Jose Zulueta

José Zulueta
9th President of the Senate of the Philippines
In office May 20, 1953 – December 30, 1953
President	Elpidio Quirino
Preceded by	Camilo Osías
Succeeded by	Eulogio Rodriguez
Senator of the Philippines
In office December 30, 1951 – December 30, 1957
7th Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives
In office June 9, 1945 – December 20, 1945
President	Sergio Osmeña
Preceded by	Benigno Aquino, Sr.
Succeeded by	Eugenio Pérez
Member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Iloilo's First District
In office 1928–1946
Preceded by	Eugenio Baldana
Succeeded by	Mateo M. Nonato
In office December 30, 1949 – December 30, 1953
Preceded by	Mateo M. Nonato
Succeeded by	Pedro G. Trono
In office December 30, 1969 – September 23, 1972
Preceded by	Pedro G. Trono
Succeeded by	Vacant Post later held by Oscar G. Garin
Secretary of the Interior
In office 1946–1948
President	Manuel Roxas
Preceded by	Rafael Alunan
Succeeded by	Sotero Baluyut
Personal details
Born	(1889-11-23)November 23, 1889 Paco, Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Died	December 6, 1972(1972-12-06) (aged 83)
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Soledad Ramos

José Zulueta (Molo, Iloilo City, November 23, 1889 – December 6, 1972) was a Philippine lawyer and politician. He was elected as Senate President for a brief period in 1953.

Career

During the Japanese Occupation Zulueta was accused of collaboration, along with Jorge Vargas, Jorge Bocobo, and Manuel Roxas, being the first to respond General Homma's order to form an Executive Commission. After the establishment of the Philippine Republic in 1946, the Department of Interior was restored and Zulueta was appointed by President Manuel Roxas once again to head the agency until 1948. Zulueta's term was marked by heightened tensions with the Hukbalahap movement, with Zulueta instituting a pass system that was required of Central Luzon residents wishing to travel outside their towns. Like his mentor Roxas, he adopted a hardline attitude toward the Huks, declaring in 1947 that the Huks faced only two choices: surrender or annihilation. He gave carte blanche to the Philippine Constabulary in all their operations against "dissidents". He was in charge of negotiating several times with its leaders, including Luis Lava, Luis Taruc, Juan Feleo, and Jose de Leon.

In 1946 Zulueta was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the inaugural session of the Congress.

He became Senator (1951–1957) and was briefly elected the Senate President in 1953. He became Provincial Governor of Iloilo in 1959.

During the Marcos regime, he was made the Presidential Consultant on Local Government.

He is among the few Filipinos included in the World Biography, 1948 edition and in the International Who's Who, 1952 edition.

Zulueta was married to Soledad B. Ramos.

Library work

After his stint in journalism, Zulueta returned to academic work and focused on librarian tasks. He travelled the world and met famous collectors including Wenceslao Retana. He collaborated with bibliographers and historians such as James Alexander Robertson and Emma Helen Blair who needed references for work such as The Philippine Islands, 1493 to 1898. He also visited Spain to study the 1887 Exposicion General de Filipinas, and Cambridge to study the Vocabulario Tagalo. In Manila, he created archives and texts to collate the various historical sources for creating the Philippines' history, using both local and foreign sources.

References

• List of Iloilo 1st District Representatives
• Philippine Senate bio of Jose C. Zulueta, the first parts of which have been erroneously conflated with the life of the bibliographer Clemente Jose Zulueta (1876-1904), December 24, 2009)
• Department of Interior and Local Government History, accessed December 24, 2009
• William Pomery, The Philippines, pp, 117 and 153 (Accessed on December 24, 2009)
• Benedict Kerkvliet, The Huk Rebellion, p. 189, 190 (Accessed on December 24, 2009)