Hermenegildo Atienza


Hermenegildo Joaquin. Atienza was a Filipino politician. He served as Mayor of Manila and as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives. His term as mayor coincided with the Liberation of Manila. He was previously the Vice Mayor of Manila and a member of the Manila City Council.
Atienza topped the Philippine Bar Examination in 1932 as a student at the University of the Philippines. During World War II, he was imprisoned by the Japanese in Fort Santiago, alongside guerilla leader. After the war he was elected to the 1st Congress of the Philippines for Manila's second district. He became a strong opponent of the amnesty granted to collaborationists with the Japanese occupation. In 1949 he introduced House Bill No. 2613, the Reciprocity Immigration Bill, which would have barred Australians from the country in response to the treatment of Lorenzo Gamboa under the White Australia policy.
His nephew Lito Atienza also became Mayor of Manila.