
* Resident Commissioner of the Philippines

References

External links

*
Biography of Senate President Paredes at the Philippine Senate Website
*A work translated by Paredes,

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paredes, Quintin
1884 births
1973 deaths
Burials at the Manila North Cemetery
Colegio de San Juan de Letran alumni
Deputy speakers of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
Filipino collaborators with Imperial Japan
Ilocano people
Filipino people of Mexican descent
Filipino people of Spanish descent
Filipino Freemasons
Laurel administration cabinet members
Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians
Majority leaders of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Abra (province)
Members of the United States Congress of Filipino descent
Members of the United States House of Representatives of Asian descent
Nacionalista Party politicians
People from Abra (province)
Presidents pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines
Presidents of the Senate of the Philippines
Quezon administration cabinet members
Resident commissioners of the Philippines
Secretaries of justice of the Philippines
Senators of the 1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
Senators of the 2nd Congress of the Philippines
Senators of the 3rd Congress of the Philippines
Senators of the 4th Congress of the Philippines
Solicitors general of the Philippines
Speakers of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
Members of the Philippine Legislature
Members of the National Assembly of the Philippines