The U.S. Census Bureau continually strives to ensure an accurate 

count of the people of the United States. For this reason, it has 

always embraced the hiring of a diverse workforce that is 

representative of the local communities. In the middle of the 19th

century, the United States expanded west into areas formerly 

governed by Spain and Mexico. Since many of the citizens and 

local officials only spoke Spanish, the Census Office quickly 

realized that it needed to employ workers fluent in the language. 

The establishment of a permanent Census Bureau in 1903 and 

increased immigration from Cuba and Central and South America 

expanded the need for Spanish-speaking employees both in the 

field and at headquarters.

Marcelino Crisólogo y Pecson, who went by the nickname Mena, 

was born on November 11, 1844, in Vigan, province of Ilocos Sur, 

Philippines. Mena’s father, Juanario Crisologo, was a mestizo 

leader from a modest background, while his mother, Dona 

Eusabia Pecson, 

came from a wealthy family. Mena went to the 

University of Santo Tomas to become a lawyer, 

and served in Ilocos Sur as an attorney and 

ecclesiastical notary, while also owning an indigo 

farm. 

Mena eventually married Felipa Florentino, who 

came from a wealthy family and whose sister was 

the famous female poet Leona Florentino. By

1895, Mena actively supported the Filipino 

revolutionary movement against Spain, and his 

skill and patriotism earned him a position in the 

Malolos Congress—the Philippine Islands’ first 

representational body—in 1898, where he 

helped draft and sign the Malolos Constitution. 

With the transfer of the Philippines to the United 

States in 1898, and the subsequent change in 

government, Mena received an American 

appointment as the first governor of Ilocos Sur in 

1901. In 1902, the United States passed the

Philippine Organic Act, which decreed the 

Philippines would be governed, in part, by a 

representational Philippine Assembly. This of 

course required a census of the population. 

Filipino Writer, Politician, Poet

Mena’s photograph, 1903 Census.

Inaugural Session of the Malalos Congress, 1898. From Wikimedia Commons (accessed 8 August 2017).

The Washington Times (Washington, DC) 

24 September 1903.
Additionally, the Organic Act stipulated 

that the census would not be 

conducted until the cessation of 

hostilities, and that the Assembly 

could only be formed if peace lasted

for 2 years after the completion of the 

census. Accordingly, the Census of the 

Philippine Islands taken in 1903 had 

major implications for the governance 

of the islands. This importance, 

coupled with widespread illiteracy and 

mistrust of the American government

among the populace, the Census 

Bureau determined that the provincial

governors should be the district 

supervisors of the census. 

 

In December of 1902, Mena spent 2 weeks in Manila going over 

the district maps and learning how to conduct the census. In 

mid-January, all of the governor-supervisors took charge of 

collecting their materials in Manila, packing them by hand, and 

then distributing them to their enumerators and special 

agents—who passed on their training to the local presidentes

(mayors). On March 2, 1903, the Philippine census began, and 

Mena successfully spearheaded the count of 187,411 people, 

as well as the manufactures and agriculture of Ilocos Sur.

Following the successful completion of the 1903 Census, Mena 

continued serving as governor until 1904, when he resigned 

that position, as well as his position on the Ilocos Sur school 

board, which he had held concurrently with his governorship. 

From this point on in his life, Mena would devote his services to 

the recognition of Ilocano and Filipino art and culture. His first 

act took him to the United States where he participated in the 

1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri. Even 

though he traveled to St. Louis in his capacity as a Filipino 

politician, Mena entered his artwork in several categories, where he earned an honorable mention 

in photography and a gold medal for a piece of wood furniture.

Some of Mena’s notable works include the first Ilocan translation of the classic Spanish novel Don 

Quixote, his novel Mining wenno Ayat ti Kararwa, which is often compared to the work of Filipino 

icon Jose Rizal, and his plays Codigo Municipal and Noble Rivalidad (Natakneng a Panagsalisal). 

Mena wrote comedic plays and zarzuelas and he

helped found the Gimong Dagiti Umiiloko, the 

precursor of Gunglo Dagiti Mannurat nga 

Ilokano (GUMIL) Filipinas, or Ilokanos Writers 

Association of the Philippines, one of the

country’s largest regional writers’ groups. Mena 

continued contributing to Filipino and Ilkano 

culture until he passed away on July 5, 1927.

The U.S. Census Bureau is grateful for Mena’s

contributions to its mission, the Philippine 

Islands, and the United States.

Modern copy of Mena’s Ilocano 

translation of Don Quixote.

Mena, sitting front center, with some of the enumerators of

Ilocos Sur, 1903 Census.

Mena’s memorial marker, on Calle Crisologo in Vigan. From Wikimedia Commons (accessed 8 August 2017).

HB-17-0028