Fermín Caram

Fermín Caram was a Filipino physician and politician. He was represented Iloilo at the National Assembly from September 25, 1943 to February 2, 1944. He was the Governor of Iloilo from 1942 to 1944.

New Philippines: A Book on the Building Up of a New Nation (1934), by Felixberto Bustos and Abelardo Fajardo (p. 222-223)

Our Delegates to the Constitutional Assembly: English-Spanish (1935, p. 241-242)

Encyclopedia of the Philippines: The Library of Philippine Literature, Art and Science, Volume 9: Builders of the New Philippines (1936, p. 143-144, Images 153-154)

Cornejo’s Commonwealth Directory of the Philippines (1939), by Miguel Cornejo (p. 1639-1640)

The Commercial & Industrial Manual of the Philippines 1940-1941 (p. 381)

DR. FERMIN CARAM SR.
Lebanese oldtimer in the Philippines becomes
THE GOOD OLD MAN OF ILOILO
Sunday Times Magazine
August 15, 1965
IN ILOILO CITY lives a man who has just completed 50 years of service to his people. He is DR. FERMIN CARAM SR., a native of Lebanon, a citizen of the Philippines, and dear to the hearts of his townmates.
Dr. Caram was a doctor at a time when it was difficult to be one - when the people were suspicious of “newfangled” notions brought by the colonizing Americans.
In 1916, Caram, as a newly graduated doctor, was a big help in coping with the cholera epidemic. At that time, sentiment against the “Americanos” was very strong, and the townspeople felt that the latter had caused the epidemic by polluted water. At great risk to his personal safety, Dr. Caram openly sided with the Americans, ordering the people to burn their dead in order to prevent the spread of contagion. Educating the people on sanitation has been one of his most outstanding achievements.
While Dr. Caram is still considered the dean of medical practitioners in Iloilo, he is also remembered as a member of the constitutional convention that drew our present fundamental law. Dr. Jose Aruego, author of the definitive text on the charter, The Framing of the Philippine Constitution, paid tribute to Dr. Caram as “one of the most brilliant members of the Constitutional Convention and one of the champions of Social Justice. Dr. Caram was responsible for the inclusion into the constitution a provision calling the State to create scholarships in arts, sciences and letters for specially gifted citizens.”
Dr. Caram’s love for liberty and, the people he received from his father who was genuinely grateful for the land which gave him a haven from persecution. Dr. Caram’s parents, Don Juan Caram and Doña Maria Gacibe de Caram were originally from Lebanon. They were driven out of the land of their birth by the Ottoman Turks who were then ruling Lebanon. They went to Japan in search of a new home. They heard of the Philippines in Japan.
They lived to see their son become one of the pillars of their acquired motherland. That son recently marked his 76th birthday and celebrated a half century in the service of the people.
On his 76th natal day on June 24, friends and admirers from all over Iloilo and from all walks of life turned out at a large gathering at his residence to greet him.
To the people of Iloilo and others who know him, Dr. Caram is a symbol of honest, efficient and dedicated public service. The secret of his success, his friends say, is humility and diligence.
His background
Young Caram’s primary schooling was spent at the Escuela de Vicentica and Escuela Montes in Iloilo, where he finished with top honors. He finished his intermediate studies at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios de San Joaquin Herrerias as a valedictorian. Later, at the Colegio de San Agustin, he was a gold medalist with “sobresaliente” in all subjects. He finished medicine at the University of Santo Tomas in 1914 and became assistant to famed surgeons and physicians: Gregorio Singian, Juan Miciado and N. M. Salleby. In 1915, he was appointed president of the 4th Sanitary Division of Negros Occidental where he was to perform what was to be considered the crowning achievement of his career.
Dr. Caram has also etched his name magnificently in the rolls of local and national politics.
His first stint with politics was as a local councilor and later senior provincial board member where he worked mainly for the improvement of public health. As delegate to the 2nd congressional district of Iloilo to the Constitutional Convention, he was cited by Dr. Jose Aruego, famed constitutional historian, as “one of the most brilliant members of the constitutional convention and one of the champions of social justice.”
Then, by appointment of the late President Manuel Quezon, Dr. Caram became acting city mayor of Iloilo. At once he was elected assemblyman for the second congressional district of Iloilo. He became acting provincial governor of Iloilo when President Quezon appointed the incumbent governor, Tomas Confesor, to a national position in Manila. He served as governor throughout the Japanese occupation.
During the occupation, Dr. Caram maintained close liaison with Confesor who was the resistance governor and guerilla leader. The crowning glory of his incumbency was the citation given to him by Confesor after the war commending him for his wartime activities and for cushioning the impact of the brutalities of the enemy and for his help in the resistance movement. These were later magnified and endorsed by Macario Peralta, Jr., then a colonel, and Major General Roberto O. Shoe of the U.S. Liberation forces. After the liberation, the American CIC instantly cleared Dr. Caram’s wartime incumbency.
A list of achievements
Among the important medical positions held by Dr. Caram were: president of the Iloilo Medical Society in 1928; physician of the San Agustin College of Iloilo from 1928 to 1945; physician of various local companies such a s the Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas; Iloilo Transportation Company, Negros Air Express, and many others. He was appointed by the late president Roxas, president of the National Health Council and is a fellow of the Philippine College of Surgeons up to the present.
His awards are as plentiful as his positions: a two star gold medal in acknowledgment of 26 years of service with the Iloilo Mission Hospital; a diploma of merit from the Iloilo Press Club as a model citizen; a citation from the city government of Iloilo as a physician, surgeon, humanitarian, statesman and civic leader; a plaque of merit as the most outstanding physician of the Iloilo Medical Society.
On September 27, 1964, Dr. Caram received a golden plaque as the most outstanding golden jubilarian from the Rector Magnificus of the University of Sto. Tomas, Rev. Fr. Juan Labrador. On this occasion he delivered a stirring acceptance speech which was quoted in many newspapers in Manila and the provinces.
On December 19, 1964, he received a bronze plaque from the Iloilo Medical Society “in recognition of his loyalty and devotion to the medical profession and services rendered to humanity for fifty years without regard to himself.”
For a man of 76 years, Dr. Fermin G. Caram Sr. is still active and energetic. He owns the Iloilo Polyclinic which he has directly managed since his retirement from public service a few years after the war. The clinic has a free ward for the poor and underprivileged.
Ask any native of Iloilo about Dr. Caram, and he will be sure to know him. The people know him fondly as “the good old man of Iloilo.” F. M. CALIWAG