Sergio Osmeña (1878-1961) was the second president of the Philippine Commonwealth and a distinguished statesman. He led the country in its initial stage of political maturation by his honest and selfless devotion to public service.

Sergio Osmeña was born in Cebu on the island of Cebu on Sept. 9, 1878. He entered the San Carlos Seminary in Cebu in 1889 and then earned his bachelor's degree from San Juan de Letran College. His schooling was interrupted by the 1896 revolution and the Filipino-American War. During the revolution he edited the militantly nationalistic periodical El Nuevo Dia. After the revolutionary struggles he continued his studies until he passed the bar examination on Feb. 20, 1903.

On March 5, 1906, Osmeña was elected provincial governor of Cebu at the age of 28. Although he had little political experience, he succeeded in solving the grave problems of public order and community cooperation in his...