Vicente Singson Encarnacion

Political career

In September 1901, Encarnacion was appointed prosecuting attorney (fiscal) of Ilocos Sur. In 1907 he was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives for the Progresista Party for the 1st district of Ilocos Sur. A year later he was elected president of the Progresista Party. Re-elected in 1909 and 1911, he served until 1913. On October 30 of that year, Encarnacion was appointed to the Philippine Commission.

In 1916, Encarnacion was elected to the newly established Senate of the Philippines representing the 1st district. Because he received the most votes in the district, he won a six-year term in the Senate until 1922. Encarnacion was the only senator who was not a member of the Nacionalista Party during his time in office. During his term, he joined the Philippine independence mission to the US in 1919.

1919–1922 Philippine financial crisis

Philippine National Bank board members Vicente Madrigal, Senator Vicente Singson Encarnacion, and Manila Mayor Ramón J. Fernández were investigated for approving questionable loans against the PNB charter. Encarnacion was examined for a one-million-peso loan to a company he was part of, while Fernandez and Madrigal faced scrutiny over loans exceeding Php 4 million to firms they invested in. Agriculture Secretary Rafael Corpus later cleared them of wrongdoing.

As a financier In 1923, he distanced himself from politics to pursue his business interests and became engaged in the management of numerous corporations. Encarnacion stated that he entered business because he wanted to "better my condition in life." In terms of US inflationary measures, he asserted:

In many cases, the likelihood is that this country [Philippines] would be the loser in the sense that its currency would depreciate in value . . .|author=Vicente Singson Encarnacion to the Governor General|source=Memorandum for His Excellency, the Governor General, Subject: Amendment to the Provisions of Section 1611 of the Administrative Code, July 6, 1933 Encarnacion was the principal sponsor of the national territory provision.

Death and family Encarnacion died in Caloocan in 1961 at the age of 85. He was married to Lucila Diaz Conde in 1911 and had eight children.