"Sotto, Vicente: Attorney-at-Law, Publicist.
"Born April 18, 1882, in Cebu City, son of Marcelino and Pascuala (Yap) Sotto; member, World Press Congress, Academia de Jurisprudencia de Madrid, etc., etc.
"For many years a practicing lawyer, Mr. Sotto is best known, internationally known, in fact, as perhaps the most militant and aggressive of those Filipino patriots who demand immediate and complete independence for their country. He has been in the forefront of this fight for more than thirty years, at the cost of persecution, prosecution, exile, and even imprisonment. Mr. Sotto studied in the Seminary of the Pauls of Cebu, and was graduated, B.A., from San Juan de Letran College, Manila. Later he took a commercial course in the University of Santo Tomas and then studied law at the Manila Law College and in March, 1907, was admitted to the bar.
"He started his journalistic career in 1899, founding "La Justicia," the first Filipino newspaper published in Cebu, which was suspended by the American military authorities because of its campaign for the then newly established Philippine Republic. A week after the suspension of "La Justicia," he founded "El Nacional," which was also short lived, its editor having been imprisoned in the Fort of San Pedro for two months on a charge of being an agent of the Revolutionary Committees of Manila and Hongkong.
"In 1900 he founded "El Pueblo" and was several times prosecuted for libel. In one case he was sentenced by the late Judge Lyman J. Carlock to banishment for four years and four months, but the sentence was reversed by the Supreme Court in a decision written by former Justice Victorino Mapa. He was also prosecuted twice on charges of sedition. In the first case, he was sentenced by the Military Provost to pay a fine of two hundred pesos and in the second was acquitted by Judge Grant Trent.
"In 1901, Mr. Sotto founded "Ang Suga" (The Light), the first newspaper edited in the vernacular in the Visayan Islands. In the same year, he revolutionized the Visayan dramatic art with the successful presentation of its first play, "Gugma sa Yutang-Natawhan" (Love of Country). Later he staged "Ang Dila sa Babaye" (The Woman's Tongue), a lyric drama; "Maputi ug Maitum" (Black and White) and other dramatic works. In 1902, although under age to hold municipal offices, he was elected Councilor of the City of Cebu. His election was protested, but the protest failed. In 1907, when absent from his home province, he was elected President of the City of Cebu by an overwhelming plurality. At the end of the same year, he went abroad. In Hongkong, he founded "The Philippine Republic," a bilingual fortnightly, which resolutely advocated the restoration of the Philippine Republic "by whatever means and in whatever form." Due to his vigorous fight against the American occupation, his extradition was sought three times by the American Government, but in each instance the petition was denied by the British Government on the ground that he was a political refugee. In 1914, by agreement with the then Governor-General Harrison, he returned to the Philippines, was imprisoned and soon pardoned. He founded "The Independent" in Manila, and due to the campaigns waged he was prosecuted many times. In all, there were fifty-four criminal cases brought against him for libel and sedition. He was convicted in only three cases, and was pardoned by the Governor-General in each instance. That same year he was selected first President of the Philippine Labor Assembly and was author of the resolution which for the first time asked the Philippine Legislature to adopt the eight-hour day. In the general elections of 1922, nominated by the Democrata Party, he was elected Representative for the second District of Cebu.
"In 1929, Mr. Sotto made a trip around the world and in Paris published a special edition of "The Independent" in English, French and Spanish. Upon his return to Manila, he founded the Philippine Independence League, which has for its object the immediate restoration of the Philippine Republic. Hon. Clyde H. Tavenner, former U. S. Congressman, in his review, "The Philippine Republic," for February, 1930, said: "Don Vicente Sotto was really the man who indirectly started the present big independence movement in the United States Senate. Senator Broussard on September 30, 1929, read on the floor of the Senate the entire contents of a special independence number of 'The Independent,' which Mr. Sotto had published at considerable private expense in Paris. This started the Philippine independence fireworks in the Senate, and it has been going on with increasing velocity ever since."
"Mr. Sotto is the author of: "Filipino Stories," with introduction by Isabelo de los Reyes; Spanish-Visayan Dictionary; with introduction by Ferdinand Blumentritt; "Abakadhan" (Visayan Premier), with introduction by Mariano Ponce; "Municipal Code and Amendments," with introduction by Hon. Sergio Osmefia; "Remembrances of Cebu-Our Dialect;" "Far From My Country," a collection of writings published in different papers during his period of exile; "Collections of Cartoons;" "Maktang," first Visayan operetta; and "A Flying Trip Around the World," with introduction by Rafael Palma. " (From pages 295-296, Nellist, George Ferguson Mitchell, "Men of the Philippines : a biographical record of men of substantial achievement in the Philippine islands", Manila, P. I.: Pub. by the Sugar news co., 1931)
"Born April 18, 1882, in Cebu City, son of Marcelino and Pascuala (Yap) Sotto; member, World Press Congress, Academia de Jurisprudencia de Madrid, etc., etc.
"For many years a practicing lawyer, Mr. Sotto is best known, internationally known, in fact, as perhaps the most militant and aggressive of those Filipino patriots who demand immediate and complete independence for their country. He has been in the forefront of this fight for more than thirty years, at the cost of persecution, prosecution, exile, and even imprisonment. Mr. Sotto studied in the Seminary of the Pauls of Cebu, and was graduated, B.A., from San Juan de Letran College, Manila. Later he took a commercial course in the University of Santo Tomas and then studied law at the Manila Law College and in March, 1907, was admitted to the bar.
"He started his journalistic career in 1899, founding "La Justicia," the first Filipino newspaper published in Cebu, which was suspended by the American military authorities because of its campaign for the then newly established Philippine Republic. A week after the suspension of "La Justicia," he founded "El Nacional," which was also short lived, its editor having been imprisoned in the Fort of San Pedro for two months on a charge of being an agent of the Revolutionary Committees of Manila and Hongkong.
"In 1900 he founded "El Pueblo" and was several times prosecuted for libel. In one case he was sentenced by the late Judge Lyman J. Carlock to banishment for four years and four months, but the sentence was reversed by the Supreme Court in a decision written by former Justice Victorino Mapa. He was also prosecuted twice on charges of sedition. In the first case, he was sentenced by the Military Provost to pay a fine of two hundred pesos and in the second was acquitted by Judge Grant Trent.
"In 1901, Mr. Sotto founded "Ang Suga" (The Light), the first newspaper edited in the vernacular in the Visayan Islands. In the same year, he revolutionized the Visayan dramatic art with the successful presentation of its first play, "Gugma sa Yutang-Natawhan" (Love of Country). Later he staged "Ang Dila sa Babaye" (The Woman's Tongue), a lyric drama; "Maputi ug Maitum" (Black and White) and other dramatic works. In 1902, although under age to hold municipal offices, he was elected Councilor of the City of Cebu. His election was protested, but the protest failed. In 1907, when absent from his home province, he was elected President of the City of Cebu by an overwhelming plurality. At the end of the same year, he went abroad. In Hongkong, he founded "The Philippine Republic," a bilingual fortnightly, which resolutely advocated the restoration of the Philippine Republic "by whatever means and in whatever form." Due to his vigorous fight against the American occupation, his extradition was sought three times by the American Government, but in each instance the petition was denied by the British Government on the ground that he was a political refugee. In 1914, by agreement with the then Governor-General Harrison, he returned to the Philippines, was imprisoned and soon pardoned. He founded "The Independent" in Manila, and due to the campaigns waged he was prosecuted many times. In all, there were fifty-four criminal cases brought against him for libel and sedition. He was convicted in only three cases, and was pardoned by the Governor-General in each instance. That same year he was selected first President of the Philippine Labor Assembly and was author of the resolution which for the first time asked the Philippine Legislature to adopt the eight-hour day. In the general elections of 1922, nominated by the Democrata Party, he was elected Representative for the second District of Cebu.
"In 1929, Mr. Sotto made a trip around the world and in Paris published a special edition of "The Independent" in English, French and Spanish. Upon his return to Manila, he founded the Philippine Independence League, which has for its object the immediate restoration of the Philippine Republic. Hon. Clyde H. Tavenner, former U. S. Congressman, in his review, "The Philippine Republic," for February, 1930, said: "Don Vicente Sotto was really the man who indirectly started the present big independence movement in the United States Senate. Senator Broussard on September 30, 1929, read on the floor of the Senate the entire contents of a special independence number of 'The Independent,' which Mr. Sotto had published at considerable private expense in Paris. This started the Philippine independence fireworks in the Senate, and it has been going on with increasing velocity ever since."
"Mr. Sotto is the author of: "Filipino Stories," with introduction by Isabelo de los Reyes; Spanish-Visayan Dictionary; with introduction by Ferdinand Blumentritt; "Abakadhan" (Visayan Premier), with introduction by Mariano Ponce; "Municipal Code and Amendments," with introduction by Hon. Sergio Osmefia; "Remembrances of Cebu-Our Dialect;" "Far From My Country," a collection of writings published in different papers during his period of exile; "Collections of Cartoons;" "Maktang," first Visayan operetta; and "A Flying Trip Around the World," with introduction by Rafael Palma. " (From pages 295-296, Nellist, George Ferguson Mitchell, "Men of the Philippines : a biographical record of men of substantial achievement in the Philippine islands", Manila, P. I.: Pub. by the Sugar news co., 1931)
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