Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Don Piroco Mansion, Pedro Lardizabal, Ricardo Paras, Sr, Founding of Marinduque


Old marker prior to 1973: "Kapitan Piroco Mansion. Owned by Kapitan Municipal Pedro Lardizabal (better known as Kapitan Piroco). In this mansion Commissioner William H. Taft conferred with Marinduque prominent leaders on March 13, 1901. William H. Taft established the civil government of the province in this place and appointed Ricardo Paras Sr. first civil governor.”

Sa Don Piroco Mansion. 
Akalain mo, year 1901. Ang mga mahahalagang nagaganap sa Marinduque ay reported sa pahayagan sa US. Ang isang ito ay tungkol sa maagang pag-uusap sa ating bayan na isinusulong ng mga 'intelligent delegations from all towns on the island'. 
Nangako naman si Gov. Gen. WILLIAM H. TAFT na babalik siya para sa organisasyon ng hiwalay at independenteng MARINDUQUE. Ang matinding gusto ng mga tao, ihiwalay sa Tayabas ang Isla ng Marinduque at mga nakapaligid na mga isla rito.
William Howard Taft, would-be US president after Marinduque visits

 Ang totoo, 19 na taon pa ang lumipas bago nahiwalay bilang isang lalawigan ang Marinduque noong 1920. Hindi na ito bilang isang 'sub-province'. Si Taft naman ay nahalal na PRESIDENTE NG USA mula 1909-1913. Iba na ang nagpapatakbo sa Pilipinas by 1920 - si Gov. Gen. Francis Burton HARRISON na at siya ang pumirma ng tinatawag na Marinduque Charter (Act 2280), na nagdeklara sa separation from Tayabas ng Marinduque.

Francis Burton Harrison

Sa sumusunod na report na ito sa, ibaba na matiyagang kinalap ni @Curtis Shepard at nai-post sa kanyang website tungkol sa Marinduque, ay sinasabing pabor daw ang mga mamamayan natin sa hiwalay na probinsya at sang-ayon din daw ang mga mamamayan (na mukhang maagang paggamit ng  'fake news') sa karahasang ginagawa sa mga lumalabang 'insurgents'.

Ito po ang detalyadong report sa diyaryong nalimbag sa Massachusetts, The North Adams Transcript, March 18, 1901:

Sample ng North Adams Evening Transcript.

THE NORTH ADAMS EVENING TRANSCRIPT Massachusetts
ANOTHER ANXIOUS ISLAND
Wants Americans and Believes in Harshness
Romblon Island, March 18— By mail Boac Island, Marinduque, March 16:
The question of attaching this island Marinduque to the province of Tayabas was discussed by the American Philippine commission since their arrival here and has been decided in the negative. The sentiment of the people wholly favor forming a separate province. The population of 50,000 was represented during the discussions and the commission has met intelligent delegations from all towns on the island. There are 300 insurgents still in the mountains of Marinduque. but otherwise the inhabitants are anxious for the pacification of the island and 'to accept American sovereignty.
Judge Taft announced that Captain Hale and the chairmen of the various committees of natives formed to organize municipal law in the towns of Marinduque, Judge Taft promised commission he will return and organize the province of Marinduque. Major Smith commanding the American garrison, on this island has issued an order requiring all natives to live in the five principal towns where American troops are stationed.
Those natives who continue to live in the country be considered insurgents A few insurgents have recently been killed or wounded in these towns and supplies have been destroyed.
The inhabitants of this island favor the drastic policy towards the insurgents.
The American Philippine commission will soon prepare a recommendation to President McKinley on the character and form of the general civil government to be established in the archipelago.
The matter has yet received but informal consideration.

Ricardo Paras, Sr. (Photo from Province of Quezon)
Nagturo din siya kay Dr. Rizal, nagturo din sa Boac, sumama sa Rebolusyon, naging delegado sa Malolos Congress, pagsuko ni Aguinaldo ay bumalik na sa Boac, at naging unang civil governor ng Tayabas at sub-province of Marinduque.

1901-1902 RICARDO G. PARAS, SR.* Provincial (Civil) Governor of
Tayabas and Marinduque.
1902-1904 RICARDO G. PARAS, SR.* Lieutenant Governor.
1904-1907 RICARDO G. PARAS, SR.* Provincial Governor
(Paras was delegate to the Malolos Congress in 1898; appointed provincial governor by Pres. William H. Taft from 1901-1902, then as lieutenant governor from 1902-1904 and provincial governor from 1904-1907)
1919-1920 VICENTE TRIVINO (elected) Lieutenant Governor
(Trivino was aide-de-camp of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and participated actively in revolutionary activities during the Philippine-American War; was first appointed provincial governor under the Marinduque Charter (1920). Act No. 2880 Feb. 21, 1920, which separated the sub-province of Marinduque from the province of Tayabas)
1920-1922 VICENTE TRIVINO (hold-over) Provincial Governor


Ricardo Garcia Paras. Sr. (Calapan, August 12, 1861 - Manila, May 1, 1938) was a Filipino revolutionary and politician. 


Paras studied at Ateneo Municipal University and taught the Philippine national hero José Rizal. After completing his Bachelor of Arts diploma, he worked as a teacher at a public school in Boac in the province of Marinduque. Following the failure of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, he joined the Philippine Revolution. He was elected as a delegate on behalf of the Marinduque Province in the Malolos Congress, which established the Philippine Constitution of 1898. When the revolutionary government of Aguinaldo eventually ended, he returned to Boac.

In 1901, Paras was nominated by US governor William Howard Taft as first governor of Mindoro and Marinduque province. 

On May 4, 1903, a nomination was taken as governor of Tayabas. On February 1, 1904, he became the first elected governor of Tayabas (and sub-province of Marinduque), on behalf of the Progresista Party, the former Federalist Party. At the end of his term in 1906, he was succeeded by Manuel Quezon as Governor. After that he worked for the Bureau of Constabulary for 25 years.

Paras Sr. died in 1938 at the age of 77 years. He was married to Andrea Mercader and had ten children with her. Their eldest son, Ricardo Paras, became later a politician and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. (Wiki)

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