MANILA, Philippines — Former President Sergio Osmeña is actually the country's first senator of Chinese descent, despite what others claim.
President Rodrigo Duterte has been introducing Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go, his longtime aide and travel companion, as the
"first Chinese Filipino who became a senator."
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While
it is true that Go has Chinese ancestry, having previously mentioned that his grandfather originally came from China, he is not the first Chinese Filipino to sit in the Senate.
Former Presidential Communications Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III pointed this out, noting that
Osmeña is the first Filipino of Chinese descent to be elected senator.
Sergio Osmeña (senator, 1922-1935)
is amused. https://t.co/I0gJ1qkvJo pic
— Manuel L. Quezon III (@mlq3) September 25, 2019.twitter.com/Gbh4QAWiVH
Osmeña, who came from a prominent clan of Chinese Filipino heritage in Cebu, served as senator from 1922 to 1935.
Other Filipinos with Chinese heritage also served in the Senate after
Osmeña, the fourth president of the Philippines.
Other former senators of Chinese descent are Benigno "
Noynoy" Aquino III (2007 to 2010), Nikki Coseteng (1992 to 2001), Alfredo Lim (2004 to 2007) and Ferdinand Marcos (1959 to 1965).
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, elected in 2016, is also of Chinese descent, being the son of Filipino Chinese business tycoon William Tiu Gatchalian and Ting Dee Hua.