Pascual Espinosa

Pascual Espinosa was a Filipino lawyer and politician.

On June 11, 1914, a baby boy was born “with a mission” in Iloilo City, Philippines. His parents were the modest but upright couple named Jose Morales Espinosa and his wife Monica de la Paz Espinosa. The young boy was christened as Pascual with the nickname “Pascualing”. While studying at A. Montes Elementary School and at the Iloilo High School, Pascualing augmented his meager allowance by taking odd jobs as a laborer at the waterfront and by selling newspapers. Likewise, Pascualing worked hard to assist in the needs of his five (5) younger brothers; Franco, Amalik, Deting, Moor, and Benny.

Pascualing Espinosa married the former Ramona Rojas, the daughter of Don Jose Rojas of the illustrious and politically influential clan of Ajuy, Iloilo. They were gifted with twelve (12) children namely: Pascual “Junie”, Jose “Hamy”, Chris “KC”, Jerome, Ramona, Antonio, Oscar “Oskit”, Jesus “Jing” the twins Estrella and Eva, Luz, and Victoria.

The bright young student from the waterfront of Iloilo City pursued his Law Degree at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City and became a full-fledged Lawyer. One of his classmates Enrique Fernando later became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

During World War II, Pascualing Espinosa served as war-time Justice of the Peace, then later served as one of the Technical Assistant to Iloilo Governor Tomas Confesor. When the war ended, Pascualing served as Assistant Provincial Fiscal, and later as City Fiscal of Iloilo City. For his involvement in the labor sector, he rose as Vice President of Federacion Obrera de Filipinas (FOF).

In 1947 Atty. Pascual Espinosa, began his political career when he was appointed as Councilor of Iloilo City. On the same year, he broke his ties with the FOF labor group and accepted the leadership of the government-favored Trade Union, the “Consolidated Labor Union of the Philippines (CLUP)” based near Muelle Loney in Iloilo City. These two (2) Labor Unions became bitter rivals that resulted in violent armed confrontations.
In the 1949 national election, Pascualing of the Liberal Party won the congressional seat of the second district of Iloilo comprising; Iloilo City, and the Municipalities of Leganes and Pavia, also the Municipalities of Jordan, Buenavista and Nueva Valencia in the island sub-province of Guimaras. When he ran for re-election in 1953, he lost to the charismatic Timawa leader of Molo, Roding Ganzon. In the 1957 congressional election, he won again by a slim margin of votes against the Nationalista Party leading candidate Atty. Jose Cabangal Divinagracia.

It would be fair to add, that while Cong. Espinosa was in the August Hall of Congress, he was a pro-people legislator who championed the plight of the poor and lowly workers. He was the author of the Magna Carta of Labor or the Minimum Wage Law; thus, he was called "the Father of the Common Man of Labor". Likewise, he also authored Republic Act 875, otherwise known as the Industrial Peace Act, an act that provides equitable protection for both capital and labor in the industries. He authored the Woman and Child Labor Law or the Maternity Leave with Pay which, until now, is still being enjoyed by working mothers in the country.
The most significant role of Congressman Pascualing Espinosa in his career as a labor leader was to secure the movement of his many fellow Ilonggos to Agana, Guam that was devastated during World War II, tasked with rebuilding the US base military facilities, and many other infrastructure projects. The U.S. Navy gave their contract of the project to Luzon Stevedoring Company, Inc. (LUSTEVECO). The local subsidiary in Iloilo City was the VISTRANCO's labor union, the Consolidated Labor Union of the Philippines (CLUP) headed by Congressman Pascualing Espinosa.

Thereafter, Espinosa was also instrumental in sending Filipino workers by the thousands, mostly from Iloilo City --in the islands of Manus, Saipan, and Tinian. His endeavor paved the way for the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Program, a novel project still in its infant stage at that time of the National Government.

Official Directory of the House of Representatives 1950-1953 (p. 88)