Pedro Guevara y Valenzuela (February 23, 1879 – January 19, 1938), was a Filipino soldier, lawyer, legislator, and Spanish writer who became Resident Commissioner of the Philippines during the American Occupation.

Early life

Pedro Guevara was born in Santa Cruz, Laguna, Philippines on February 23, 1879 to Miguel Guevara and María Valenzuela.

Education

Guevara attended

Ateneo Municipal de Manila , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...

and graduated from

Colegio de San Juan de Letran The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

in 1896.

Philippine Revolution

Guevara joined the Filipino forces during the Philippine Revolution and assisted in promoting the peace agreement of the ''Biak na Bato'' at

San Miguel, Bulacan San Miguel, officially the Municipality of San Miguel ( tgl, Bayan ng San Miguel), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 172,073 people. It is the third larg ...

, in 1897. He later rejoined the Filipino forces during the revolution, and also served throughout the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

and the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was the aide and private secretary to General Juan Cailles.

Political career

Later, Guevara became a journalist for the Spanish language newspaper ''Soberania Nacional'' and ''Vidas Filipinas.'' He was a municipal councilor of San Felipe Neri, Rizal in 1907. He studied law at ''La Jurisprudencia'' and became a lawyer in private practice. His political life started when he became a member of the Philippine House of Representatives from 1909 to 1912 and a member of the Philippine Senate from 1916 to 1922. In 1921, Guevara was chair of the Philippine delegation to the Far Eastern Bar Conference at Beijing, China. He later was elected as a Nationalist resident commissioner to the House of Representatives of the

Sixty-eighth United States Congress The 68th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1923, ...

for a three-year term and four succeeding three-year terms (March 4, 1923 – February 14, 1936). During this time, Guevara worked tirelessly for the approval of the

Tydings–McDuffie Act The Tydings–McDuffie Act, officially the Philippine Independence Act (), is an Act of Congress that established the process for the Philippines, then an American territory, to become an independent country after a ten-year transition period. ...

, which would establish the

Commonwealth of the Philippines The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...

and eventually its independence in 10 years. Later, he served as delegate of Laguna during the Constitutional Convention of 1934 which framed the

1935 Philippine Constitution The Constitution of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas'' or ''Konstitusyon ng Pilipinas'', Spanish: ''Constitución de la República de Filipinas'') is the constitution or the supreme law of the Republic of the Philippine ...

. His term ended on February 14, 1936, when a successor qualified in accordance with the newly established Commonwealth of the Philippines was selected.

Death

Upon retirement, Guevara resumed his law practice. He died of a heart attack in Manila on January 19, 1938, and was buried at the Manila North Cemetery. In 1993, his remains were moved to Loyola Memorial Park in

Marikina Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina ( fil, Lungsod ng Marikina), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 456,159 people. It is locate ...

Gallery

File:Hon. Pedro Guevara & J.E. Espinosa LOC npcc.09948.jpg, Guevara (left) with J.E. Espinosa (right) in the U.S. File:Weeks & Pedro Guevara, 9-27-23 LOC npcc.09545.jpg, Guevara (left) in 1923

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guevara, Pedro 1879 births 1938 deaths Ateneo de Manila University alumni Burials at the Manila North Cemetery Colegio de San Juan de Letran alumni Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Laguna (province) Members of the United States Congress of Filipino descent Metro Manila city and municipal councilors Nacionalista Party politicians People of the Philippine Revolution People of the Philippine–American War People from Laguna (province) 20th-century Filipino lawyers People from Mandaluyong People from Manila Resident Commissioners of the Philippines Senators of the 4th Philippine Legislature Senators of the 5th Philippine Legislature Members of the Philippine Legislature Spanish-language writers of the Philippines