President Elpidio Quirino Preceded by Eugenio Baldana Died December 6, 1972 Preceded by Camilo Osias Preceded by Mateo M. Nonato Party Liberal Party | President Sergio Osmena Name Jose Zulueta Succeeded by Eulogio Rodriguez Preceded by Benigno Aquino, Sr. Role Philippine Politician | |
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José Zulueta | Wikipedia audio article
José Zulueta (Molo, Iloilo City, November 23, 1889 – December 6, 1972) was a Philippine lawyer and politician. He was elected as Senate President for a brief period in 1953.
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Career
During the Japanese Occupation Zulueta was accused of collaboration, along with Jorge Vargas, Jorge Bocobo, and Manuel Roxas, being the first to respond General Homma's order to form an Executive Commission. After the establishment of the Philippine Republic in 1946, the Department of Interior was restored and Zulueta was appointed by President Manuel Roxas once again to head the agency until 1948. Zulueta's term was marked by heightened tensions with the Hukbalahap movement, with Zulueta instituting a pass system that was required of Central Luzon residents wishing to travel outside their towns. Like his mentor Roxas, he adopted a hardline attitude toward the Huks, declaring in 1947 that the Huks faced only two choices: surrender or annihilation. He gave carte blanche to the Philippine Constabulary in all their operations against "dissidents". He was in charge of negotiating several times with its leaders, including Luis Lava, Luis Taruc, Juan Feleo, and Jose de Leon.
In 1946 Zulueta was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the inaugural session of the Congress.
He became Senator (1951–1957) and was briefly elected the Senate President in 1953. He became Provincial Governor of Iloilo in 1959.
During the Marcos regime, he was made the Presidential Consultant on Local Government.
He is among the few Filipinos included in the World Biography, 1948 edition and in the International Who's Who, 1952 edition.
Zulueta was married to Soledad B. Ramos.
Library work
After his stint in journalism, Zulueta returned to academic work and focused on librarian tasks. He travelled the world and met famous collectors including Wenceslao Retana. He collaborated with bibliographers and historians such as James Alexander Robertson and Emma Helen Blair who needed references for work such as The Philippine Islands, 1493 to 1898. He also visited Spain to study the 1887 Exposicion General de Filipinas, and Cambridge to study the Vocabulario Tagalo. In Manila, he created archives and texts to collate the various historical sources for creating the Philippines' history, using both local and foreign sources.