FELIPE G. CALDERON
(1868-1908)
Felipe Gonzales Calderon, known as the 'Father
of the Malolos Constitution", was born on April 4, 1868 in Santa Cruz de
Malabon inow Tanza), Cavite, to a Spanish nobleman, Don Jose Gonzales Calderon,
and Doņa Manuela Roca who was of Spanish-Filipino blood.
His early education was handled in the
private school of Maestro Cabriel of Santa Ana. His mother sought to prepare
him for the priesthood, but his father's cousin Doņa Carolina sent him to the
Ateneo Municipal. His family, being impoverished by his father's vices, could
not give the boy the luxury that other students of Spanish parentage had. Young
Felipe had to walk to school barefoot and to carry his slippers under his arms,
to be worn only in school.
In the primary and secondary courses at
the Ateneo Municipal he was granted scholarships with free board and lodging on
account of his unusual earnestness and marvellous talent. He received with high
honors his Bachelor of Arts degree from this institution in 1885. In order to
support his college education, he took up newspaper work, and wrote for La
Opinion, La Oceania Espaņola and El Resumen. However, he
never stayed long in any newspaper because of his nationalistic sentiments.
In the midst of his financial difficulties,
a kind and rich businessman, Don Francisco Roxas, whose sons were tutored by
Felipe, generously gave him adequate funds which enabled him to travel to the
Orient, visiting Hongkong, Singapore and India. Back in the Philippines, he
lived in Bauan, Batangas, where he married Josefa Amurao in 1891 and by whom he
was blessed with five children.
Realizing however, that his real forte
was law, Calderon enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas in 1893 and there
completed his Licenciado en Leyes. After graduation, he apprenticed
himself as a Pasante in the law office of the eminent jurist. Don Cayetano
Arellano.
An avid reader of Rizal's writings,
Plaridel's polemics, and Lopez Jaena's orations he left the practice of law in
1895 and went back to the University of Santo Tomas as a student. However. he
could not finish his special courses because of the outbreak of the revolution
in 1896. He was one among the patriots arrested after the Cry of Pugad Lawin
and imprisoned at Fort Santiago. For being associated with the leaders of the
uprising in Cavite. he was prosecuted by the Spanish authorities. But owing to
his convincing defense of his case, he was acquitted.
He then returned to his residence in
Manila and lived quietly with his family. Inspite of his Spanish blood, he
ardently espoused the revolutionary cause against Spain.
Upon the arrival of Aguinaldo at Cavite
from Hongkong on May 19, 1898, Calderon, who was in Bacoor sought an interview
with the head of the movement.
By September, however, with the assurance
of the complete
victory against the Spanish forces outside
of Manila, he willingly accepted appointment from Aguinaldo as representative
of the District of Paragua in the Revolutionary Congress. In the "Memoirs
of Felipe G. Calderon," Teodoro M. Kalaw quotes him: "I moved with my
family, on September 10 to the Pueblo de Barasoain, and by the order of
Aguinaldo installed myself in one of the rooms of the convent of the pueblo, in
the church where Congress met."
The Constitution was finally proclaimed
at Malolos on January 25, 1899, approved by the Revolutionary Congress. This
was the most momentous period of his life, for it was he who drafted the
Malolos Constitution.
When the Filipino-American War(1899-19002)
broke out, Calderon was in Batangas. From there he proceeded to Manila where he
appeared before the Schurmann Commission on April 27. offering suggestions for
the restoration of peace. He was requested to draft rules for the government of
the first municipalities under American sovereignty. which lie did successfuly.
He enhanced his prestige as a britliant lawyer.
In the same year 1899, he founded the
Colegio de Abogados de Manila, with himself as the first president and the
Escuela de Derecho, a law school. He taught in both institutions until his
death.
As an educator, he was more than just an
academic teacher. He was a moulder of character and a preacher of militant
Fiiipinism. He always urged students to read and reread Rizal's novel. He expressed
his educational philosophy in this manner: 'I do not want to train mere
defenders of lawsuits, I want to produce men." According to Dr. Jorge
Bocobo, Calderon made students understand the seriousness of their
responsibility by enjoining them to ge into all parts of the archipelago, to
preach the gospel of a vigorous, triumphant national spirit.
In 1904 he was appointed member of a
commission to draft a proposed Penal Code to which he contributed his vast
knowledge of penal law and criminology.
He was one of the organizers of La
Proteccion de la infancia, an institution established to protect and care
for babies.
As a writer, he published a number of
biographical sketches and historical essays, the most notable of which was Mis
Memories Sobre La Revolucion published in 1907. He also founded the Asociacion
Historica de Filipinas and the Enciclopedia de Filipinas, but these
did not prosper.
As an orator he distinguished himself for
his wit both in the forum and in the Malolos Congress, especially in the
discussion of that part of the Constitution relative to the separation of
church and state and thus revealed his forensic ability in the Philippine
Assembly.
A widower in 1905, he married, the
following year, Miss Concepcion Felix. a pretty 22-year old student of his at
the Escuela de Derecho by whom he had two daughters, Concepcion and Cruzing.
Calderon was an indefatigable reader and
a nationalistic writer. Even when he was very sick and against the physician's
orders, he read in bed. He died of colicomiserere in Saint Paul's Hospital at
about ten o'clock in the morning of July 6, 1908.