College Assurance Plan honors Benito Soliven

Yesterday, College Assurance Plan unveiled the Benito Soliven statue in its building in Vigan, capital city of Ilocos Sur. Vigan was the birthplace of the late President Elpidio Quirino. Ilocos Sur has produced many outstanding Filipino figures such as the painter Juan Luna whose painting called the Spoliarum won a gold medal at the Madrid Exposition and whose home was the regular meeting place of the Filipinos living in Paris, including Jose Rizal, who called themselves the Indios Bravos. Ilocos Sur was also the province that produced the first woman that led a male army against foreign oppressors – Gabriela Silang. Like Joan of Arc, she led her army in an attack on Vigan, where she was executed by hanging after she was captured. So Ilocos Sur has a great historical past, which includes the famous battle of Tirad Pass.

According to the French moralist Joseph Johert, "Monuments are the grappling irons that bind one generation to another." Benito Soliven was born two years after Rizal’s execution, but his achievements as statesman and soldier belong to our times. He led a hard life. His father was the mayor of Santo Domingo, Ilocos Sur, who died when he was only three years old. A year later, his mother also died. He grew up in the custody of an aunt who treated him like a servant. He managed to finish fifth grade and when his relatives took him to the Spanish priest in Vigan, he passed the exam with flying colors that the Jesuit priest accelerated him to sixth grade. This was despite the fact that he had not formally studied Spanish. The little Spanish he knew, he had learned on his own.

The key to progress is education and hard work. And young Benito Soliven graduated valedictorian in high school. To get his college education, he moved to Manila and took up law at the University of the Philippines. As a senior law student, he won the esteemed Manuel L. Quezon award for oratory. He passed the bar in 1921, and pursued graduate studies in the University of Santo Tomas, where he finished master of laws with the highest honors and later doctor of laws. Not being satisfied with just being a lawyer, he also took up Foreign Service in Santo Tomas, graduating summa cum laude.

After making his mark as a practicing lawyer, he ventured into politics, was elected for three terms as a congressman and in 1938, he defeated no less than a figure than Elpidio Quirino.

When World War II broke out – Soliven, a captain of the Reserved Armed Forces – fought in Bataan, survived the Death March, but not the malaria he acquired in battle. He died on January 10, 1943.

It is good for us to remember those who led exemplary lives. And more important than national heroes are local heroes that local communities can literally identify with because they were once in actual contact with said figures. Our modern heroes are people who know how to utilize media. The true test of any hero is the example he has set with his life.