Who’s Who – MANUEL AGUINALDO

MANUEL AGUINALDO of Pilar was the tenth (10th) governor of Bataan. Born in Poblacion, Pilar, on April 16, 1884, he served the province from 1922-1925.

Aguinaldo, a 38-year old wealthy landowner who amassed great wealth during the operation of the Cadwallader-Gibson Lumber Company in Bagac (1920-1925). initially ran and won as provincial board member under Governor Alberto Aquino of Samal (1919-1922). His older brother, Leandro, once served as mayor of Pilar from 1912 until 1916.

Manuel also ran for the governor’s post of Bataan during the June 6, 1922 elections. and defeated his former boss, Atty. Alberto Aquino. As governor, Aguinaldo was the one who implemented the full operation of the Bataan High School after its return from Orani to its original campus in Balanga in 1920. He was also credited for the construction of wooden bridges in Balanga, Pilar, and most especially, the Mabasag bridge in Bagac in the hope that Cadwallader-Gibson would resume its operation in Bagac and Morong.

Aguinaldo is best remembered as the vernacular writer who translated into Tagalog the first Municipal Code of the Philippines formulated in 1902 by a committee headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano. His wife, the former Rosalia de Leon, a teacher and writer in the local dialect, helped him in completing the said translation in 1930.