Demetrio Larena

Who is Demetrio Larena?

Demetrio Larena a political Hero and former Governor of Negros Oriental, a province on Negros Island in the Philippines. He was governor of Negros Oriental from 1901 until 1906. Larena was instrumental in the establishment of Silliman University in Dumaguete City. When Dr. David Hibbard came to the Philippines to scout for a good location of the school that the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions wanted to be founded, Dumaguete was not one of the places originally contemplated. The places that were considered as prospects for the school's location were Iloilo, Cebu and Zamboanga. But due in part to Larena's accommodating gesture and Dumaguete's natural environment at that time, Hibbard decided that the best place to establish the school would be in Dumaguete.

Larena Era and 1903 in Oriental Negros

On 1 July 1902, the United States Congress passed a bill to conduct a Census of the Philippines for the year 1903. The general directors were J. P. Sanger and T. B. Taylor. Assisting them were Henry Gannett and Victor H. Olmsted.

To supervise the 1903 Census in the province of Negros Oriental was Provincial Governor Demetrio Larena. Coordinating with the governor were H. A.