By Rai Bollozos Sanchez
At 11:30 am on 15 June 1950, President Elpidio Quirino signed Republic Act 521 and culminated in the aspirations of the Kagay-anons because the small slumbering town has become a city.
In his unpublished document, “The Pre-Charter Municipal Leaders of Cagayan de Oro 1898 – 1950,” local Kagay-anon historian, Antonio J. Montalvan II, Ph.D. (1999) says, “On 2 January 1947, the local municipal board of Cagayan passed a resolution requesting President Manuel Roxas to grant a charter to Cagayan and requested then Misamis Congressman Pedro Sa. Baculio to sponsor the bill in Congress for the city charter.
Hence, in the same year, Congressman Baculio actively sponsored a bill for the charter-hood of the town, and the following year, 1948, public hearings were held in the town to seek popular sentiment for the realization of the proposed city charter.”
Congressman Pedro Sa. Baculio has exerted much time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears for the realization of the charter-hood of Cagayan. But why the charter-hood took place in 1950 when it could be made possible as early as 1948 or 1949?
Three possible events of the derailment. First, the unfortunate death of President Manuel A. Roxas on April 15, 1948; second, National elections took place on November 8, 1949; third, a new Philippine president Elpidio Quirino and a new representative Emmanuel Pelaez, both were elected in 1949 and were inducted in January 1950. There was a swing of leadership and representation. Still, these lead to more questions rather than answers.
Well, at this point, we knew that Congressman Baculio sponsored the bill but eventually lost the congressional bid to Congressman Pelaez in 1949. To recognize Congressman Baculio’s effort, President Elpidio Quirino appointed the former as city-mayor in 1953 after the death of Mayor Max Suniel but eventually resigned six months after.
That would make Congressman Baculio as the 2nd mayor of the city. But the charter-hood of Cagayan de Oro was attributed to Congressman Pelaez and not a single amount of credit to the person who initially authored the bill. Nevertheless, Congressman Pedro Sa. Baculio has been the FORGOTTEN FOUNDING FATHER of the charter-hood of Cagayan de Oro. From 1947 to 1949 he toiled hard for the sponsorship, passing, and at the point of having it approved under his term could also be worth remembering. For three years, he invested much of his effort to make it fruitful and not only the crucial 1949 elections have deemed to his frustrations.
So let me end with this when a bill is to be proposed in Congress, it would take three readings from the lower-house and three more additional readings in the upper-house; hence it would take more than six months to be able to make it through the lower-chamber and perhaps another more months to dispatch and be able to become a law, Congressman Baculio toiled for the sponsorship of the charter-hood from 1947 to 1949, it took two years but was not able to proceed with its approval. Pelaez, on the other hand, took over as solon in January of 1950 and it only took six months then the charter-hood was signed in June. This would leave us a question, why?
Well, again, history leaves us with blind spots. The more we get interested, the more questions surface rather than answers. Local Kagay-anon history is still an unchartered terrain and ONLY AVAILABLE SOURCES COULD TELL.
If this becomes more interesting, time is of the essence and HISTORY BECOMES PROGRESSIVE!
Ang tao nagmugna sa kasaysayan pero ang KASAYSAYAN ANG NAGMUGNA SA KATAWHAN.
