The name “Osmeña” used to be a magic name in government and politics. For over a century, the Osmeña name dominated Philippine politics and the powerful clan had lorded over Cebu politics for many decades. Four members of the family, Sergio Sr., Sergio Jr. (Serging), Sergio III (Serge) and John Henry (Sonny) served the Senate with distinction. All four ran for vice president of our country, plus cousin Emilio (Lito), a former governor of Cebu, at different times and under different presidential bearers (Manuel L. Quezon, Fidel V. Ramos, Danding Cojuangco and Alfredo Lim). Serging even sought the VP post as an independent in 1961 and bested the official NP bet, Gil P. Puyat Sr., but lost to Emmanuel Pelaez.
In the 1992 elections, Lito and Sonny both joined the VP sweepstakes but they lost to Joseph Estrada. Even the national arena was crowded for the Osmeñas. They could well compare with the illustrious Kennedy family who had ruled Massachusetts’s politics until recently when Congressman Joseph Kennedy III lost in his bid to dislodge Senator Edward Markey as senator of the state, which the late President JFK, and his great uncle Ted held for many years. The Kennedy siblings, together with Robert, served the US Senate and many members of the family held elective government positions.
The great political odyssey of the Osmeñas was started by Don Sergio. He was born on September 9, 1878 and tomorrow will be his 142nd birthday anniversary. He founded a nationalistic newspaper, El Nuevo Dia, which he published in Cebu. He earned his law degree at UST and placed second during the 1903 Bar Examination. He was first appointed acting Governor of Cebu in 1904 and was elected to the same position in 1906. He was elected as the Assemblyman of Cebu and became the first Speaker of the National Assembly, which he served from 1907 to 1922. Quezon served as Osmeña’s Majority Leader in the National Assembly. At 29, Osmeña was the highest-ranking Filipino official in the government. When the Philippine Senate was created by virtue of the passage of the Jones Law in 1916, Quezon ran for senator and became the Senate President while Osmeña stayed as the Speaker in the House of Representatives. Eventually, Osmeña was elected senator representing the 10th Senatorial District. He served as Senate President Protempore under Quezon. By that time, Quezon was recognized as the leader of the Filipinos in the government. In the 1935 Commonwealth election, he accepted to be the running mate of Quezon and they both ran under the consolidated banner of the Nacionalista Party. The tandem was overwhelmingly elected by the Filipino people. Quezon and Osmeña were reelected by a landslide in 1941 for another term. By December 30,1943, Quezon’s term as president would have expired and VP Osmeña would have automatically succeeded Quezon to serve until December 1945. Osmeña formally wrote Quezon about this but Quezon held the view that it would be imprudent to effect such a change while the country was at war. Despite the opinion of the US Attorney General Homer Cummings favoring Osmeña’s position and the support of Quezon’s wartime cabinet in the US, Osmeña himself suggested to ask the US Congress to suspend the constitutional provision for the presidential succession until after the war. The US Congress approved a Joint resolution in November 1943 before Quezon’s term expired. Osmeña was a statesman par excellence who sacrificed his own interest to preserve the unity of the Filipinos under the most trying times. But Osmeña would not be denied his right. On August 1, 1944, Quezon succumbed to tuberculosis and Osmeña became the second president of the Philippine Commonwealth, succeeding Quezon.
Osmeña joined General Douglas McArthur during the Leyte landing on October 20, 1944. The reins of government were turned over to Osmeña when Manila was liberated from the Japanese forces on February 27, 1945. Osmeña and then Senate President Manuel A. Roxas contested the presidential election on April 23, 1946. Osmeña did not campaign and instead devoted his time to his official work and in rehabilitating our country from the ravages of the war. Roxas ran under the newly formed Liberal Party with Elpidio Quirino as his running mate. The Roxas-led opposition won over the Osmeña-Eulogio Rodriguez team and took control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. For the first time after almost half a century, Osmeña was out of the government. He retired in Cebu and died on October 19, 1961 at the age of 83.
In his tribute to Osmeña, Carlos P. Romulo said: “Quezon was…a meteor in Philippine skies, tracing a fiery path to its extinction; Osmeña on the other hand, was a steady light. Where one was flashy and mercurial, the other was unassuming and patient…Osmeña maintained… the figure of a father and elder; speaking softly… removing himself from the limelight to stand in the shadows, in order to preserve unity.” For his part, the late Senator Arturo Tolentino said of him: “Great men are born, not for their generation alone, but for all times. In the course of time, they may be forgotten as mortal individuals, but the ideals and the things they stood for and represented in life will survive and remain with deathless freshness in the memory of their people. To the Filipinos, such a man is Sergio Osmeña, beloved Don Sergio, later in life known as the “Grand Old Man of Cebu.”