Roseller Tarroza Lim (February 9, 1915 – July 5, 1976) was a Filipino

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and

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

from 1949 to 1963. He also served as

Court of Appeals An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

Justice from his appointment in 1973 until his death. Lim was known as the ''"Great Filibuster,"'' after he

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...

ed for more than 18 hours in an attempt to prevent the election of

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

Personal life

Roseller Lim was born to Antonio Lim and Mercedes Tarroza. He graduated from the Ateneo de Zamboanga High School as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

in 1932. He earned his Associate in Arts (AA) program in History & law degree from

Silliman University Silliman University (also referred to as Silliman or SU) is a private, Protestant, and research university located in Dumaguete City, Philippines. Established in 1901 as Silliman Institute by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, it is ...

in 1940 and passed the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

the same year. He married Amy Mustafa Schuck of

Jolo, Sulu Jolo, officially the Municipality of Jolo (; ; ), is a municipality and capital of the province of Sulu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 137,266 people. Etymology According to Dr. Najeeb M. Saleeby (1908) and ...

and had five children — Rosamy, Mercibel, Victoria, Roseller Jr., and Amy."City honors Roseller Lim"
. Sun.Star. Retrieved 2010-05-18.

Political career

Lim, a

Nacionalista The Nacionalista Party (Filipino language, Filipino and Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; , NP) is a political party in the Philippines which is the oldest existing party in the country and in Southeast Asi ...

, he was first elected as representative of the Lone District of Zamboanga in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

. In his first term in office, he authored the law that divided the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Zamboanga into the provinces of

Zamboanga del Norte Zamboanga del Norte (Cebuano language, Cebuano: ''Amihanang Zamboanga''; Subanon language, Subanon: ''Utara Sembwangan''; ), officially the Province of Zamboanga del Norte, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines situated w ...

and

Zamboanga del Sur Zamboanga del Sur ( Cebuano: ''Habagatang Zamboanga;'' Subanen: ''S'helatan Sembwangan/Sembwangan dapit Shelatan''; , Jawi: سلاتن سامبواڠن; ), officially the Province of Zamboanga del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located i ...

. He won another term in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, this time as representative of the newly established Lone District of Zamboanga del Sur. Halfway through his term, he ran and won as senator in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

, to complete the unexpired two years of the Senate term of

Carlos P. Garcia Carlos Polestico Garcia (; November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971), often referred to by his initials CPG, was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist, guerrilla and Commonwealth military leader who was the ...

, who was elected

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

in 1953. Lim was instrumental in the election of 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 ...

into the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

governing body in 1957.Sun Star Zamboanga. "City honors Roseller Lim Friday," February 9, 2007. (Accessed on February 22, 2010). He won reelection in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

for a full six-year term, but lost in his bid for another term in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

. Lim also authored the ''Barrio Charter Law,'' which served as the basis of the current

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

governments.

Great filibuster

In April 1963, Liberal Senator

contested the presidency of the Senate against long-time Senate President

Eulogio Rodriguez Eulogio "Amang" Adona Rodriguez Sr. (born Eulogio Rodríguez y Adona; January 21, 1883 – December 9, 1964) was a Filipino politician who twice served as President of the Senate of the Philippines. He was known for vehemently confronting corru ...

who is a

. The Senate was then composed of 12 Liberals, 10 Nacionalistas and two independents who caucus with the latter. Shortly before the Senate adjourned, Lim took the floor to buy time to wait for the arrival from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

of fellow Nacionalista Senator Alejandro Almendras. Lim had to stand the entire time, leaning only on the podium on occasions. He only had water nearby to sustain him and was even prohibited from going to the comfort room; forcing him to relieve in his pants. Upon learning of Almendras' arrival in the session hall, Lim ended his filibustering after 18 hours and 30 minutes. Immediately after he was able to cast his vote for Rodriguez, Lim was carried out of the session hall on a stretcher due to exhaustion, only to find out later that Almendras voted for Marcos.

Later career

When Marcos bolted from the Liberals to the Nacionalistas to run as president in the 1965 election, Lim supported President

Diosdado Macapagal Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr. (; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the 9th President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the 5th Vice President of the Philippines, V ...

of the rival Liberal Party. When Marcos won the election, Lim transferred to the Liberals. In 1970, Lim was elected to the 1971 constitutional convention. In 1973, Marcos appointed Lim to the

Legacy

Roseller Lim was the first and only politician from Zamboanga to be elected to the

Philippine Senate The Senate of the Philippines () is the upper house of Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the House of Representatives as the lower house. The Senate is composed of 24 senators who are elected at-large (the country f ...

. On March 16, 1982, President

signed Batas Pambansa No. 183 creating the municipality of Roseller T. Lim in the province of

(now in

Zamboanga Sibugay Zamboanga Sibugay, officially the Province of Zamboanga Sibugay (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Zamboanga Peninsula region in Mindanao. Its capital and largest town is Ipil and it borders Zamboanga del Norte to the north, ...

) in honor of Lim.
(Accessed on August 5, 2011) A boulevard in

Zamboanga City Zamboanga City, officially the City of Zamboanga (; ; Subanen languages, Subanen: ''Bagbenwa Sembwangan''; Sama–Bajaw languages, Sama: ''Lungsud Samboangan''; ; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city i ...

, which provides a view of Basilan Strait and the Sulu Sea beginning from the city proper to the industrial complex of the city, was named after the latter. In 2006, the

Council designated February 9 as ''Día de Roseller T. Lim'' or Roseller T. Lim Day and a bronze monument was erected at the rotunda of Normal Road and the R. T. Lim Boulevard.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Roseller Senators of the 5th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 4th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 3rd Congress of the Philippines Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Zamboanga del Sur Silliman University alumni 1976 deaths Nacionalista Party politicians 1915 births People from Zamboanga City Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Justices of the Court of Appeals of the Philippines 20th-century Filipino judges Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Zamboanga (province) Filipino politicians of Chinese descent