Come to Dumanjug, home of the governors

Today and tomorrow, Dumanjug, the most progressive and most promising town in Cebu’s 7th District, welcomes all of us to the town fiesta. Mayor Gungun Gica, the young, dynamic, and passionate mayor and his brother, Vice Mayor Erwin Gica are inviting us to see how the town progressed in the last five years. This is the home of three governors; Dionisio Abella Jakosalem, Pablo Paras Garcia, and Gwendolyn Fiel Gracia.

This is also the home of my late father who was related to Pabling. Ronda was my mother's home. Argao is where I was born and Dumanjug is my paternal hometown. Dumanjug is 78.4 kilometers southwest of Cebu City. It is bordered by Barili to the north, Ronda to the south, the Tañon Strait to the west, and the towns of Sibonga to the east. This is an old town, founded in 1855. It has an area of 8,544 hectares, with 37 barangays and a population of 57,833 as of the 2020 census. It is a third-class municipality but it is the most promising town in the 7th District with potential to rise to second-class and later join Argao and Dalaguete on the other side in the 2nd District as a first-class town in terms of income and population.

The fourth governor of Cebu (after Don Julio Llorente from Argao, Don Juan Climaco from Cebu City, and Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. also from Cebu City) was a lawyer, Dionisio Abella Jakosalem from Dumanjug. He served as governor from 1907 to 1912, Then Governor General Francis Harrison appointed him as the secretary of Commerce and Communication on January 18, 1917, thereby giving honor to Dumanjug and even to the whole Cebu Province as the first Filipino ever appointed to the Cabinet under the Americans. He served in that capacity until October 3, 1922 or exactly 101 years ago. The emerging Filipino leaders then, Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña Sr., as well as the Americans recognized the brilliance of Jakosalem that he was made a part a number of times of the Philippine delegation to the US.

The twenty-fourth governor of Cebu was the late Pablo Paras Garcia, from Bitoon, Dumanjug, who served from 1995 to 2004, for three terms after governors Osmundo G. Rama, 1986 to 1988, Emilio Osmeña from 1988 to 1992, and Vicente L. de la Serna from 1992 to 1995. Noy Pabling, as we fondly call him in Dumanjug, got third place in the 1951 Bar exams. He was a Provincial Board member and then vice governor from 1969 to 1971. From 1987 to 1995, he served as congressman representing the 3rd District. In 2007, he was elected as congressman of the 2nd District composed of 15 towns from Argao in the east down to Santander in the south and up to Dumanjug in the southwest. Later, that district was split into 2nd District from Argao to Samboan and 7th District from Dumanjug to Ginatilan.

Noy Pabling was elected Deputy Speaker but to me, he should have run for the Senate to become one of our best parliamentarians. He was an excellent debater and a master of parliamentary rules. The twenty-fifth and twenty-seventh governor is the first and the only female who ever occupied that position, Gwendolyn Garcia, the incumbent. She succeeded her father and served three terms from 2004 to 2013. Then she became congresswoman of the 3rd District now occupied by her brother. Hilario P. Davide, III from Argao, had two terms from 2013 to 2019. Then he was defeated by Gwendolyn who served from 2019 up to the present. In the last elections, she established a record never achieved by any Cebu politician. She defeated her opponent in all districts and towns. Her opponent only won in Danao but even then she got a large chunk of the votes.

Dumanjug is indeed proud to have produced three outstanding governors. Had Gwen's two brothers won over Junjun Davide Dumanjug would have had five governors. Today and tomorrow, I will visit my nephews, Mayor Gungun and his brother and their parents, my cousins Atty. Edgar Gica and Mrs. Marna Zozobrado Gica. Dumanjug has achieved major milestones under the Gica brothers in cooperation with the Garcias in the Capitol. The fiesta in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi is always a time to renew old ties and mend broken fences caused by political divisions. Our leaders should emulate the Franciscan prayer of becoming instruments of peace, healing, and reconciliation. Happy fiesta to all Dumanjuganons.