Reuben Canoy

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Rabe and the surname or paternal family name is Canoy.
Honorable
Reuben R. Canoy
Member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa from Region X
In office
June 12, 1978 – June 5, 1984
Mayor of Cagayan de Oro
In office
1971–1976
Preceded byJesús Seriña, Sr.
Succeeded byConcordio Diel
Personal details
Born(1929-06-06)June 6, 1929[1]
Cagayan de Oro,[1] Misamis, Philippine Islands
DiedJuly 5, 2022(2022-07-05) (aged 93)
Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental, Philippines
NationalityFilipino
Political partyLDP
Other political
affiliations		Mindanao Alliance
SpouseSolona Torralba[1]

Reuben Rabe Canoy (June 6, 1929 – July 5, 2022) was a Filipino lawyer, writer and politician who served as mayor of Cagayan de Oro and legislator in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life, education, and film career

The son of Mariano Canoy and Laureana Rabe,[2] Reuben Canoy received his law degree in 1953 from Silliman University. He became editor of the literary folio Sands & Coral from 1951 to 1953.[3] He also served as president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC), the oldest news media organization in Mindanao, from 1962 to 1963.[4]

Canoy also worked as a screenwriter, writing various screenplays with his friend Cesar J. Amigo, a colleague from Sands & Coral, for films such as The Passionate Strangers (1966), Babae... Sa Likod ng Salamin (1976), and Sa Dulo ng Kris (1977). He was also the producer and screenwriter of The Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1969). In 2013, he won at the Genre Film Scriptwriting Competition organized by the Film Development Council of the Philippines for his script The Unbelievers.[5]

Political life and advocacy

Canoy first joined the government as an undersecretary in the Department of Public Information (DPI) in 1966 under Secretary Francisco Tatad.[4][1] Canoy ran and won for mayor of Cagayan de Oro in 1971 and served until 1976. During his term, he implemented the division of city barangays into 80 villages divided into 40 "urban" barangays and 40 "rural" barangays. He was also instrumental in the construction of the Don Gregorio Pelaez Sports Center, and the organization of the Cagayan de Oro Water District.[6]

Though initially supportive of President Ferdinand Marcos, he defected to the opposition in 1976 and formed with Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Homobono Adaza the Mindanao Alliance, which opposed Marcos' martial law regime and was sympathetic to the cause of the Moro National Liberation Front.[7] Canoy was elected in 1978 as the representative of Region X (Northern Mindanao) in the Interim Batasang Pambansa as the only winning opposition candidate to represent the region.[1][8] In 1979, he wrote Real Autonomy: The Answer to the Mindanao Problem where he advocated autonomy as a solution to the Moro conflict in Mindanao.[9]

He formed the Social Democratic Party of the Philippines in 1981 which caused his expulsion from the Mindanao Alliance.[10] Canoy ran for president of the Philippines in the snap election of 1986 and took about 34,000 votes.[11] He formed the Mindanao People's Democratic Movement and tried to declare the separation of Mindanao from the Philippines as the Federal Republic of Mindanao in April 1986 but was advised not to pursue the said declaration.[12] Canoy was imprisoned for his role as a leading civilian supporter of Colonel Alexander Noble's revolt in October 1990 as a leader of the Mindanao Independence Movement[13] but was later released.[8]

Canoy ran for senator in 2001 as a candidate of the Puwersa ng Masa party[14] but lost. Canoy supported the candidacy of Fernando Poe Jr. as president in the 2004 elections.[15]

Later life and death

Under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, Canoy became a member of the Consultative Committee with the purpose of amending the current constitution of the Philippines enacted in 1987.[16] Canoy was invited to run for vice mayor of Cagayan de Oro under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas in the 2019 general election but declined due to "his old age and health issues".[17] Until his last days, his commentaries were broadcast with the Radio Mindanao Network program Perspective in Visayas and Mindanao.[8]

Canoy died of a heart attack[18] at the age of 93 on July 5, 2022.[1] His remains were cremated and placed inside an urn together with the ashes of his predeceased wife, Solona, before being interred at the Eternal Gardens-Greenhills in Bulua, Cagayan de Oro.[19]

Family

Canoy married Solona Torralba in 1953 and had four children.[1] Solana died on February 3, 2019, at the age of 94.[20]

His brothers were Henry Canoy, one of the founders of Radio Mindanao Network,[21] and Nestor Canoy, a doctor who settled in Columbia, Missouri in the United States and died on July 27, 2017.[2]

Selected works

  • Deep River (1950)[22]
  • Wardrobe Item (1950)[3]
  • Real Autonomy: The Answer to the Mindanao Problem (1979)[9]
  • The Counterfeit Revolution: Martial Law in the Philippines[23]
  • The Quest for Mindanao independence (Cagayan de Oro City: Mindanao Post Publishing Company, 1987)[24]
  • Island of Fear (Metro Manila: Solar Publishing Corporation, 1987)[25]
  • The History of Mindanao (2001)[26]
  • Terror in Paradise (2005)[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Luczon, Nef (July 6, 2022). "VisMin remembers CDO ex-mayor, federalist Reuben Canoy". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  2. ^ a b St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church (Jackson, Michigan) (August 2017). "On the Death of Nestor Canoy, the Father of Fr. Chas". Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Canoy, Reuben R. (2021) [1950]. "Wardrobe Item". In de la Torre, Rebecca; Partosa, Lady Flor; Soluta, Andrea Gomez (eds.). Sands & Coral 2019–2021: The Editors Issue (PDF). Dumaguete City: Silliman University. p. 18. ISBN 978-971-8530-30-6. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Former Cagayan de Oro mayor Reuben Canoy dies". Rappler. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Cagayan de Oro mourns death of ex-mayor Reuben Canoy". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  6. ^ Gallardo, Froilan (July 16, 2022). "Reuben Canoy reunited with wife Solona in final resting place". MindaNews. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  7. ^ "Glossaries: Organizations". The Philippines: U.S. Policy During the Marcos Years, 1965-1986, Volume 1. Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, Inc. 1990. p. 131. Retrieved May 30, 2024. A coalition party [Mindanao Alliance] formed by Reuben Canoy, Aquilino Pimentel and Homobono Adaza[....] the party's platform was very sympathetic to Moro National Liberation Front demands for greater political representation of Muslims in local and national affairs.
  8. ^ a b c Gallardo, Froilan (July 6, 2022). "Former assemblyman and mayor Reuben Canoy dies at 93". Mindanao Institute of Journalism. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Canoy, Reuben R. (1979). "Real Autonomy: The Answer to the Mindanao Problem" (PDF). Philippine Sociological Review. 27 (4): 295–302. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  10. ^ Hollie, Pamela G. (December 27, 1981). "14 in Philippines Form New Opposition Party". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  11. ^ National Democratic Institute for International Affairs; National Republican Institute for International Affairs (1986). A Path to Democratic Renewal: A Report on the February 7, 1986 Presidential Election in the Philippines (PDF). p. 256. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  12. ^ Yabes, Criselda (April 25, 1986). "Philippine separatists raise new flag". Laurence Journal-World. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  13. ^ Branigin, William (October 7, 1990). "Leader of Rebellion Flown to Manila and Jailed". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  14. ^ Danao, Efren. "NPC to junk 5 Senate bets from opposition". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  15. ^ Molina, Teddy (October 10, 2002). "FPJ-Bongbong tandem for '04?". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  16. ^ Parrocha, Azer (March 17, 2018). "Justices, ex-legislators, lawyers, academics comprise Duterte's ConCom". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  17. ^ Orias, PJ (October 18, 2018). "Canoy declines run for vice mayor". SUNSTAR. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  18. ^ "Reuben Canoy, 93". CMFR. July 20, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  19. ^ "Former Cagayan de Oro mayor Reuben Canoy laid to rest". Rappler. July 16, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  20. ^ Palmes-Dennis, Susan (February 6, 2019). "On Solona T. Canoy's legacy". Mindanao Daily News. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  21. ^ RMN Networks. "Corporate". Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  22. ^ Leopoldo Y. Yabes, ed. (2009). Philippine Short Stories, 1941–1955: Part II (1950–1955). Lungsod Quezon: University of the Philippines Press. pp. 23–33. ISBN 9789715420853. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  23. ^ Jose, Francisco Sionil (July 29, 2019). "Book Notes". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  24. ^ Echeminada, Perseus (November 26, 2009). "Mindanao, a breeding ground for violence – book author". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  25. ^ Jurilla, Patricia May B. (2010). Bibliography of Filipino Novels, 1901–2000. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. p. 139. ISBN 9789715426336. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  26. ^ Canoy, Reuben R. (2001). The History of Mindanao, Volume 1. Cagayan de Oro. OCLC 65200999. Retrieved July 7, 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  27. ^ Canoy, Nestor R.; Canoy, Reuben R. (2005). Terror in Paradise. Cagayan de Oro. ISBN 9781412044509. Retrieved July 6, 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)