(This is a series of biographies of the Governors of Capiz from 1898 to 1988, some of whom were unrecorded, unrecognized, and unknown.)
Governor Jose Hontiveros, the youngest son of Leon Miraflores and Genoveva Hontiveros, was born on March 19, 1889, in Tangalan, Capiz. He was married to Vicenta Ruiz Pardo, the daughter of Provincial Fiscal Alejandro Pardo of Capiz (now Roxas City). Their union was blessed with ten children: Lourdes National Artist for Theater Genoveva Dolores “Daisy” Avellana, Jose Jr., Leon Jose, Alejandro Jose, Renato Jose, Eduardo Jose, Juan Nepomuceno Jose, Ma. Teresita Vicenta Lichauco, Benjamin Jose, and Ramon Nonato.
He attended elementary school and part of high school at the Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Capiz, finishing his secondary education at the Liceo de Manila in 1905. After graduating, he returned to Capiz to manage his family’s hacienda. In 1906, he returned to Manila to pursue law studies at the University of Santo Tomas, where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1911. That same year, he took and passed the bar examinations, obtaining the highest rating.
Hontiveros began practicing law in 1912 and was a member of several prestigious law firms, including Montinola & Hontiveros from 1919 to 1924, and Hontiveros, Abeto & Tirol in 1929.
He entered government service in 1913 as the Justice of the Peace for the Municipality of Capiz, a position he held until 1916. During this period, his uncle Ramon Hontiveros led the political opposition in the province, challenging the dominance of the Partido Nacionalista. In June 1916, Jose Hontiveros ran for governor against his former professor, Simeon Mobo, the official gubernatorial candidate of the Partido Nacionalista. After a rigorous vote count, the provincial board of inspectors declared Mobo the new Provincial Governor. Hontiveros filed an election protest, alleging widespread fraud and irregularities. In January 1918, Court of First Instance Judge Fermin Mariano ordered a recount, and on December 5, 1918, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling, declaring Hontiveros the duly elected Governor of Capiz.
Hontiveros assumed office during a challenging time when the province was recovering from the socio-economic effects of the 1918 Spanish flu and a rinderpest outbreak. He also dealt with famine in some municipalities and the soaring price of rice in the province. During his term, the nine-kilometer subgrade of the Mianay-Sigma road section was completed, as well as the four-kilometer Mambusao-Jamindan second-class road, which benefited abaca farmers. He also secured a loan of 20,000 pesos for the construction of a new school building for Capiz High School, which had been destroyed by fire.
The smallpox epidemic of the previous year peaked in July 1919, with 250 cases and 193 deaths. To prevent future outbreaks, provincial sanitary personnel and insular vaccinators vaccinated half of the population against smallpox. Although the cholera epidemic of 1918 was controlled by January 1919, it reappeared in five municipalities from August to November 1919, causing 136 cases and 93 deaths. To address these health crises, an emergency hospital was established to better care for the affected population.
After his term ended, Hontiveros chose not to seek re-election. Instead, he ran for Representative of the First District under the Partido Democrata banner but was defeated by former Governor Antonio V. Habana of the Partido Nacionalista in 1919.
In 1922, Hontiveros made a political comeback when he was elected Senator under the Democrata Party for the Seventh Senatorial District, which included Iloilo and Capiz. He served from 1922 to 1928. He defeated his political rival, Senator Jose C. Altavas of the Partido Nacionalista-Colectivista, who later became his ally in the 1931 elections. During the Sixth Legislature (1922-1925), Senator Sergio Osmeña did not run for Senate President, instead nominating Senator Jose A. Clarin of Bohol. The Partido Democrata selected Hontiveros as their candidate, but Senator Manuel L. Quezon won the presidency of the Senate over his two Visayan opponents. Hontiveros remained in the minority throughout his term as a member of the Partido Democrata.
After his term in the Senate, Hontiveros was appointed Judge-at-Large of the Court of First Instance in 1929 and served as District Judge of Leyte in 1931. In 1933, he was transferred to Cebu.
In the 1934 senatorial elections, Senate President Manuel L. Quezon personally selected Hontiveros to run on the Anti-Hare-Hawes-Cutting Law slate. However, his Senate comeback was thwarted when Potenciano Treñas of Iloilo, the candidate of the Roxas-Osmeña Nacionalista Democrata Pro-Independencia (Pro) party, secured the seat.
That same year, Hontiveros was elected as a delegate from the Third District of Capiz to the Constitutional Convention on July 10, 1934. He played an active role in framing the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines.
In 1936, Hontiveros returned to the judiciary as an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals. After World War II, President Manuel A. Roxas appointed him to the inaugural committee during his inauguration on May 28, 1946. On June 25, 1946, Roxas appointed Hontiveros as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, where he served until October 16, 1947.
Hontiveros passed away on the morning of May 21, 1954, at his residence on Dakota Street, Malate, Manila.
