Vicente Rama (June 6, 1887 – December 24, 1956) was a Filipino Visayan legislator, publisher, and writer from Cebu, Philippines.
His mother, who managed a copra-tobacco brokerage, named him after St. Vincent Ferrer and raised him[6] and his sister, Susana,[5] as a single parent.
[2] Rama married Catalina (Aquilana) Genson, and the couple had 16 children: physician and Cebu Governor Osmundo, commissioner and journalist Napoleon, Cebu City Councilor Clemente, lawyer Jesus, Fernando, Lourdes, Laurente, Reynalda, Corazon, Resurreccion, Marianela,[5] Dario, and Miguel.
In 1908, he was a staff member of Spanish periodical El Precursor[8] that was founded by election lawyer Domingo Franco and printed from 1907 until 1941.
[8] Likewise, he edited Vicente Sotto's Cebuano newspaper, Ang Suga (The Light), and Luz de Vizaya, and wrote for El Renacimiento, La Democracia, and Libertas.
[8] Rama was assisted by circulation manager Felipe Tabasa, and editors Julio Pongan and Eustaquio B. Gonzales, among others.
[5] Bag-ong Kusog was one of the periodicals that enjoyed popularity[13] and wide readership in Cebuano-speaking provinces of Visayas and Mindanao,[14] as well as among immigrants in Hawaii.
[13] Rama's published works encompassed various topics such as public service, Cebuano language, and literary arts.
[15] Other than being a newspaperman, Rama wrote non-fiction, poems, short stories and novels[6] using pseudonyms like Datu Dakila, Kolas Tabian, Justo Recio Recto, Mahomet Ben Yakub, Rectum Clarum.
[22] The outbreak of World War II prevented him and the rest of elected senators from serving their term until Congress reconvened in 1945.
[25] His vision was to endow more power to the new city under the law by decreasing its dependence on national government's revenue allotment.
[1] However, he met many challenges in gathering support for the approval of the bill and made many enemies even from local political leaders and organizations.
When he refused, a Japanese army unit was dispatched on April 28 to where he was staying and he was brought to the headquarters in the town center of Carcar.
He was then offered the mayoral post of Cebu City and, later, of Carcar with threats that he and his family would be killed should he continue to decline.