Won Pat, Antonio Borja, 1908-1987

<p>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.</p>

<p>Won Pat was born in Sumay (now Santa Rita), Guam to his father Ignacio Won Pat, an immigrant from China, and his mother Maria Soriano Borja. He had two brothers and one sister, Francisco Won Pat, Vicente Won Pat and Eulalia Won Pat.</p>

<p>Won Pat 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.</p>

<p>The son of an immigrant from Hong Kong, Antonio Borja Won Pat’s long political career culminated in his election as the first Territorial Delegate from Guam—where “America’s day begins,” a reference to the small, Pacific island’s location across the international dateline. Known as “Pat” on Guam and “Tony” among his congressional colleagues, Won Pat’s small-in-stature and soft-spoken nature belied his ability to craft alliances with powerful House Democrats and use his committee work to guide federal money towards and protect local interests in Guam. It was these skills and his close relationship with Phillip Burton of California, a powerful figure on the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, that helped Won Pat become the first Territorial Delegate to chair a subcommittee. “To speak of Tony Won Pat’s life … is to recall the very history of Guam,” noted American Samoan Delegate Fofó I. F. Sunia, who memorialized Won Pat on the House Floor after his death. “Every major political accomplishment of the last quarter century in Guam bears Mr. Won Pat’s valuable imprint.”</p>

<p>Antonio Borja Won Pat was born in Sumay, Guam, on December 10, 1908, to Maria Soriano Borja and Ignacio Won Pat. According to census records, he had at least two brothers, Vicente and Francisco. Ignacio Won Pat was of Chinese heritage, originally from Hong Kong, and had come to Guam with the U.S. Navy to serve as a cook. Later, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Won Pat made note of his family history. “And here I am tinkering with parts of the U.S. Navy budget,” he observed. Won Pat graduated from the Intermediate School in Agana, Guam, in 1925. He married a native Guamanian (known locally as a Chamorro), Ana Salas Perez, and they had eight children.</p>

<p>Won Pat worked as a teacher at a school (later known as the Dyer School) in Piti, Guam, and then became principal at the Maxwell School in Sumay, where he worked until 1940. He was teaching at George Washington High School when Japan invaded Guam in December 1941. Following the war, Won Pat left teaching and organized the Guam Commercial Corporation, a group of wholesale and retail sellers. In his new career as a businessman, he became president of the Guam Junior Chamber of Commerce.</p>

WON PAT, Antonio Borja, a Delegate from Guam; born in Sumay, Guam, December 10, 1908; educated in Guam public schools; became school teacher in 1926; principal in the school systems of Piti, Inarajan, and Sumay, 1934-1939; taught school at George Washington High School, Agana, Guam, from 1940 until end of the Second World War; first elected to the Advisory Guam Congress in 1936; reelected in 1948 as speaker of the Guam Assembly; speaker of the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh Guam Legislatures; elected in 1965 as Guam's first representative to Washington; reelected to the same position in 1968; delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1972; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-third and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1973-January 3, 1985); unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Ninety-ninth Congress in 1984; was a resident of Sinajana, Guam until his death May 1, 1987, in Silver Spring, Md.; interment in Veterans Cemetery, Piti, Guam.