Cesar Climaco

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Cesar C. Climaco
Born February 28, 1916 (1916-02-28)
Zamboanga City, Philippines
Died November 14, 1984 (aged 68)
Zamboanga City, Philippines
Political party Liberal Party / Concerned Citizen's Aggrupation
Spouse Julia Floreta
Alma mater University of Santo Tomas / U.P. College of Law

Cesar C. Climaco (February 28, 1916 — November 14, 1984) was a Filipino politician who served as mayor of Zamboanga City for 11 years. A prominent critic of the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos, he was famed for his toughness, his colorful personality, and his refusal to cut his hair[1][2] until democratic rule was restored in the Philippines. He was assassinated in 1984.


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[edit] Early years

Climaco was born in Zamboanga City, the son of a customs broker who later became a municipal councilor. [3] He finished his primary and secondary education in his hometown, then moved to Manila together with his future wife, Julia, to pursue a college education.[4] He enrolled in a pre-law course at the University of Santo Tomas and worked as a family driver to finance his studies.[4] He then studied law at the University of the Philippines College of Law, working at the same time as a janitor at the Court of Appeals.[4] Climaco earned his law degree in 1941, and was admitted to the Philippine bar later that year after having passed the bar examinations.

[edit] Political career

Climaco first entered political life when he ran and won a seat in the Zamboanga City council in 1951.[4] Within two years, at the age of 37, he would be appointed as mayor of Zamboanga City[4], holding the post until the following year.[5]

In 1954, Climaco joined the Operation Brotherhood, a group sponsored by the Jaycees to help provide for medical and relief needs to refugees in war-torn Vietnam.[6] As the Project Manager and Field Coordinator based in Vietnam, Climaco earned the friendship of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and found his activities covered by LIFE magazine.[7]

Climaco would first win election as Zamboanga City mayor in 1955, as a candidate of the Liberal Party, and served in such capacity until 1961.

[edit] Mayor (first two terms)

Climaco would become a national figure during his first stint as Zamboanga City mayor. He would become known for his personal courage, as shown by his willingness to venture alone out to hotspots and personally confronting neighborhood toughies with threats of imprisonment.[4] He maintained a similarly tough stance towards the city's policemen, once disarming cops he caught asleep at their posts during a surprise inspections.[8] Climaco also maintained a harmonious relationship with the city's Muslim population,[9][1] and cracked down on gambling.[1]

As mayor, Climaco ordered the construction of Abong-Abong park in Pasonanca, which was planned to provide space for a camp site, housing projects, and a shantytown to house the city's homeless population.[10] During this period, Zamboanga City would earn the appellation as the cleanest city in the Philippines.[5] One measure he enacted to earn such a reputation for his city was a directive requiring all horses in horse-drawn carriages to be tied with diapers beneath their tails as they plied their routes.[1]

He struck a friendship with the mayor of Manila, Arsenio Lacson, who had earned a similar reputation for toughness and good governance. Climaco soon earned the nickname "Arsenio Lacson of the South"[8][1] , to which Lacson remarked that at the rate Climaco was going, the Manila mayor would soon be known as the "Climaco of the North."[8]

[edit] Macapagal administration official

In 1961, Climaco gave up his post as mayor for an unsuccessful run for the Senate under the Liberal Party. After his defeat, he was appointed by President Diosdado Macapagal as Commissioner of Customs. As Customs Commissioner, he brought in cadets from the Philippine Military Academy, vaunted for their idealism and honesty, to work in a Bureau of Customs which had long been reputedly corrupt.[11] He again ran and lost for a Senate seat in 1963. Climaco then was appointed as a Presidential Assistant under Macapagal.

In 1965, Climaco tried for a third time to win election as a Senator. He fell only around 4,000 votes shy of winning a seat in the Senate. In the same election, his political ally, President Macapagal, was defeated for re-election by a law school contemporary and friend of Climaco's, Senate President Ferdinand Marcos.

[edit] Mayor (third term)

President Marcos declared martial law in 1972. Distressed at the development, Climaco left for exile to the United States[5] He vowed never to cut his hair until democratic rule was restored in the country.[2] He returned to the Philippines in 1976, and two years later, sought election to the Interim Batasang Pambansa as a member from Zamboanga. He was defeated in this effort.

In 1980, Climaco staged his political comeback when he won re-election as Zamboanga City mayor under the banner of a political party he had organized, the Concerned Citizen's Aggrupation.[5] By this time, crime and violence, often at the hands of policemen and the military, had become prevalent in the city[12][13], and a frustrated Climaco posted a scoreboard in front of city hall listing a running tally of unsolved violent crimes in the city.[13][12] Climaco did not hesitate in denouncing the military and the police in the city, and had the police chief transferred out of the city.[14] Upon the outbreak of violent incidents in the city, Climaco would rush to the scene on board his motorcycle and quell the disruption.[15] Despite the threats of violence, Climaco never carried a gun or surrounded himself with bodygaurds.[1]

Climaco maintained a harsh view towards the Marcos government. He was critical of the highly-centralized structure of government under which it was necessary to obtain the blessing of the Office of the President before funds could be disbursed.[1] When President Marcos lifted martial law in 1981, Climaco retorted, "Marcos did not lift martial rule. He only tilted it."[16] Climaco was able to stoke anti-Marcos sentiment within Zamboanga City.[17] When Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated in 1983, Climaco renamed one of the city's main squares as "Aquino Plaza".[1]

In 1984, Climaco successfully sought election as a Member of Parliament in the Batasang Pambansa. Climaco however declined to assume his seat until he had completed his six-year term as mayor, a stance that was seen as an act of defiance against the Marcos government.[5]

[edit] Assassination

In the morning of November 14, 1984, Climaco rushed to the scene of a fire that had broken out in downtown Zamboanga City. He supervised operations to put out the fire, then prepared to leave. He sighted a display of caskets at a nearby funeral home and jokingly said, "reserve one of those for me". [18] Climaco then mounted his motorcycle to return to his office. A man approached from behind the mayor and shot him in the nape at point-blank range.[18] The assassin escaped, while Climaco was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

The crowd that attended Climaco's funeral in Zamboanga City was estimated as ranging from fifteen thousand people [5] to up to two hundred thousand people [19]. He was buried at Abong-Abong Park.

To date, nobody has been convicted for Climaco's assassination. Police and military officials pinned the blame on a Muslim group led by Rizal Alih,[9][19] but attempts to apprehend him were unsuccessful. Climaco's widow publicly expressed that it was the military who was behind the murder.[19] Climaco himself was said to have remarked before his death that if he were ever assassinated, the military would blame Alih for the murder.[9]

[edit] Legacy

Climaco's son, Julio Cesar, would be appointed Zamboanga City OIC mayor in 1986, and served in that post until the following year. His niece, Beng Climaco, was elected in 2007 to the House of Representatives, representing the 1st District of Zamboanga City.

In 1994, Eddie Garcia starred in a film biography of Climaco, "Mayor Cesar Climaco", produced by Seiko Films.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Soliven, Max. "Remembering the ‘Cesar’ of Zambo", By the Way, Philippine Star, 10-31-2006. Retrieved on 2008-01-25. 
  2. ^ a b Guingona, Teofisto (1993). The Gallant Filipino. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing Inc., 200. ISBN 971-27-0279-0. 
  3. ^ Guingona, p. 195
  4. ^ a b c d e f Guingona, p. 197
  5. ^ a b c d e f List of Past Mayors of Zamboanga City (PDF). Zamboanga City government (2008-01-08). Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
  6. ^ The 1958 Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding - Operation Brotherhood. Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation Online. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
  7. ^ Guingona, p. 196
  8. ^ a b c Guingona, p. 198
  9. ^ a b c Guingona, p. 204
  10. ^ Guingona, p. 201
  11. ^ Guingona, p. 199
  12. ^ a b "Murder in Broad Daylight", Time Magazine, November 26, 1984. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 
  13. ^ a b Guingona, p. 202
  14. ^ Climaco, p. 203
  15. ^ Guingona, p. 191-192
  16. ^ Guingona, p. 206
  17. ^ Hollie, Pamela G.. "A Mayor in Southern Philippines Taunts Marcos", New York Times, June 20, 1982. Retrieved on 2008-01-25. 
  18. ^ a b Guingona, p. 192
  19. ^ a b c Shinn III, John L.. "Special Edition: The 1984 Assassination of Mayor Cesar Climaco", L.A. Zamboanga Times, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 

[edit] Reference