Alejo Santos Santos (born Alejo de los Santos de los Santos; July 17, 1911 – February 18, 1984) was a Filipino soldier and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

hero who parlayed his fame into a political career. His prestige was somewhat marred in later life when he agreed to run as the only major candidate opposing

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

in the 1981 Philippine presidential election.

Early life and public service

Santos was born in Barangay Bonga Menor, Bustos,

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Me ...

, to

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

Pedro de los Santos y de la Cruz and Regina de los Santos y Francisco. He graduated from the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

with an education degree. He first served as Prison Guard with the Bureau of Prisons from 1933 to 1934. Santos married Juanita Garcia of

Baliuag, Bulacan Baliwag or Baliuag, officially the City of Baliwag ( fil, Lungsod ng Baliwag), is a component city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 168,470 people. Baliuag was founded in 1732 by Augu ...

in 1934 and they had eight children: Reynaldo, Edgardo, Ravenal, Lamberto, Alexis, Liberty, Daisy, and Nenita. At the outbreak of World War II, he was a captain of the USAFFE. He was among the USAFFE soldiers who retreated to

Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the enti ...

to make the last stand against the invading

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

. However, he evaded capture by the Japanese when Bataan fell, escaping instead to his hometown. Santos then agreed to join the fledgling anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare movement under Bernard L. Anderson.Lapham, R., and Norling, B., 1996, Lapham's Raiders, Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, He became one of the founders of the Bulacan Military Area, the main guerrilla movement in

which had 23,000 men under its command. The BMA attracted many patriotic Filipinos chafing under Japanese rule, and was soon organized into eight divisions. For his

activities, Santos received numerous citations and awards from the Philippine and American governments. He was the only Filipino conferred the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

by the

American Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

Political career

After the liberation of Bulacan by joint Filipino and American ground troops in 1945, Santos was named as its military governor. He was elected as to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in 1946, representing the 2nd District of Bulacan under the banner of the leftist Democratic Alliance, but was almost immediately unseated together with several of his party-mates in a controversial maneuver believed to be related with the looming congressional vote on the approval of the Bell Trade Act with the United States. Nonetheless, Santos was again elected to the House in 1949, and he served in the 2nd Congress until his election as

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Bulacan in 1951. By then, Santos had affiliated with the

Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party ( Filipino and Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; ) is the oldest political party in both the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in general. It is responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th ...

. Santos would serve as governor until 1957, wherein 705 public works projects were constructed in Bulacan and the national government released for these. From 1959 to 1961, Santos served as

Secretary of National Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

in the cabinet of President Carlos P. Garcia. In 1967, he was appointed by President

Marcos Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portug ...

to head the prison bureau, a post he held until 1971.

Presidential candidacy

By 1981, Santos had mostly retired from political life, devoting his activity to veterans affairs; thus, it came as a surprise when he agreed to run for President against

in the 1981 elections. The elections were called shortly after Marcos lifted the nine-year-old declaration of

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...

while retaining authoritarian powers at the same time, and were seen as a means of maintaining the veneer of democracy, especially in the international community. However, the anti-Marcos political opposition, which felt it was cheated out of victory in the 1978 parliamentary elections, refused to participate in the presidential elections and successfully called for a boycott. Santos' candidacy, ostensibly under the banner of the then-moribund Nacionalista Party, provided Marcos with at least one other "major" candidate he could run against. Santos, though the sole widely known opponent of Marcos, did not offer a vigorous campaign, and he was trounced in the election, garnering only 8% of the vote as against Marcos's 88%.

Death

Santos died just three years after his presidential candidacy and was buried at the

Libingan ng mga Bayani Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB, , ) is a national cemetery within Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) in Metro Manila, Philippines. First established in May 1947 as a fitting resting place for Philippine military personnel fro ...

. Later on, his remains were transferred into a memorial park in his hometown in Bulacan. A camp of the

Philippine National Police The Philippine National Police ( fil, Pambansang Pulisya ng Pilipinas, acronymed as PNP) is the armed national police force in the Philippines. Its national headquarters is located at Camp Crame in Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Quezon City. Currentl ...

in Bulacan is named after Santos.

Notes

References

Bibliography

''Filipinos in History: Volume IV'', National Historical Institute (Manila, 1994) {{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Alejo 1911 births 1984 deaths Filipino generals People from Bulacan Candidates in the 1981 Philippine presidential election Governors of Bulacan Philippine Army personnel of World War II Paramilitary Filipinos Nacionalista Party politicians Secretaries of National Defense of the Philippines Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Bulacan Burials at the Libingan ng mga Bayani Garcia administration cabinet members University of Manila alumni