Outstanding son: Pangasinan honors forgotten Speaker

SAN CARLOS CITY — Were it not for the law that declared his birthday a public holiday in Pangasinan province, the late Speaker Eugenio Perez would have been just another forgotten hero here.

On Nov. 13, Perez’s 121st birthday, only a handful of officials, teachers and policemen from this city were present during a wreath-laying ceremony and short program in front of Perez’s bust at the city plaza here.

Not even students from a government agricultural school named after him were around. The mayor here was represented by the city administrator.

But Consuelo Perez, daughter of the late speaker, said that she was touched that her father was still being honored.

Perez was born on Nov. 13, 1896 in a village here that is now a part of Basista town. Basista also used to be a village of this city.

Perez entered politics in 1926 and was elected councilor when this city was still a town. Two years later, he was elected representative of Pangasinan’s second district to what was then the Philippine Legislature, where he served for eight consecutive terms.

After joining the newly established Liberal Party in 1946, he was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives when the first Congress convened later that year.

Guido Tiong, founder of the Binalatongan Historical and Cultural Association here, said  Perez secured the passage of a bill that led to the creation of what is now the Social Security System.

Perez died on Aug. 4, 1957. —Gabriel Cardinoza