Aldanese versus Campos, the battle for Municipal President of Sibonga in 1916
It was the Americans who establishment the republican form of government in our country. It was also they who introduced election as an instrument of governance, this was absent during our 400 years under Spain. A by-product of the electoral process is the election protest. The country's highest tribunal has an abundance of these cases. A general election was held on June 6, 1916, months later the country had the opportunity of electing its first set of senators. In Sibonga, Cebu, the protagonists for political pugilism were Teodoro Aldanese and Nemesio Campos.
Teodoro Aldanese was declared municipal president by the board of election inspectors of Sibonga. On June 20, 1916, Campos through his lawyer, Franciso Veloso Arias, filed an election protest before the court. The case fell to the sala of the American judge, Adolph Wislizenus. Campos posted a bond for the protest. His counsel likewise served notice of the protest received by Isidoro Aldanese, Teodoro's brother.
The protest was dismissed by Judge Wislizenus on the ground of improper service. Campos went to the Supreme Court which, on November 27, 1916, also noted that the protest should have been signed by Campos instead of his lawyer.
Arias, the lawyer of Campos, was no friend to the Americans. Arias was the associate editor of Don Vicente Yap Sotto, he was his running mate as Vice President of the Municipality of Cebu in the November 5, 1907 election. Despite the exile of Vicente Sotto, his entire slate won, with Arias assuming the presidency, thus, the records of Cebu City must include the name of Arias as one of Cebu City's chief executives. Arias and his entire council were, however, suspended and replaced by appointees of Don Dionisio A. Jakosalem. The ground for their dismissal was because of their resolution supporting Don Vicente Sotto's quest for justice while in self-exile in Hong Kong. This tragedy of American persecution inspired Arias to study Law and eventually become a lawyer. However, he died ahead of his mentor, he did not witness the latter elected as senator and later author of the Press Freedom Law.
The clerk of court who received the protest of Campos was Carlos Salvador, the person honored in a street in Cebu City. There are two Salvador streets in Cebu City, the first is named after Carlos, that is the street starting at Katipunan Street while the other is named after Judge Celedonio Salvador, that is the street starting at Ramon V. Duterte Street going inside a village in Sitio Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe.
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