This occurred during a time when the Chinese mestizos of Jaro and Molo in Panay Island were forced to search for better business opportunities aside from Iloilo's declining textile industry, brought about by cheap imports from mainland China.

The promise of great reward afforded by the high price of world sugar constituted this preoccupation among Jaro's businessmen to settle in nearby Negros Island.

[3] Like the rest of the wave of immigrants, the Jaymes pursued sugar-based agriculture and transformed a tract of land into an hacienda or plantation.

He was easily accommodated as his uncle on the paternal side, Fray Francisco Jayme (who tutored and raised[4] Philippine patriot Graciano Lopez-Jaena), was its first rector.

After completing his segunda ensenanza (Spanish, "secondary education"), he entered the University of Santo Tomas, where he earned his licenciado en jurisprudencia (equivalent to a Bachelor of Laws) in October 1881.

[10] As governor, Jayme invested public funds to construct schools, encourage enrollment, and increase the literacy rate of his constituents.

A file prepared by the National Historical Institute of the Philippines said that "He sought remedies to problems by suggesting modifications in existing laws and the enactment of new ones.

6709,[22][23] declared November 5 as a special non-working holiday in Negros Occidental as a reminder of Ilonggo heroism during the Philippine Revolutions at the waning years of the 19th century.

This was in commemoration of the Cinco de Noviembre Movement, where Antonio Ledesma Jayme played an important role as secretary of justice.