Don Filemon Sotto’s “La Revolucion”

Don Filemon Yap Sotto was described in the compilation of his editorials of the “La Revolucion” as a lawyer, founder, and editor of La Revolucion. He was also representative of the First Philippine Assembly, senator, delegate to the Constitutional Convention, as well as chairman of the Committee on Rules, and secretary of the Sub-Committee of the Seven Wise Men of the Constitutional Assembly.

Don Filemon founded the “La Revolucion”, a Spanish periodical. It had its first printing on December 1910 and its last in 1941. The periodical had the Cebuano title as “Ang Kagubot”. Don Filemon carried the pseudonym of Juan Guerilla. Among the famous men who served as editor of the periodical were: Buenaventura Rodriguez (Governor of Cebu) from 1937-1940 and first occupant of the Cebu Provincial Capitol which up to now still stands), Amando Osorio, Cesar M. Sotto (eldest child of Don Vicente Yap Sotto, younger brother of Don Filemon, Cesar became Representative of the Lone District of Davao and author of the conversion of a district into a municipality, now known as Tagum), Isidro Abad, Francisco Bustillo, Antonio Abad, Vicente Padriga, Manuel C. Briones, Jose Ma. del Mar (the city honors him with a street in IT park. Born in 1896, a product of the Colegio de San Carlos, earning his Bachelor of Arts and Escuela de Derecho for his Bachelor of Laws, he was the Zobel Prize awardee for the story “Perfiles.” Part of his legacy is the translation of Dr. Jose Rizal works together with Vicente Padriga), and Antonio Kiyamko.

La Revolucion had four pages and seven columns and its circulation rose from 1,000 to 3,000 copies. A compilation of the editorials of La Revolucion and its prologue was made by Don Miguel Cuenco (younger brother of Don Mariano Jesus Cuenco) and long-serving representative of the old 5th District of Cebu. In 1965, his grandnephew, Antonio Veloso Cuenco, a young lawyer then, a product of the Ateneo College of Law, succeeded him as representative of the district.

After the 1986 EDSA revolution, Antonio Cuenco became the first congressman representing the Cebu City South District. Representing the north district was another lawyer from Ateneo, Raul V. del Mar, who up to now represents the district.

Don Filemon just like his younger, Don Vicente who founded Suga, the first newspaper in Cebuano (June 16, 1901), also founded the second newspaper in Cebuano, it was called “Ang Caluasan.” It had its first print in 1902.