Demetrio Larena was a political hero and former governor of

Negros Oriental Negros Oriental (; ), officially the Province of Negros Oriental (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Negros Island. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete, one of the two regional centers of Negros Island Region, with the other b ...

(East Negros), a province on

Negros Island Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral T ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He was born in November 5, 1898 in

Dumaguete Dumaguete, officially the City of Dumaguete (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it h ...

and is the son of Don Agustín de Sandes who is a Spaniard from

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and Doña Versamina Larena, he is the brother of Melitón Larena who was a Filipino politician and the first municipal president of Dumaguete. Demetrio Larena was the vice-president of the

Republic of Negros The Republic of Negros (; ; ) was a short-lived Revolutionary government in the Philippines, revolutionary entity which had existed on the Negros Island, island of Negros first as a Canton (country subdivision), canton of the First Philippine Rep ...

and eventually the governor of

from 1901 until 1906. Larena was instrumental in the establishment of Silliman University in

. When Dr. David Hibbard came to the

to scout for a good location of the school that the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions wanted to be founded,

was not one of the places originally contemplated. The places that were considered as prospects for the school's location were

Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

and Zamboanga.Carson, Arthur, L. (1965), Silliman University, 1901-1959, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia. p.4 But due in part to Larena's accommodating gesture and Dumaguete's natural environment at that time, Hibbard decided that the best place to establish the school would be in Dumaguete.

References

* * Perez, Josefa Villanueva.Biography of Demetrio Larena, 1983 Cable Sun Press * Larena, Josefino Jr Tulabing, Political life of Demetrio Larena, Silliman University South East Studies Program 2001 * Larena, Leonaga Tulabing, Political life of Demetrio Larena, Bais City 1988 * Silliman University Church Parish News April 2010 * Silliman University Church History Committee Historical Notes 2009-2010 * Philippine Commission Annual Report 1903 {{DEFAULTSORT:Larena, Demetrio Year of birth missing Year of death missing Governors of Negros Oriental People of the Philippine Revolution Silliman University people