Who’s Who in Bataan – The Banzons of Bataan Part II

HUGO BANZON (1850-1898), an uncle of former Bataan Congressman Manuel Banzon Sr., was a revolutionary leader and patriot. He was the lone fatality during the successful uprising of Balanga rebels against the Spaniards in May 1898.

When the Filipino-Spanish hostilities broke out in Balanga in the afternoon of May 28, 1898, Hugo Banzon, a wealthy landowner from Poblacion, gathered his bolo-wielding militiamen, mostly farmers, and proceeded to the town plaza. He was immediately tasked by General Domingo Alonzo of Puerto Rivas to secure the Gipit area (Bonifacio St.) that could be used as an escape route by the beleaguered Spaniards.

Unfortunately, Banzon and his rebels were met by a group of Spanish soldiers coming from an outpost in Santa Rosa, Pilar. Banzon was mortally wounded and took his last breath on the street (in front of the present Lotto outlet building). Hugo, at 39 years old, was the lone casualty in the said uprising that lasted for three days (May 28-30).

The people of Balanga recognized his deeds and patriotism by naming the street where he died as Hugo Banzon Street.

ROLANDO BANZON was a former regional director of the Department of Health (Bicol Region, 1999-2000), provincial health officer of Bataan (1988-1999) and vice mayor of Orion (2001-2004).

Dr. Banzon was born in Barangay San Vicente on February 2, 1935. His parents were Vicente F. Banzon and Conchita R. Santos, both natives of Orion. He completed his elementary and secondary education at the Orion Elementary School and Jose Rizal Institute-Orion. He enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and completed a degree in Medicine in 1961.He also finished his Master’s degrees in Public Health at the University of the Philippines, and his Masters in Health Administration at the Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, Holland.

Dr. Banzon served as a municipal health officer of Orion starting in 1963 and became the assistant provincial health officer of Bataan in 1976. He finally became the provincial top doctor in 1988. He was promoted to the position of regional director of Bicol Region in 1999. A year later, he retired from the government service.

In 2001, he ran for vice mayor of Orion together with re-electionist Mayor Manuel C. Santos Jr. He won against rival Allan Inton, but Santos lost to former Vice Mayor Antonio L. Raymundo Jr.

Dr. Rolando Banzon left the political scene after his term in 2004 and continued managing the family business ventures in the company of his wife Zenaida Mariano-Banzon, a pharmacist, and daughter Marietta Banzon-Santiago.

VENANCIO SANCHEZ BANZON is the former chief of hospital of the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Medical Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.

Dr. “Ven” Banzon was born in Balanga on May 26, 1946 to parents Dr. Melanio T. Banzon Sr. and Herminia Sanchez-Banzon, a retired public school teacher. He is the older brother of former Balanga Mayor Melanio Banzon Jr.

He graduated from the Tomas del Rosario Academy and completed his degree in Doctor of Medicine at the UERMMC in 1973. He spent five years practicing his profession as a resident doctor of the former Bataan Provincial Hospital (BPH), from 1974 until 1978. Thereafter, he was sent to the United Kingdom for his specialization studies in Anaesthesiology. He rejoined the BPH in 1980 and was designated as assistant chief of hospital for 10 years.

In 1990, he accepted the position of provincial health officer of Bulacan. After eight years, he was assigned in Pampanga as chief of hospital of the J.B. Lingad Memorial Medical Center starting in 1998. He also supervised the operation of the Mariveles Mental Hospital before it was placed under the direct supervision of the Bataan Provincial Health Office. He retired from the government service in 2011.

Dr. Banzon is married to the former Marietta Resurreccion with whom he had four sons: Melvin, Carlo, Dennis and Ace.