Серхио Осменья: Филиппин Президентінің өмірбаяны мен саяси жолы

President of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946
former President of the Philippines

Sergio Osmeña Sr. (ˈseɾxjo osˈmeɲa, ; ; September 9, 1878 – October 19, 1961) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fourth President of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was Vice President under Manuel L. Quezon. Upon Quezon's sudden death in 1944, Osmeña succeeded him at age 65, becoming the oldest person to assume the Philippine presidency until Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016 at age 71. A founder of the Nacionalista Party, Osmeña was also the first Visayan to become president. Prior to his accession in 1944, Osmeña served as governor of Cebu from 1906 to 1907, member and first speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives from 1907 to 1922, and senator from the 10th senatorial district for thirteen years, in which capacity he served as Senate president pro tempore. In 1935, he was nominated to be the running mate of Senate President Manuel L. Quezon for the presidential election that year. The duo were overwhelmingly re elected in 1941. He was the patriarch of the prominent Osmeña family, which includes his son, former Senator Sergio Osmeña Jr., and his grandsons, former senators Sergio Osmeña III and John Henry Osmeña, ex governor Lito Osmeña, and former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Osmeña was born on September 9, 1878, in the then municipality of Cebu in Cebu. His biological father was Don Antonio Sanson, a socially prominent and wealthy Chinese mestizo businessman and haciendero known for his vast landholdings throughout Cebu. Sanson came from one of Cebu's oldest and most illustrious families. His mother, Juana Osmeña y Suico (born in 1858 or 1859 – died in 1941), was reportedly 20 years old at the time. However, since Sanson was already married to another woman, Osmeña was considered illegitimate. As a result, he took on his mother's surname. Osmeña was secretive of his parentage. He would frequent Sanson's farm in Borbon, suggesting he was aware of the identity of his real father. The Osmeña family, a rich and prominent clan of Chinese Filipino heritage with vast business interests in Cebu, warmed to him as he established himself as a prominent figure in local society. Osmeña received his elementary education at the Colegio de San Carlos and graduated in 1892. Osmeña continued his education in Manila, studying in San Juan de Letran College where he first met Manuel L. Quezon, a classmate of his, as well as Juan Sumulong and Emilio Jacinto. He took up law at the University of Santo Tomas and placed second in the 1903 bar examination. He served on the war staff of General Emilio Aguinaldo as a courier and journalist. In 1900, he founded the Cebu newspaper El Nuevo Día (English: 'The New Day') which lasted for three years.

When Cebu Governor Juan Climaco was sent as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the St. Louis Purchase Expedition, Osmeña was appointed acting governor. When Climaco returned, he was appointed as provincial fiscal. His stint there elevated him in politics when he was elected governor of Cebu in 1906.

Osmeña was friends and classmates with Manuel L. Quezon, who was the majority floor leader of the Philippine Assembly under Osmeña's speakership. When the Jones Law was passed, Quezon was elected as Senate president and Osmeña remained speaker.

In 1922, Osmeña was elected to the Senate representing the 10th senatorial district. He went to the United States as part of the OsRox Mission in 1933, to secure passage of the Hare–Hawes–Cutting Independence Bill, which was superseded by the Tydings–McDuffie Act in March 1934.

In 1924, Quezon and Osmeña reconciled and joined forces in the Partido Nacionalista Consolidado against the threat of an emerging opposition from the Democrata Party. The reunited Nacionalista Party dominated the political scene until the second break up when the members polarized into Pros and Antis in 1934. Quezon and Osmeña again reconciled for the 1935 presidential election. In 1935. Quezon and Osmeña won the Philippine's first national presidential election under the banner of the Nacionalista Party. Quezon obtained nearly 68% of the vote against his two main rivals, former President Emilio Aguinaldo and Bishop Gregorio Aglipay. They were inaugurated on November 15, 1935. Quezon had originally been barred by the Philippine constitution from seeking re election. However, in 1940, constitutional amendments were ratified allowing him to seek re election for a fresh term ending in 1943. In the 1941 presidential elections, Quezon was re elected over former Senator Juan Sumulong with nearly 82% of the vote. Re elected in 1941, Osmeña remained vice president during the Japanese occupation when the government was in exile. As vice president, Osmeña concurrently served as secretary of public instruction from 1935 to 1940, and again from 1941 to 1944. The outbreak of World War II and the Japanese invasion resulted in periodic and drastic changes to the government structure. Executive Order 390, December 22, 1941, abolished the Department of the Interior and established a new line of succession. Executive Order 396, December 24, 1941, further reorganized and grouped the cabinet, with the functions of secretary of justice assigned to the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

By 1943, the Philippine government in exile was faced with a serious crisis. According to the amendments to the 1935 Constitution, Quezon's term as president was to expire on December 30, 1943, and Vice President Sergio Osmeña would automatically succeed him to serve out the remainder of term until 1945. This eventuality was brought to the attention of Quezon by Osmeña himself, who wrote the former to this effect. Aside from replying to this letter informing Osmeña that it would not be wise and prudent to effect any such change under the circumstances, Quezon issued a press release along the same line. Osmeña then requested the opinion of U. S. attorney general Homer Cummings, who upheld Osmeña's view as more in keeping the law. Quezon, however, remained adamant. He accordingly sought U. S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt's decision. The latter chose to remain aloof from the controversy, suggesting instead that the Philippine officials themselves solve the impasse. A cabinet meeting was then convened by Quezon. Aside from Quezon and Osmeña, others present in this momentous meeting were Resident Commissioner Joaquin Elizalde, Brig. Gen. Carlos P. Romulo, and Cabinet Secretaries Andres Soriano and Jaime Hernandez. Following a spirited discussion, the Cabinet adopted Elizalde's opinion favoring the decision and Quezon announced his plan to retire in California. After the meeting, however, Osmeña approached Quezon and broached his plan to ask the U. S. Congress to suspend the constitutional provisions for presidential succession until after the Philippines should have been liberated. This legal way out was agreeable to Quezon and the members of his Cabinet. Proper steps were taken to carry out the proposal. Sponsored by Senator Tydings and Congressman Bell, the pertinent Joint Resolution No. 95 was unanimously approved by the Senate on a voice vote and passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 181 to 107 on November 12, 1943.

Osmeña became president of the Commonwealth on Quezon's death in 1944. He was sworn in by Associate Justice Robert Jackson in Washington, D. C. He returned to the Philippines the same year with General Douglas MacArthur and the liberation forces. After the war, Osmeña restored the Commonwealth government and the various executive departments. He continued the fight for Philippine independence. For the presidential election of 1946, Osmeña refused to campaign, saying that the Filipino people knew of his record of 40 years of honest and faithful service. He lost to Manuel Roxas, who won 54% of the vote and became president of the independent Republic of the Philippines.

Osmeña accompanied U. S. General Douglas MacArthur during the landing of U. S. forces in Leyte on October 20, 1944, starting the liberation of the Philippines during the Second World War. Upon establishing the beachhead, MacArthur immediately transferred authority to Osmeña, the successor of Manuel Quezon, as Philippine Commonwealth president.

After his electoral defeat, Osmeña retired to his home in Cebu City. He died of pulmonary edema at age 83 on October 19, 1961, at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City. President Carlos P. Garcia declared October 20 to November 3 as "period of national mourning," wherein all flags in the country are flown at half mast as a sign of mourning. Osmeña was accorded a state funeral. On October 20, 1961, his remains lay in state at Malate Church in Manila before being transferred to Malacañang. On October 22, these were transported to Cebu City to lie in state at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and, on the next day, at the Cebu Provincial Capitol. These were then returned to Manila to lie in state at Malacañang once again from October 24 to 25, followed by a necrological service for Osmeña at the Legislative Building until October 26. His remains were buried at Manila North Cemetery at noon of October 26.

For almost a century, the father of Sergio Osmeña had not been certain. Historical records has suggested that either Chinese immigrant and businessman Pedro Lee Gotiaoco or another businessman Antonio Sanson could have been the former president's father. In 2023, Osmeña's descendants Maria Lourdes Bernardo and Annabelle Osmeña Aboitiz launched a paternity project to determine the father of their ancestor. Y DNA testing was conducted and in June 2023, Sanson was determined to be Sergio Osmeña's biological father.

On April 10, 1901, he married Estefania Chiong Veloso, and the couple had ten children: Nicasio, Vicenta, Edilberto, Milagros, Emilio, Maria Paloma, Jesus, Teodoro, José, and Sergio Jr. In January 1920, two years after the death of his first wife, Osmeña married Esperanza Limjap. They had three children, namely, Ramón, Rosalina and Victor.