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History of Siquijor

Dawn of the American Period (1899-1914)

Consolidation and Restructuring

At the time of the American conquest, Siquijor remained under the jurisdiction of Oriental Negros. There were six towns on the island: Canoan, Larena, Maria, Lazi, San Juan, and Siquijor. Canoan would later be merged with Larena (see New Findings on Canoan and Larena), while Enrique Villanueva (which was still known as Talingting) would be founded later.

 

The Americans sent a cavalry division to occupy the island and consolidate control. Little survives about this in the historical record, so it can be assumed that they met no resistance from the Siquijodnon people.

 

Amidst the sociopolitical turmoil of the late 1890s, the provinces of Oriental and Occidental Negros united to form the Negros Republic. By the end of the Philippine-American War, however, those in Oriental Negros and Siquijor felt that they had become subordinate to Bacolod. That is why in April 1901, a coalition of municipal presidentes (essentially, mayors) from both Oriental Negros and Siquijor formally asked the Philippine Commission to split them off into an independent province.

 

The Siquijodnon representatives at this meeting were as follows. Not all municipalities attended.

Lazi

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Maria

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San Juan

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Siquijor

Juan Ogdol, inspector

Calixto Rodriques, municipal secretary

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Prudencio Leomongo, resident

Ignacio Simunguet, resident

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Eduardo Samson, presidente

Vicente Austero, councillor

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Raimundo Enriquez, teacher

Manuel Fagugais, presidente

The Americans granted their request and organized a new provincial government, led by newly appointed Governor Demetrio Larena (1901-1906), for whom the town of Larena was named. In line with the system of provincial governance implemented throughout the Philippines, the Commission appointed five officers to Oriental Negros’s new provincial board: a Governor, Treasurer (tax collector), Supervisor (overseer of infrastructure), Secretary, and Fiscal/Prosecuting attorney (the board’s legal advisor). In 1903, the Treasurer and Supervisor were consolidated into one position for two reasons: 1) they were both highly-paid American positions, and 2) the province never had any funds for infrastructural improvements, so the Supervisor had very little to do.

 

Lawlessness was rife in Siquijor during this time. For example, on 20 April 1903, some thugs and robbers tried to foment an uprising on the island, forcing Oriental Negros’s senior inspector to travel there himself and arrest the 20 or so insurrectionists.


That same year, the provincial government decided to cut the number of municipalities in Oriental Negros by half to streamline local bureaucracy. Larena absorbed Canoan, Lazi absorbed Maria, and Siquijor absorbed San Juan. The province-wide downsides quickly became apparent to Governor Larena. The municipal police were stretched too thin, forced to cover a much wider swath of territory, and unable to properly enforce the law to outlying barrios. Many families who lived in the old municipalities that had been absorbed simply left for the countryside. Sanitation was stretched too thin, and the absorbed municipalities in particular suffered greatly. Finally, residents of the outlying barrios who needed to appear in court were obliged to travel unreasonably far, an issue exacerbated by the province’s poor roads. That was especially true in Siquijor, whose roads had not been improved since the Spanish period.

Fugate and the Subprovince

Four years later, in 1907, political reorganization granted Siquijor significant autonomy. In the first step, Oriental Negros was apportioned into two districts for representation in the Philippine Assembly. Siquijor belonged to the second district. The second step was by far the most important.

 

With the consent of the Philippine Commission, Siquijor became a subprovince of Oriental Negros. Previously, the island had received little funding, as Oriental Negros had a small treasury and its own problems to deal with. Its municipalities were also treated the same as those in Negros despite being on an entirely separate island. Siquijor received its own lieutenant governor, subject to the supervision of the provincial Governor. The new office’s duties included writing reports of its holder’s inspections of the province, making recommendations to the Provincial Board, and storing public records and documents.

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The Governor-General appointed the first one with the advice and consent of the Commission: James R. Fugate, a former scout with the United States Army and a teacher who was already in Siquijor. He was inaugurated on 23 January 1908 and held the office until 1914, when Act. No. 2354 made the position an elected one rather than an appointed one. His office was in Larena, and he was paid up to ₱2400 annually.

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Fugate proved a capable lieutenant governor. He secured badly needed funding for Siquijor, allowing him to build schools, waterworks, bridges, and trails. He also connected the towns with new roads, improving the old Spanish network, which had fallen into disrepair. As a result of his efforts, his schools saw high enrollment, and health conditions across the island improved.

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Lt. Gov. James R. Fugate, 1912

Four years later, Siquijor held its first elections for lieutenant governor. Fugate resigned a month prior so he could file his candidacy, and in the meantime, Esperidion Villegas was appointed to fill the position. The candidates were as follows: Fugate, Tomas Padayhag, ex-presidente of Larena, and Pablo Bueno, who won the election. Never again would an American hold the office.

 

Fugate later left Siquijor, spending several years in Livermore, California, recovering from tuberculosis in the 1920s. He then returned to the Philippines and served as the Governor of the Sulu Archipelago until the creation of the Commonwealth in 1935, where he worked to pacify the resistant Moros. He was not successful: they murdered him three years later, in 1938.

Lt. Gov. James R. Fugate, 1912.

He proved a capable lieutenant governor. He secured badly needed funding for Siquijor, allowing him to build schools, waterworks, bridges, and trails. He also connected the towns with new roads, improving the old Spanish network, which had fallen into disrepair. As a result of his efforts, his schools saw high enrollment, and health conditions across the island improved.

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By his observations, all local officials were happy to serve their communities and executed their duties well, in sharp contrast to Oriental Negros. There, religious and sectarian divisions, due largely to the lingering influence of the Spanish friars in certain parts of the province, crippled local governments. Political parties, discussion, and agitation were all nowhere to be found. In the first three years of Fugate’s administration, not one officer was fired, nor were any instances of administrative incompetence or corruption recorded. Siquijodnons greatly appreciated the autonomy, representation, and funding that came with being a subprovince. They were so content and peaceful that the police were not needed to enforce the law and instead served merely as messengers.

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In 1909, Governor-General Cameron Forbes visited Siquijor and, in a nod to Fugate’s administration, described the island as progressive.

 

The next year, the previous consolidation of municipalities throughout Oriental Negros was reversed. Maria and San Juan were split off from Lazi and San Juan respectively, while Larena retained Canoan.

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