Alfredo V. Jacinto, the Cebuano Governor of Capiz

Alfredo V. Jacinto. Image credit: Flickr

On January 21, 1944, President Jose P. Laurel officially appointed Alfredo V. Jacinto as provincial governor of Capiz, reports Manila's The Tribune. The appointment came after the recommendation of former Speaker Manuel Roxas who was “interested in the restoration of peace and order” in the province. With his appointment, Governor Jacinto officially succeeded Gabriel K. Hernandez, who went into hiding from the Japanese forces after the occupation of Capiz. In July 1943, Santiago Arceño, the province’s senior inspector of the constabulary, was delegated as acting governor, a post he held until Jacinto’s appointment.

Jacinto reportedly had “a long and efficient record of service in the government.” He born on March 23, 1891, in Gapas, Nueva Ecija, to Gervasio Jacinto and Ramona Lim. After finishing secondary course at Liceo de Manila, he was hired to work in Nueva Ecija where he started out as property clerk, rising into the position of Civil Service Accountant. He married his town mate Venancia Yuson. He was later appointed as chief clerk of the Treasurer's Office of Malolos, Bulacan, his first assignment outside Nueva Ecija. He was also assigned to Leyte, Pangasinan and Cebu, before moving to Cebu in March 1930, where he took the post as provincial treasurer until December 31, 1936. 

Jacinto was Cebu's “favorite and beloved Provincial Treasurer,” who had “done much for the betterment and uplift of Cebu Province more particularly its sound working financial standing and stability, the acquisition of which, is wholly attributed to his efficient administration and good dealings with his working subordinates.” He was sworn as Cebu’s mayor on January 7, 1937. A month later, Cebu was chartered as a city. 

He called the Japanese occupation as a “reign of terror,” a phase in the Philippine history when “the law of the gun” reigned supreme. Nevertheless, he held positions in the Japanese-sponsored Second Philippines Republic, serving as Iloilo’s provincial treasurer from September 1942 until his appointment as governor of Capiz. Jacinto only held the post for barely one year. The local freedom fighters led by the province’s resistance governor, Cornelio T. Villareal, successfully liberated Capiz from the Japanese forces on December 20, 1944. After World War II, Jacinto was appointed Internal Revenue deputy collector and Customs commissioner during the Quirino administration.