Ocampo, Pablo, 1853-1925

<p>Pablo Ocampo served in the House as Resident Commissioner only briefly, but he was a powerful force on behalf of Philippine nationhood. From his early days as a leader in the revolutionary government to his election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Ocampo helped shape the terms of the Philippines’ relationship with America. On Capitol Hill, he fought to protect the archipelago’s economy from what he considered an unbalanced trade deal and worked to further the concerns of the Philippine assembly. He was, according to Sereno Payne of New York, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, “a gentleman of education, a lawyer, and a man of ability.” Ocampo was not fluent in English, but during his time as Resident Commissioner, he spoke compellingly for his home islands.</p>

<p>Pablo Ocampo was born on January 25, 1853, to an established Manila family. He attended Colegio de San Juan de Letran before graduating from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila in 1882. After studying law, Ocampo passed the bar and began practicing in Manila, starting what would become a very diverse career. From 1883 to 1884, he served as the prosecuting attorney in Manila’s Tondo District along Manila Bay. And then, under the Spanish regime, he served as secretary of the royal court from 1885 to 1887 and as relator of the supreme court from 1887 to 1888. From 1888 to 1890, he was an adviser to the Economic Association of the Philippines.</p>

<p>When the war broke out between the Philippines and Spain, Ocampo severed his ties with the empire and joined the revolution. The Spanish arrested him and threw him in jail in 1896, but Ocampo remained committed to the cause and became a close adviser to Emilio Aguinaldo, the general leading the insurrection. In 1898, as the United States beefed up its presence in the South Pacific, Ocampo was elected to the Philippines’ revolutionary congress at Malolos, a town approximately 30 miles north of Manila.</p>

OCAMPO, Pablo, a Resident Commissioner from the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands; born in Manila, Manila Province, Luzon, Philippine Islands, January 25, 1853; attended Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Manila, P.I.; graduated from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, P.I., 1882; studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1882; lawyer, private practice; Tondo District, Manila, P.I., prosecuting attorney, 1883-1884; secretary, Royal Court of Manila, P.I., 1885-1887; relator, supreme court of the Philippine Islands, 1887-1888; counsel, Philippines economic association, 1888-1890; member of the Malolos Congress and secretary of the Filipino Parliament; faculty, University of Malolos, Malolos, P.I., 1898; editor, La patria, Manila, P.I., 1899-1900; editor, Faro juridico y consultor de los jueces de paz, the first law publication on the Philippine Islands, 1907-1908; appointed by the Government of the Filipino Republic as its representative in Manila; elected as a Nacionalista to the Sixtieth Congress (November 22, 1907-May 11, 1909); was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Sixty-first Congress in 1909; delegate, American Congress to the Interparliamentary Congress of Nations, Berlin, Germany, 1908; member of the second Philippine assembly; member of the Philippine independence mission to the United States in 1919; advisor and counsel to Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo from the time of his connection with the revolutionary government until 1925; died on February 5, 1925, in Manila, P.I.; interment at La Loma Cemetery, Manila, P.I.

<p>Pablo de Leon Ocampo (January 25, 1853 – February 5, 1925) was a Filipino lawyer, nationalist, a member of the Malolos Congress, inaugural holder of the office of Resident Commissioner from the Philippine Islands to the United States Congress alongside Benito Legarda and a member of the 2nd Philippine Legislature. He gave his service to his country and helped to bring about the peaceful transition of the Philippines from being a colony of Spain for more than 300 years (1565 to 1898) to what will later become the American Commonwealth of the Philippines.</p>

<p>Ocampo was born in Manila, Spanish Philippines on January 25, 1853 in Quiapo, Manila. His father was Andres Ocampo, a gobernadorcillo of Santa Cruz, Manila in the Spanish period, while his mother was Macaria de Leon.</p>

<p>Ocampo spent his secondary school years in the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and went on to take up law at the University of Santo Tomas. He finished his degree in March 1882 and went on to practice law in Manila. He studied law at San Juan de Letran College and the University of Santo Tomas graduating in 1882.</p>