Osmeña Day

Sumala sa atong nasayran, matag September 9 (ugma) magsaulog kita sa Osmeña Day paghandom sa adlawng natawhan ni Sergio Osmeña Sr, ang ika-upat nga Presidente sa Pilipinas.

The celebration was declared a“special non-working special public holiday in Cebu City, the Province of Cebu, and all its component cities by Republic Act No. 6953 enacted in May 1990.

Alang sa kabatan-onan karon, kinsa si Don Sergio? Sa iyang pakigpulong, atol sa 100thbirth anniversary celebration ni Osmeña, the late Foreign Minister Carlos P. Romulo namahayag nga “We celebrate the memory of Sergio Osmeña, whom we all remember as the ‘First Gentleman of the Philippines.’

“Sacrifice of personal glory is Sergio Osmeña’s measure of the greatness of a leader,” nagkanayon si Romulo. Pag-adto ni Osmeña sa Washington, Romulo recalled that “Osmeña never wanted to hire a big limousine to take him around, or live in a luxurious hotel, but would take a cab (taxi?) instead, or stay in modest quarters (pension house?), for he would say: ‘How could I when many of our countrymen live is such miseries as they do.”

Wala siya motugot nga magpahayahay lang siya didto sa America, samtang, back home, nag-antos ug nagsubo’ ang iyang katagilungsod. Prinsipyo, nga matud pa,“no amount of political expediency would make him betray the principle.”

Sa ato pa, walay mga political exigencies ug personal nga mga considerations ang makahaylo ug makaaghat kaniya pagluib sa gibarugan niya nga mga prinsipyo.

Nipadayon si Romulo: “Osmeña conceived the goals of national leadership as a total dedication to the welfare and advancement of the people, and when others would pay lip-service (lang) to this concept.” Ang baba’ ra ang galihok.

Mao kini karon ang atong giingon nga public office is a public trust, diin matud niya ni Osmeña: “Public office was not property to be protected, rather it was a duty and opportunity to advance the people’s welfare.” Tukma.

Sa sugilon ni Resil B. Mojares, si Osmeña placed second place in the 1903 bar examinations. Ug niadtong panahona, “he was considered the most promising young man of the city.”

Pag-adto ni Climaco sa America, isip usa sa mga commissioners sa St. Louise Exposition in 1904, iyang girekomendar si Osmeña pagka-acting Governor ug kini gi-confirmed ni Governor General Luke E. Wright.

Injecting diligence and efficiency into the service, gitudlo siya nga Provincial Fiscal sa Sugbo in 1904, ug pagka sunod tuig, gitudlo nga concurrent Fiscal sa Negros Oriental, diin matud sa usa ka Americanhong opisyal, “He is one of the most efficient fiscals and prosecutors in the islands.”

Paglansar niya pagka-Gobernador sa Sugbo, Osmeña garnered 378 out of 404 votes cast by municipal councilors acting as an electoral college. Ug nakita ni Governor General James F. Smith si Osmeña as a model provincial governor.

Google: At 29, Osmeña was elected Speaker of the first Philippine Assembly (now, House of Representatives) on October 16, 1907, serving for 15 years, until 1922. He was the youngest and longest-serving Speaker in the position's history, making him the highest-ranking Filipino official under the American colonial administration at the time.