Manuel C. Briones, literary genius of the Visayas
The "Golden Book of Cebu" published in 1937 allocated a segment on the literary achievements of the Cebuanos. Among them was then Judge Manuel C. Briones who later became Justice of the Court of Appeals.
M.C. Briones was born on January 1, 1894 and was the son of Pedro Cabahug and Engracia Briones. During his early teenage years, it was his uncle, Rev. Domingo Briones who took Manuel to Cebu City for his studies. Owing his education to his uncle it was the reason why he adopted the family benefactor uncle.
A street along the Cebu City Hall facing the sea or waterfront is named after him.
M.C. Briones finished his Bachelor of Arts at the Colegio de San Carlos now known as the University of San Carlos. Manuel studied under the private school of then Don Antolin Frias, a foremost writer and journalist of Cebu.
Manuel studied his Bachelor of Laws at the Escuela de Derecho in Manila and he was admitted to the Bar on November 3, 1916. He practiced law together with Dionisio Abella Jakosalem (who was Governor of Cebu in 1907) and Paulino Gullas, the Cebuano Bar Topnotch and Founder of Cebu's oldest newspaper, The Freeman.
It was in "Ang Suga," the first Cebuano newspaper founded by Don Vicente Yap Sotto that M.C. Briones started his journalistic career in 1910. In 1911 while being a student he became a reporter of "El Ideal," the official organ of the Nacionalista Party. Months later before the election of 1912, Briones became the Editor of "La Revolucion," a newspaper founded by Don Filemon Yap Sotto, the elder brother of Don Vicente Sotto.
Incidentally, EDSA or Epifanio delos Santos, who was a well-known Filipino writer in Manila said that the most brilliant writers among the young Filipinos at that time, all came from Visayas, among them was Manuel C. Briones, who was joined in the list by Francisco Varona and Buenaventura Rodriguez.
M.C. Briones, a year after passing the bar examinations, won the contest in Spanish Prose on the inauguration of the Casino Español in Manila. He became a member of the esteemed association "La Real Academia Hispano-Americana de Ciencias y Artes de Cadiz."
It was his greatness in journalism and literature that catapulted him to politics. He became a member of the House of Representatives from 1919 to 1931 and later as a Member of the House of Senate.
The famous men of Cebu's politics started with their prowess of the pen and ink. Don Sergio Osmeña was editor of El Nuevo Dia, he was joined by Rafael Palma and Jaime C. de Veyra (both are not residents of Cebu, but were later honored by streets in Cebu City). Don Mariano Cuenco was editor and publisher of El Precursor and his younger brother, Miguel (who also became Congressman representing the old 5th District of Cebu), who also became a lawyer, was Managing Editor of El Precursor.
Don Vicente Rama, the Father of the Cebu City Charter, was publisher of the "Bag ong Kusog." Before World War II and during the prime of M.C. Briones, Cebu was in abundance of literary outlets, there was the Visayan weekly, Bisaya, who was edited by Flaviano G. Boquecosa, who was joined by Vicente Padriga and Natalio Bacalso.
Publications which were printed in Cebu but distributed in Visayas and Mindanao were the "Visayan Ambassador" and the "Mindanao Bluebook." There were also great young Visayan writers like, Rafael Bautista, Jose Bautista, Florentino Tecson, Leodegario Salazar, Primo Alvis, and Tomas Hermosisima.
M.C. Briones, the pride of Mandaue and the literary genius of the Visayas, died on September 29, 1957.
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