A Filipino lawyer, revolutionary hero, assemblyman, governor of Negros Occidental, and founding father of a revolutionary nation, Antonio Ledesma Jayme (July 24, 1854 – October 19, 1937) was also a legislator and a signatory to the constitution of a nation-state.
Early Years and Education
On July 24, 1854, Antonio L. Jayme was born in what is now Iloilo City's Jaro district. He was the oldest of Aguedo Gamboa Jayme and the former Sabina Lopez Ledesma's seven children.
When Jayme was a little boy, his family moved to Silay City, Negros Occidental. This happened at a time when inexpensive imports from mainland China were forcing the Chinese mestizos of Jaro and Molo on Panay Island to look for better economic prospects outside of Iloilo's dwindling textile sector. This interest among Jaro's businesses to settle in adjacent Negros Island was fueled by the prospect of enormous reward provided by the high price of world sugar. The Jaymes converted a plot of land into a plantation, or hacienda, and followed sugar-based agriculture like the other immigrants in the wave.
Jayme received an early education by traveling across the Guimaras Strait to attend the Seminario de Jaro, often known as the Jaro Seminary, as was typical of the Negros principalia. Since its first rector was his paternal uncle, Fray Francisco Jayme, who raised and schooled Philippine patriot Graciano Lopez-Jaena, he was easily accommodated. Jayme attended Jaro, which at the time was still the most populous, hardworking, and wealthy province in the Philippines, to study philosophy and letters from 1869 to 1871.
But in 1872, driven by a desire to travel and pursue higher education, he traveled to Manila to enroll in Colegio de San Juan de Letran. He enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas after finishing his segunda ensenanza (Spanish for "secondary education"), where he graduated in October 1881 with a licenciado en jurisprudencia, or Bachelor of Laws.
During the time of Spanish colonization in the Philippines, he was to become the first Ilonggo lawyer to practice law in Negros. He later joined the government as a judge of the province's Court of First Instance and a justice of the peace.
The Philippine Revolution and Its Aftermath
Negros armed themselves against Spain in 1898 during the second phase of the Philippine Revolution. Jayme witnessed the bloodless surrender of Spanish troops in Bacolod during this historic occasion, which is today known as the Cinco de Noviembre Movement or the November 5 Movement of the Negros Revolution. The people of Negros celebrated the first time a Philippine flag floated triumphantly in the Spanish fortress of Bacolod, breaking "more than three hundred years of Spanish rule without firing a shot."
The ratification of a new government's constitution following the Spanish defeat was signed by Jayme. Jayme served as the general counselor of the provisional government despite internal leadership conflicts when the "Cantonal Republic of Negros" (Spanish: República Cantonal de Negros) was renamed the Republic of Negros on July 22, 1899. He also held the position of Secretary of Justice under President Aniceto Lacson. By using subtlety and careful diplomacy, he was able to keep conflicts from breaking out between groups that supported American sovereignty and those that opposed it.
In 1904, Jayme defeated Esteban de la Rama to win the position of provincial governor following the United States' declaration of secure rule over Philippine territory.
In his capacity as governor, Jayme used public monies to build schools, promote enrollment, and raise his constituents' reading rates. In addition to accelerating the province's pacification, he waged campaigns against gambling, banditry, vagrancy, and other vices. His support of legal reform contributed to the improvement of Negros Occidental's political and social circumstances. The laws of the era were derived from the 19th-century Spanish legal system. According to a document created by the Philippine National Historical Institute, "He sought remedies to problems by suggesting modifications in existing laws and the enactment of new ones."
Because to his achievements as governor, he was elected to the First Philippine Assembly in 1907 as the representative of Negros Occidental's first district. Filipinos established their own legislature for the first time in history. He was a member of the City of Manila committee, the Provincial and Municipal Government committee, and the Law Revision Committee. He wrote a measure to abolish the death penalty while serving as chairman of the committee on police powers.
After serving as an assemblyman, he went back to managing his haciendas and practicing private law.
Other Works
He gained notoriety as a young man for writing a variety of essays in Spanish and Hiligaynon that were included in magazines such as La Razon (1906) and La Libertad (1900). Among his aliases were "P. Moral," "Farole," "Mansilingan," "Panagao," and "G.G." The Instituto Rizal, which was subsequently renamed the Negros Occidental High School, was founded by him and he taught there. He supplied the school's first dormitories and classrooms.
He served as a director of the still-operating Bacolod-Murcia Sugar Central.
Death
On October 19, 1937, Jayme passed away, leaving behind his wife and kids. Angela, his oldest daughter, wed Fernando Figueroa Gonzaga, a businessman and philanthropist. Vicente R. Jayme, another descendent, served under Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino as secretary of public works and highways, secretary of finance, and president of the Philippine National Bank.
The Republic Act No. 6709 was signed into law by President Aquino on February 10, 1989. It honors the Ilonggo people's valor throughout the Philippine Revolutions in the late 19th century, designated November 5 as a special non-working holiday in Negros Occidental. This was in honor of the Cinco de Noviembre Movement, in which Secretary of Justice Antonio Ledesma Jayme was instrumental.
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