May 14, 1915, Isidro Kintanar was born in Barrio Talaytay, Argao, Cebu

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On May 14, 1915, Isidro Kintanar, a selfmade man, a lawmaker, was born in Barrio Talaytay, Argao, Cebu. He was second to the youngest of 13 children of Carmiano Kintanar, an agriculturist, and Sofia Camasura.

Isidro Kintanar
(Isidro Kintanar)

A product of the public schools, he went to the Visayan Institute for college, where he was editor of the college paper and a member of the student council. After acquiring his Associate in Arts degree, he proceeded to the University of Manila for studies in law, graduating in 1940. He supported himself through college by working as a laborer at the Oriental Glass Palace in Cebu City and through law school by clerking at the Bureau of Posts in Manila, and at the U.S. Naval Yard in Cavite City, where the sudden outbreak of World War II caught him, scarcely eluding instant death as Japanese bombers shelled the city in 1941.

In the war years, it was said that the Japanese sought his collaboration in manning the Cavite shipyard but Kintanar refused, and instead joined the guerrilla movement.

Kintanar started his private law practice immediately after the war. It did not prosper however as the economy of a war-ravaged country was in shambles. Pressured by the responsibility of supporting a family, he accepted the offer of working with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as an investigator in 1948. He was connected with the NBI until 1952.

He was elected municipal mayor of his hometown, serving as such from 1952-53. His achievements as town executive earned for him public confidence and fame.

When his brother Filomeno Kintanar, the incumbent congressman, refused to seek reelection in 1953, the people drafted him as an alternative, and voted him into office. Once he had assumed his brother's vacated post as representative of Cebu's 4th district, he immediately familiarized himself with the legislative processes in the House of Representative. Moreover, he kept the doors of his office constantly open not only to his constituents but also to others in need.

His cautious approach to the planning and implementation of government reorganization won him both praise and respect. Kintanar was specific in the delineation of positions. He never allowed redundancy and duplication in government functions. To him, reorganization should aim at their simplification.

During his early years at the House, Kintanar served as chairman of the committee on franchises, vice-chairman of the committee on railways, and as member of the following committees:

  • Ways and means,
  • Reorganization (which undertook the revamp of the government system),
  • Judiciary,
  • Government enterprises,
  • Anti-Filipino activities, and
  • Fishing and industry.

Kintanar represented the country in the Inter-Parliamentary Union Congress held in Nice, France in 1957. He was chairman of the influential ways and means committee and was serving his fourth consecutive term in the Lower House at the time of his death from a heart attack on April 8, 1968.

References

  1. “7 Solons Tried and True”, Weekly Nation (August 21, 1967) pp. 47, 49 (via the National Historical Commission).
  2. 50 Years of Philippine Autonomy The Golden Jubilee of the First Philippine Legislature 1916-1966. Manila: The Philippine Historical Association, 1966 (via the National Historical Commission).
  3. “Kintanar, Cebu solon, dies at 53”, The Manila Times (April 9, 1968) pp. 1, 8-A. Retizos, Isidro L. and Soriano, D.H. Philippines Who’s Who. Q.C.: Capitol Publishing House, 1957 (via the National Historical Commission).
  4. Legislative districts of Cebu, Wikipedia
  5. The Kintanar Genealogy (unofficial) starting from Gualverto and Maria Orilla.