Won Pat, Antonio Borja, 1908-1987

Antonio Borja Won Pat (December 10, 1908 – May 1, 1987) was a Guamanian politician and member of the Democratic Party of Guam. He served as the first Delegate from Guam to the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1985.

Born in Sumay (now Santa Rita), Guam, he completed his primary education at the Normal School in Hagåtña. He then became a teacher and after teaching for eight years, Won Pat was nominated to the advisory Guam Congress in 1936. Prior to the signing of the Organic Act in 1950 which provided for US citizenship and limited self-government, Guam's citizens were under complete US Navy rule. The pre-Organic Act Guam Congress sat only as an advisory body to the naval governor. It consisted of two houses – the House of Council and the House of Assembly. Its members were elected by the people of their districts.

Following World War II, Won Pat began to attain influence on the island forming the Guam Commercial Corporation in 1946. Supported by the naval government, he prioritized economic self-sufficiency before achieving citizenship. GCC played a role in the post-war economic boom, but ultimately went bankrupt in 1954. By this time, Won Pat was entrenched in the House of Assembly beginning in 1948 becoming speaker of the Guam Legislature in 1951.

Guam took another step toward self-representation under Won Pat in 1964 when the 7th Guam Legislature created Guam's Washington Office as an elected position. Won Pat lobbied for the post and won it. While in office Won Pat spread awareness to the other state representatives about Guam and the political situation it was in, and increased federal support following his effective lobbying. In his post in Washington, D.C., Won Pat continued the battle to gain representation in Congress and in the process gained many allies. After Guam and the Virgin Islands were granted representation in Congress, Won Pat was elected delegate, becoming the first resident of Guam to take the oath of office as a member of Congress. He would be re-elected five more times. During his tenure as delegate to the U.S. Congress, he was instrumental in helping what are now the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; the Federated States of Micronesia, comprising the island states of Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk, and Yap; the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau achieved more political self governance through the dismantling of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

After fending off a 1982 challenge from General Ben Blaz, Won Pat narrowly lost to him in 1984. After his electoral loss, Won Pat lived in Guam but returned to Washington frequently and continued to attend hearings on appropriations for the territories. Won Pat died of a heart attack in a hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, on May 1, 1987. He was buried in Piti, Guam, at the locally run veterans’ cemetery for which he had sought federal funding.