I will never get tired of writing about the hero of my province, Wenceslao Quinito Vinzons, of Indan (now renamed Vinzons), Camarines Norte. He’s a great Filipino whose patriotism, services to his country and extraordinary achievements despite his abbreviated life were unique and unsurpassed. He was born on September 28, 1910, exactly the same date as former President Diosdado P. Macapagal’s natal day and the feast day of St. Wenceslao, 122 years ago but we have yet to see the likes of him blazing our firmament.
This distinguished Filipino is deemed as the best and the brightest product of his generation. He grew up during the most interesting time in our history—just 12 years after we regained independence from Spain and during our struggle against the new American colonizers. His political consciousness was awakened during the American colonial government and honed during the formative years of the Commonwealth Regime when we were being trained for self-government. And to top it all, he experienced the crucible of war where he paid the ultimate sacrifice—his own life.
From birth, Bintao as he was called, had everything going for him. His grandfather came from Fujian, China and settled in Camarines Norte to prospect for gold. At the same time, he acquired vast landholdings that his son, Gavino, and Bintao’s father converted into huge coconut, abaca and rice plantations. This made the Vinzons one of the largest hacienderos in the province. The family was also one of the most prosperous abaca and copra traders in the whole place. They owned a gold mining company that brought the family more wealth. Eventually, the family settled in Indan, a small town adjacent to their business and large tract of lands. From childhood, Bintao displayed superior intellect. He was accelerated during his elementary and high school years and graduated as class valedictorian in both levels. He was a voracious reader and a prolific writer even in high school. He edited the school paper and found time to publish a typewritten weekly magazine that he circulated in the community. He was the first to own a portable typewriter in his province. He attended college at UP in 1927. It was in UP where his intellect, leadership, writing, oratorical and debating skills were developed and blossomed. He was an accomplished author of several articles published in national magazines and newspapers. His oratorical piece entitled “Malaysia Irredenta,” which he wrote and delivered, copped the Quezon Gold Medal in the 1932 UP College of Law Oratorical contest. He was a member, and later, the captain of the UP Debating Team that competed and won against other local universities and visiting teams from the US. His members eventually became a who’s who in national politics, like Sens. Arturo Tolentino, Ambrosio Padilla, Estanislao Fernandez and Congressmen Hermenigildo Atienza and Antonio Raquiza. He was the editor of the Philippine Collegian, president of the UP Student Council, and the first president of the College Editors Guild. He was the most dynamic activist and student leader during his term at the UP. He led a student demonstration consisting of students from different colleges and universities in Manila in front of the old Congress Building in Taft Avenue to denounce a surreptitious provision in the General Appropriations Act increasing the salaries of the members of Congress. He founded the Young Philippines Party whose members included Tolentino, Lorenzo Sumulong, Jose P. Laurel, Jr., Diosdado Macapagal, Ferdinand E. Marcos, Carmen Planas, Domocao Alonto and many others who became well-known figures after the war. Under his newly formed political party, he ran and won as the youngest delegate to the 1934 Constitutional Convention at the age of 23. In fact, his election was contested since he was definitely underage, as the minimum age qualification for the office was 25 years old. The Convention itself voted to confirm his election after hearing Bintao’s privilege speech defending his qualifications: “If age alone is my defect, it is a defect which time will cure.” He strongly opposed the martial law and emergency rule provisions in the proposed 1935 Constitution, prophetically “warning that we must not give rise…to the control of government by a single strong man and the establishment of a virtual dictatorship.” We would have averted the proclamation of Martial Law in 1972 had his fellow delegates heeded Bintao’s prescience. As a delegate, he was the acknowledged leader of a group of young and liberal-minded delegates who called themselves the Convention Club and they published a paper called the Constitutionalists to inform the public of their activities and works. Bintao championed many causes, which included the adoption of Tagalog as the basis of our national language and the grant of the right of suffrage to women. When Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo fought Quezon for the presidency in the Commonwealth elections in 1935, Bintao was his campaign manager. Aguinaldo lost, except in his own province of Cavite and in Camarines Norte, Bintao’s province. After the election, Bintao spoke at a rally in Kawit, Cavite where he accused Quezon and his party of alleged fraud. He was charged with sedition and was convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment despite being represented by the greatest criminal lawyer at that time, Vicente Francisco. He appealed and personally argued his case, and this time won an acquittal at the Court of Appeals. He ran for governor in 1940 and was elected as the youngest governor of the Philippines. Unable to get support for his projects from the congressman of his district, he ran against a Quezon candidate and won as the representative of his province in 1941. But war broke out and he failed to assume his seat.
Bintao proved to be a great warrior willing to lay down his life in defense of our country’s freedom. He organized the Vinzons Guerillas, the first organized resistance against the Japanese invaders. His troops ambushed the advancing Japanese forces on their way to establish a garrison in Daet. This was the first recorded armed skirmish between the two forces during the war. Several raids and ambuscades that inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese troops followed this. For several days, his troops even liberated Daet from the Japanese. For this, Bintao and his resistance group became the most wanted armed resistance group by the enemy. More Japanese forces were sent to Bicol where Bintao’s forces operated. Finally, Bintao, his father, wife and two children were captured in an early dawn raid in his lair in Tulay-na-Lupa, Labo on July 8, 1942. He was asked to collaborate with the enemy but he declined. In August 1942, he and his father and some other prisoners were boarded in a Japanese military truck to be brought to Fort Santiago in Manila but they were never heard from again. Up to now, their remains have not been found.
Bintao was the greatest hope of his generation. He could have been the president of our country had his young life not been snuffed out by the Japanese invaders during the darkest hours of the 2nd World War. People have scant memories of this great patriot. The social media can do a great deal to give him the recognition that he truly deserves. I wanted to write about him during the celebration of the National Heroes’ Day but I decided to give him the singular honor by giving him a tribute on or near his birthday anniversary. Bintao lived a brief and fleeting life; he was dead at 31. As Dr. Seuss had said: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”