León Guinto Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honorable
León G. Guinto Sr.
Birth Name:León Gawaran Guinto
Birth Date:June 28, 1886
Birth Place:Bacoor, Cavite, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Death Place:Manila, Philippines
2nd Mayor of the City of Greater Manila
Term Start:January 27, 1942
Term End:July 17, 1944
Appointer:Jorge B. Vargas
1Namedata:Hermenegildo Atienza (as Vice Mayor for Manila)
Predecessor:Jorge B. Vargas
Successor:Hermenegildo Atienza (as Mayor of Manila)
Title1:Member of the National Assembly from Manila
Status1:Ex officio
Term Start1:September 25, 1943
Term End1:February 2, 1944
Alongside1:Alfonso E. Mendoza
Title2:5th Secretary of Labor
President2:Manuel L. Quezon
Term Start2:1940
Term End2:December 1941
Predecessor2:Sotero Baluyut
Successor2:Basilio Valdes
Title3:Member of the House of Representatives from Tayabas's 2nd district
Term Start3:1925
Term End3:1928
Predecessor3:Rafael R. Vilar
Successor3:Marcelo T. Boncan
Title4:19th Governor of Tayabas
Term Start4:December 30, 1955
Term End4:December 30, 1959
Predecessor4:Vicente Constantino
Successor4:Claro Robles
Term Start5:1928
Term End5:1933
Predecessor5:Filemon Perez
Successor5:Maximo Rodriguez
Title6:Member of the Tayabas Provincial Board
Term Start6:1922
Term End6:1925
Party:Nacionalista (1922-1942; 1945-1962)
Otherparty:KALIBAPI (1942-1945)
Restingplace:Manila South Cemetery
Spouse:Marta Montes
Children:3
Alma Mater:Colegio de San Juan de Letran
Occupation:Politician

León Gawaran Guinto Sr. (June 28, 1886  - July 10, 1962) was a public servant in the Philippines from the Commonwealth period up to the post-war era, best remembered as the war-time Mayor of the City of Greater Manila in the Philippines.

Early life

Guinto was born to Juan P. Guinto and Pia Gawaran in the village of San Nicolas in Bacoor, Cavite province. He completed his early education from his home town and earned his college degree from the Colegio de San Juan de Letran. He first got work at the Weather Bureau, married Marta Montes from Atimonan, Tayabas Province (now Quezon). The union produced three sons and two daughters.

By 1916, Guinto left his job at the Weather Bureau to pursue law studies at the old Escuela de Derecho and by 1920, after completing his law studies and qualifying as a bona fide lawyer, Guinto was employed as private secretary to the then Senate President, Manuel L. Quezon.

Government service

Pre-World War II

Guinto, after serving briefly as private secretary to Senate President Manuel L. Quezon, launched his political career in 1922 by running as member of the Provincial Board of the then Tayabas Province, the home province of his wife Marta Montes.

By 1925, he pursued the position of representative of the 2nd district of Tayabas under the Lower House of the Philippine Legislature. He held the post of legislator for six years until 1928.

He was elected provincial governor of Tayabas in 1928 but his term was cut short when he was appointed as Commissioner of Public Safety by then American Governor-General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. In the later part of 1933, Governor-General Frank Murphy named undersecretary of the Interior Department. By 1934, the Departments of Interior and Labor were merged and Guinto continued to serve as undersecretary.

In 1940, Guinto was appointed Secretary of Labor in the Commonwealth government of President Manuel L. Quezon.

Greater Manila's war-time mayor

By 1942, Guinto was appointed by Jorge B. Vargas, the then incoming chairman of the Japanese-created government structure called the Philippine Executive Commission, to assume the position of mayor of City of Greater Manila and look after the city's administration during the Japanese occupation during World War II. Guinto's close relations with the labor sector proved useful to his administration of Greater Manila, of which a number of labor leaders served as heads of the city government departments. He held the position until the city's disestablishment in 1944.

In 1945, Guinto was indicted as a war criminal for collaborating with the Japanese forces. A blanket amnesty was issued before the granting of Philippine Independence on July 4, 1946, sparing the former Manila mayor of a war crimes trial.

Post-World War II

Guinto went into the private sector, taught in the academe and even served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of the Lyceum of the Philippines University.

In 1955, Guinto returned home to Quezon Province and was elected governor, only to lose re-election in 1959.

Death

Guinto died in 1962 at the age of 76 in Manila, Philippines.

Legacy

Leon Guinto Street (formerly Pennsylvania Street), which runs through the Ermita and Malate districts, was renamed in his honor.

References

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