ALBERTO
B. BARRETTO
(1867 - 1951)
Alberto Barretto, patriot and public
servant was born in Cabangan, Zambales on January 2, 1867 to Antonio Barretto and
Carmen Blanco.
He studied at the Ateneo de Manila
where .he took a Bachelor of Arts
degree. Later, he enrolled at the College of Law of the University of Santo
Tomas. On March 18, 1893, he was granted a Licentiate in Jurisprudence. This was
when the propaganda movement in Spain was at its height.
In 1894, he was appointed prosecuting
judge in Batangas. In November that same year he was transferred to Manila and
was named prosecuting attorney of the Audiencia Territorial of Manila In 1897
he was appointed justice of the peace for Binondo. He was judge of the Court of
First Instance of Manila from June to September, 1898. His last term was cut
short as he joined the revolutionary forces on September 4, 1898. In the
Malolos Congress. he was the representative of Masbate and Ticao.
In June 1899, while serving the
revolutionary government, he was appointed member of the peace mission which
was tasked to negotiate with the Schurmann. Commission. When the Revolutionary
Congress was convened in Tarlac on July 14, 1899, Don Ambrosio
Rianzares-Bautista was elected president and Antonio Barretto, one of the
vice-presidents. He was unable to serve in that capacity as he was captured by
the American forces on July 19, and subsequently imprisoned. He was released in
1900 after taking an oath of allegiance to the American flag.
In 1902, he organized the Democrata
Party with Jose de la Viņa, Justo Lucban, and Leon Ma. Guerrero. Since this
political party was not recognized by Governor General William Howard Taft, it
was eventually dissolved. In 1907, Barretto became president of the
Nacionalista Party which he helped organize with Justo Lucban. He was also the
editor of La Independencia, the official organ of the party. That same year, he
was elected representative of the province of Zambales to the Philippine
Assembly. After serving in the Assembly, he accepted appointment as judge of
the Court of First Instance for Rizal and Bulacan. He served in this position
from 191 1 to 1917 and after becoming Secretary of Finance in 1923, he retired
from politics to concentrate on his work as president of the Philippine
Development Corporation, the Cebu Portland Cement Company, the El Ahorro
Insular and as director of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and the
Philippine Long Distance Company.
During the early years of the American
occupation, Alberto
Barretto was one of the stalwart
members of the Asociacion de Paz, a civic organization designed to promote
peace under the leadership of Don Pedro A. Paterno.
He died of heart disease on December 7,
1951.