Remembering Epifanio de los Santos

TODAY we celebrate the birthday of Epifanio de los Santos y Cristobal, great Filipino patriot, scholar and historian.

The long stretch of highway from Pasay cutting through Makati, Mandaluyong, San Juan, up to Caloocan is called the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue or what we call EDSA for short.

Born in 1871 in Malabon, Rizal, de los Santos was the first Filipino member of the Spanish Royal Academy in Madrid. He studied at the Ateneo de Manila where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree and at the University of Santo Tomas where he finished his law studies.

De los Santos was one of the best Filipino writers in Spanish of his time, next only to Marcelo H. del Pilar.

As a nationalist, de los Santos was associate editor of the revolutionary paper la Independencia, writing in scathing prose under the pen name G. Solon. He also co-founded the newspaper Libertad.

De los Santos was well traveled, going to many places in Europe searching for rare Philippine documents in big museums and in European libraries.

De los Santos has made a large body of works on Philippine literature, arts, music, politics and biographies of great and notable Filipinos. He has also translated Filipino literary works into Spanish, notable Balagtas’s Florante at Laura.

Aside from his intense passion for the arts and culture, Don Panyong as he was fondly called, was into politics. He was appointed district attorney of San Isidro, Nueve Ecija. He was later elected governor of Nueva Ecija. After his stint as governor, he was apppinted provincial fiscal of Bulacan and Bataan provinces. On the side, he devoted his spare time to researches in Philippine history and literature establishing himself as a historian, bibliographer and collector of Filipiniana. His collections however were destroyed by fire which hit his home in San Isidro, Nueva, Ecija.

The last and most significant position de los Santos held was as director of the Philippine National Musuem and Library, as appointed by Gov. Gen. Leonard Wood in 1925.

He died on April 18, 1928, to be honored years later, by the Philippine government by naming a major and important highway Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.

Epifanio de los Santos, patriot, nationalist, scholar, bibliographer, outstanding-civil servant -- we remember him today for his contributions to Filipino nationhood.

Former Press Undersecretary Ching Suva is a granddaughter of Epifanio de los Santos.

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