Paulino Gullas

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In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Arandia and the surname or paternal family name is Gullas.
The Honourable
Paulino Arandia Gullas
Member of the National Assembly from Cebu City
In office
25 September 1943 – 2 February 1944
Serving with Juan C. Zamora
Delegate to the 1934 Constitutional Convention
In office
30 July 1934 – 8 February 1935
Member of the House of Representatives from Cebu's 2nd District
In office
1925–1927
Preceded byVicente Sotto
Succeeded bySotero Cabahug
Personal details
Born29 April 1891
Cebu, Cebu, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Died1945 (aged 53–54)
Cebu City, Cebu, Philippine Commonwealth
Political partyKALIBAPI (1942-1945)
Nacionalista (1925-1942)
SpouseGilda Kilayko Gullas (+)
ChildrenMary Gullas (+), Cecilia Gullas, Victoria Gullas
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • Publisher
  • Poet

Paulino Arandia Gullas (29 April 1891 – 1945) was a Filipino Visayan lawyer, newspaper publisher, and legislator from Cebu, Philippines. He was the founder of The Freeman, Cebu's longest-running newspaper, served as member of the 7th Philippine Legislature for Cebu's 2nd district (1925–1927), Delegate to the 1934 Constitutional Convention, and member of the National Assembly during World War II.

Education and personal life[edit]

Paulino Gullas was born in the then-town of Cebu on 29 April 1891.[1][2] He was the son of Heminigildo Gullas and Necifora Arandia.[3] He attended Cebu Primary School, Colegio de San Carlos, Cebu Normal School, Cebu High School, and Manila High School.[4]

He was known to be an orator during his student days at the University of the Philippines[2] where he acquired his law degree.[4] He also became the first business manager of Philippine Law Journal, a publication established in the University of the Philippines in 1914.[5] When he passed the bar exams in 1916, he earned the highest marks among all examinees,[2] becoming the first bar topnotcher from Cebu.[6]

Married to Gilda Kilayko from Bacolod, Negros Occidental, he had three children namely Mary, Cecilia and Victoria.[5]

Career[edit]

Paulino A. Gullas established a law office that handled cases from different parts of the country. His law firm's partners included congressman Pedro Lopez and Jose Leuterio, who would later become an associate justice of the Court of Appeals.[5]

Journalism[edit]

He started as a reporter of Cablenews American,[4] a Manila-based newspaper.[7]

He is the founder of The Freeman,[4][8] Cebu's longest-running newspaper. Its maiden issue was printed on 10 May 1919.[9][10] The newspaper stopped circulation on the outbreak of World War II.[11][12] Jose Gullas, revived the periodical in 1965 as a weekly magazine and then to a daily English newspaper in 1969.[13]

Education[edit]

From 1918 until 1919, he was chosen as the first registrar of the University of the Philippines Cebu.[14][15] He was also the president of the Visayan Institute,[4] a school founded by his brother Vicente.[9]

Literature[edit]

According to Resil Mojares' book Cebuano Literature, Paulino wrote poems and used the pen name Paul Dantes.[4]

Politics[edit]

He was voted member of the House of Representatives in 1925 until 1927 for the old 2nd district of Cebu,[4][16] which was composed of Cebu City and the towns of Mandaue, Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela, Cordova and Opon.[9] In 1934, he was elected as delegate to the Constitutional Convention to draft the 1935 Philippine Constitution.[2][4]

World War II[edit]

Paulino Gullas was forced to serve in the government during the Japanese occupation in World War II. He was the commissioner for the Visayas chapter of KALIBAPI, a political party formed during the war.[9][17] He wrote the paper, "The Delicate Japanese-Filipino Problem", where he advised the Japanese to refrain from slapping Filipinos as slap to the face was considered abusively demeaning.[18] Moreover, he intervened and helped release Irish confreres of the Redemptorists.[19]

Additionally, he was a delegate to the National Assembly formed in 1943, representing the city of Cebu.[20][16]

There are various accounts on his demise before the war ended. It is said that he was executed by the Japanese forces in the hills of Cebu. Another account claimed that together with war-time governor, Jose S. Leyson, and other Cebu officials, he was taken to the Babag Ridge area together with the retreating Japanese military and was killed when the Americans bombed the cave in which they were hiding.

Stories from his surviving relatives revealed that, while forced to serve the Japanese, Paulino Gullas was secretly leaking intel to the Cebuano guerillas. When the Japanese military discovered such treachery, they hunted him down but were unsuccessful since he was able to hide in a secret underground room located near a well beside his house. It was only when the Japanese threatened to kill his wife and daughters that Paulino Gullas surrendered to himself to the Japanese forces. He was eventually executed and his remains have never been found.[21]

Historical commemoration[edit]

  • The University of Visayas College of Law was renamed Gullas Law School in his honor.[6]
  • On 4 April 1960, the street known previously as Calle Nueva was renamed Don Paulino Gullas Street in his honor by virtue of City Council Ordinance No. 285.[5]

Further reading[edit]

  • Pernia, Ronald. Education, Media and Politics: The Gullas Family of Cebu, University of the Philippines (2018)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Don Paulino Arandia Gullas". Geni.com. 29 April 1891. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Tinga, Pablo S. (2009). CEBU: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Cebu City: Saint Jude Book Publisher. ISBN 9789710553150.
  3. ^ Oaminal, Clarence Paul (15 January 2014). "Vicente Gullas St, Cebu City". The Freeman through Pressreader. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Mojares, Resil B. (1975). Cebuano Literature: A Survey and Bio-Bibliography with Finding List. San Carlos Publication Series A: Humanities Number Ten. Cebu City Public Library: University of San Carlos. p. 147.
  5. ^ a b c d Oaminal, Clarence Paul (20 August 2014). "Don Paulino A. Gullas, the first Cebuano to top bar exams". The Freeman through Pressreader. Retrieved 18 May 2019 – via PressReader.
  6. ^ a b Jimenez, Josephus (4 November 2017). "Will Cebu produce another bar topnotcher? | The Freeman". philstar.com. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  7. ^ "The Cablenews-American". Library of Congress. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Cebuano Writers | Southeast Asia Digital Library". sea.lib.niu.edu. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d Oaminal, Clarence Paul (26 April 2017). "Don Paulino Gullas reads President Laurel's speech | The Freeman". philstar.com. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  10. ^ Journalism, Cebu; Journalists (24 September 2015). "Bias and the future of journalism". Cebu Journalism & Journalists. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  11. ^ Mojares, Resil B. "Today in the History of Cebu" (PDF). www.library.usc.edu.ph. University of San Carlos. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Media Museum: The Commonwealth Period". commmedia.aijc.com.ph. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  13. ^ Lacamiento, Grace Melanie (22 February 2019). "The Freeman celebrates 100th year". philstar.com. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Heritage celebration to honor Cebu's builders, entrepreneurs". Sunstar. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  15. ^ Oaminal, Clarence Paul (4 July 2017). "Don Paulino Gullas and the Constitutional amendments | The Freeman". philstar.com. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  16. ^ a b "ROSTER OF PHILIPPINE LEGISLATORS". www.congress.gov.ph. House of Representatives; Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  17. ^ "Message of President Laurel before the convention of Provincial Governors, Constabulary Inspectors, Municipal Mayors and Kalibapi leaders of the Visayan provinces, April 13, 1944 | Presidential Museum and Library". Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  18. ^ Friend, Theodore. (2014). The Blue-Eyed Enemy : Japan against the West in Java and Luzon, 1942-1945. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400859467. OCLC 884012986.
  19. ^ "Echoes of Never Again". Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  20. ^ Official Gazette, Volume 2. University of Michigan: Republic of the Philippines. 1943. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  21. ^ Mojares, Resil B. (2015). The war in Cebu. Bersales, Jose Eleazar R. (Jose Eleazar Reynes). Talamban, Cebu City, Philippines. ISBN 9789715390705. OCLC 945648989.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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