Panganiban St., Cebu City
It is the street that starts from N. Bacalso Avenue (where the Cebu City Medical Center is situated) passing the streets of Sanciangco, Colon and ends at Magallanes.
It is named after Jose Maria Panganiban, son of Vicente Panganiban (originally from Bulacan) and Juana Enverga (Tayabas now Quezon Province). J.M. Panganiban was born on February 6, 1863, in Bangkal (the town's name has been renamed after him). His father was a Clerk of Court in Daet, Camarines. Panganiban was a propagandist, linguist, and essayist. At the age of 12, he mastered Latin and Spanish.
With the help of a priest (Fr. Santoja) Panganiban was able to go to Letran College and the University of Santo Tomas. He studied medicine and earned an Agriculture's Degree in 1885.
In 1888 he went to Spain and studied at the University of Barcelona. It was in Spain that he joined the Assosacion Hispano-Filipino. He also became a member of the Free Masonry. Panganiban wrote on April 25, 1889 the Spanish Minister of Colonies requesting Filipino representation in the Spanish Cortes.
Panganiban was one of the founders and active contributor of the revolutionary publication, La Solidaridad. Among the many articles he wrote were El Pensamiento, Los Nuevos Ayuntamientos de Filipinas, Lupang Tinubuan, and Amor Mio.
J.M. Panganiban, on August 19, 1890, died of Tuberculosis in Barcelona, Spain. He was laid to rest at the Southwest Cemetery of Barcelona. In his epitaph, the following words were written: "Here lies the avenger of the honor of the Filipino" written by Graciano Lopez-Jaena.
Dr. Domingo Abella, a Filipino historian, went to Spain and brought home the remains of the great Filipino propagandist. It is now laid at the Jose Maria Panganiban Monument in a town in Camarines Norte named after him.
On December 1, 1937, by virtue of Act No. 4155 the Philippine Congress on December 1, 1937 renamed Mambulao as Jose Maria Panganiban. The Bicolano literary genius, J.M. Panganiban, has a street named after him in Naga City. That is the street formerly named as Calle de Legaspi.
It was in the La Solidaridad that J.M. Panganiban repeatedly argued that the Spanish Colonizers must give Filipinos freedom of the press and quality education.
During the early years of the American occupation, our leaders named the street in honor of the prime mover of press freedom. J.M. Panganiban may have never been to Cebu, but there are Panganibans who have lived in Cebu. Gloria Lavilles, daughter of the late Cebu City councilor and historian, married a Panganiban (first named Alejandro). Gloria was Acting Chief Librarian of Cebu City in 1956, this was when Mrs. Muana retired.
Another Panganiban, Wilma, now serves as a councilor of barangay Toong, Cebu City. She was elected on October 28, 2013. Mario Panganiban, a successful businessman, is the vice president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry. There was also Artemio Panganiban Jr., a namesake of the former Chief Justice, the Artemio who stayed in Cebu, was a retired NBI high ranking official, one of the country's leading criminologists and became Dean of the College of Criminology of Cebu Central Colleges now University of Cebu.
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