Another distinguished son of Malabon: Epifanio de los Santos

Many of us in the metropolis traverse this major thoroughfare almost daily, but do we really know the man who it was named for?  And did you know that he came from Malabon?


WHO WAS EPIFANIO DE LOS SANTOS?    1/

EPIFANIO DE LOS SANTOS was an eminent scholar, lawyer, writer, historian, art and literary critic, archivist, painter, musician, and patriot.

Born in Malabon, Rizal on April 7, 1871, he was the only son of Don Escolastico de los Santos, a wealthy haciendero, and Dona Antonina Cristobal, an educated musician.

EPIFANIO DE LOS SANTOS, 1871-1928 (Image taken from the Epifanio de los Santos website)  2/

At age seven he was tutored by a private school teacher in Manila.  Then he enrolled at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, his father's Alma Mater.  He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at the Ateneo in 1890, graduating summa cum laude.  In 1898 he obtained his Licentiate in Law from the University of Santo Tomas.

When the Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896, Don Panyong, together with his close friend Clemente Jose Zulueta, published a patriotic newspaper in Malabon named "Libertad."  The publication was short-lived, however, because the revolutionary government suppressed it after the publication of its first and only issue.  He then joined General Antonio Luna in publishing another paper, "La Independencia."  Don Panyong also became a member of the Malolos Congress.

Don Panyong married Ursula Paez, a native of Malabon, who bore him four children.  They moved to Don Escolastico's hometown San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, where Don Panyong became a fiscal and eventually a governor of the province.  After Ursula's death, Don Panyong married Margarita Torralba, a native of Malolos, Bulacan,

According to author Librado D. Cayco, what set Don Panyong apart from the many brilliant Filipinos who preceded him such as Pinpin, Balagtas, Rizal, Plaridel, Mabini, Antonio Luna and Tavera, was that, with the possible exception of Rizal, he was more versatile than any of them.

He was a gifted musician - a fine pianist and a superb guitarist.  During his time, he was one of the three outstanding guitarists of the Philippines, the other two being General Francisco Canon, a revolutionary hero, and Guillermo Tolentino, a distinguished sculptor.  He also had a talent for painting, having spent a great deal of time painting during his ten years at the Ateneo. 

Don Panyong was considered to be the foremost literary figure of his country and no less than Cecilio Apostol acknowledged him as one of the two best  Filipino writers of Spanish prose in the Philippines.  The other was Marcelo del Pilar.  The first Filipino of native parentage to become a member of the Spanish Royal Academy in Madrid, he was known in Europe as the leading philologist and writer of biographical and historical matters about the Philippines.

In 1925  Governor-General Leonard Wood appointed Don Panyong to become director of the National Library and Museum.  He accepted the position because of the honor attached to the chair; it was traditionally occupied only by scholars, men of learning and erudition.  He held this position until his sudden death from cerebral attack on April 18, 1928.

His Filipiniana collection was reputed to be the best and most unique at the time, that after Don Panyong's death, the Philippine Government lost no time in negotiating for its acquisition. 


THE NAMING OF EDSA    3/

Stretching around 54 kilometers, EDSA is a vital thoroughfare for hundreds of thousands of Filipinos passing through or doing business in Metro Manila. From the south, it passes through five cities - Pasay, Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, and Caloocan.

When the avenue was constructed in 1940, it was first named as North and South Circumferential Road. But at the end of World War II, the Americans changed the name to Highway 54.

In 1959 the highway was renamed in honor of EPIFANIO DE LOS SANTOS.

The assistant then of Don Panyong, the late Senate President Eulogio Rodriguez, was a prime mover in renaming Highway 54 to EDSA, but he died before his dream was realized.

It was Juan Francisco Sumulong, a lawmaker from Rizal province and a classmate from his law school days at the University of Sto. Tomas, who continued the campaign.

Before Highway 54 became EDSA, the Americans wanted to call the highway (Gen Douglas) McArthur Highway; supporters of the late President Ramon Magsaysay wanted it named after him; while loyalists of Rizal fought for 19 de Junio, the national hero's birthday.

EDSA eventually won.


HOW HAS HE BEEN REMEMBERED IN MALABON?

In his book,  4/  Nonoy Marcelo wrote that Don Panyong was born in Barangay Longos.  During the Philippine-American war, Don Panyong used the pseudonym "G. Solon" and it is said that this pseudonym, once unscrambled, would spell his birthplace "Longos."

But try as I might, as of this writing, I've not been able to find EPIFANIO DE LOS SANTOS' exact birthplace in Malabon.

What I did find was a bust inside the Epifanio de los Santos Elementary School in Barangay Tugatog, which, according to the website of the Philippines' Department of Tourism  (Visit My Philippines/Malabon), is the Epifanio Cristobal Delos Santos Monument.

There used to be another school in Malabon that was named after him -- the Dalubhasang Epifanio de los Santos High School (formerly N.T.C.) in Barangay Baritan.

This must be the monument being referred to in the Department of Tourism website.  It would be nice if we could give EPIFANIO DE LOS SANTOS greater recognition in his hometown by building a shrine for him in a more public place.

Brief write-up on the wall lets school children know who their school is named after.  Hopefully these children will also feel proud that such a distinguished Filipino was a son of Malabon.

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References:
1/   Epifanio de los Santos, A Biography written by Librado D. Cayco of Department of Foreign Affairs, 
      c.1934 - as published in the book Ang Malabon by Angeles S. Santos.
2/   Website on Epifanio de los Santos
3/   EDSA: Freedom highway is country's busiest artery - article from the Manila Bulletin, October 16, 
      2005,  Byline:  Elizabeth C. Zambarrano.
4/   From Tambobong to City of Malabon, by Nonoy Marcelo, 2004.



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