Jesús Cacho

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cacho and the second or maternal family name is Soriano.

Jesús Cacho

Personal information
Birth name	Jesús Cacho y Soriano
Date of birth	(1894-11-07)November 7, 1894
Place of birth	Iloilo City, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Date of death	May 5, 1967(1967-05-05) (aged 72)
Place of death	Manila, Philippines
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Ateneo de Manila
	Colegio de San Juan de Letran
	University of Santo Tomas
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1912-1919	Bohemian
International career
1913–1919	Philippines
Medal record Philippines Far Eastern Championship Games 1913 Manila Team 1915 Shanghai Team 1919 Manila Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jesús Cacho y Soriano (November 7, 1894 – May 5, 1967) was a Filipino international football player who played for Bohemian SC and represented the Philippine Islands football team in the Far Eastern Championship Games. Besides his football career, he was a successful businessman and, above all, a noteworthy philatelist.

Early life and education

Born in Iloilo on January 7, 1894, Jesús Cacho moved to the capital in Manila where he took his education and studied at the Ateneo de Manila, San Juan de Letran College and then transferred to the University of Santo Tomas, where he obtained his B.S.C. and LL.B. degrees.

Club career

Bohemian Sporting Club

Jesús Cacho in a Bohemian SC kit

A prominent student but he, as well, was known as a sportsman, Jesús Cacho became one of the early players of Bohemian Sporting Club. He joined briefly after the club was founded and at the beginning of the first National Football Championship in 1911. He kicked-off his football career with a blast, not only getting the recognition as a Filipino Champion in 1912 but also earning a call up to participate in the Far Eastern Games held in Manila, the year after, in 1913. After the tournament ended, with a gold medal around his neck, he alongside his Bohemian teammates faced South China AA for the "Campeonato del Carnaval" and added another continental success under their tally. Cacho, that year, won as well his second National Title, winning a total of three trophies. On the other end, the year after, in 1914, ended to be a trophy-less one due to the hands of the Nomads who were able to strip Bohemian of their title. The following years he took part in the remarkable run of that Bohemian team that won four straight Philippine Championships in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918.

International career

1913 Far Eastern Championship Games

Cacho, along with many of his Bohemian teammates, was called up to represent the Philippine Islands football team in the first edition of the Far Eastern Games in 1913 held in Manila. The match was against China and ended in favor of the home side with a 2-1 score, resulting in a gold medal, the first and only, for Cacho. During the half-time of the game, him, along with the other members of the team were accused by the Chinese of not being "natives" of the Philippines and caused the birth of a rivalry between the two teams.

1915 and 1919 Far Eastern Championship Games

He represented the country for two more tournaments in the 1915 Shanghai edition and in the 1919 Manila edition while he did not make it to the 1917 edition. In Shanghai the Filipinos faced the host team three times, in the first the islanders were defeated by one goal and the game proved to be the decisive one as the other two games ended even with a 0-0 and a 1-1 score, thus, resulting in a silver medal for Cacho and his team. He gave his last appearances for the National team in the tough three games, again, against China held in Manila. The first game saw the Filipinos dominate the first half but in the second the game took another turn. China were able to score 2 goals and win the game, due to the mistakes of the very own Cacho for the first goal, when he missed the ball when attempting to clear it and the second due to an error of his goalkeeper teammate, also at Bohemian, German Montserrat. The game after was won by the Filipinos by 2-1 and took it to a third game to decide the gold medalist side, however, after a bright start from Cacho and company who were leading the match in half time, saw the score turned around in favor of the Chinese meaning that the Philippines would end up with a silver medal.

Personal life

He was born to Francisco Tejedor Cacho, a pharmacist native of Tiedra, Spain and Candelaria Ditching Soriano owner of the Panay Electric Company from 1927, which was after inherited by Jesús, Mariano M. Cacho, his other siblings and later passed on to the next generation. His wife was Rosario González de Azaola Barlow with whom he started a family.

After football Jesús Cacho began his new life as a businessman after becoming one of the owner of PECO, he also proceeded to own the family printing firm Cacho Hermanos Inc. and other organizations as well. He became the executive manager of lmprenta "Germania" and a director of the Santa Ana Race Club and the Club Filipino.

He was able to combine his work with his philatelic passion. Jesús Cacho, already during his time as a young footballer, started collecting stamps and went on to become one of the most outstanding philatelist in the Philippines. He was known to have the most complete collection of Philippine stamps and was the president of the two national philatelic associations, the Asociacion Filatelica de Filipinas and the Philippine Air Mail Society. He won the Grand Award at the Far Eastern Philatelic Exhibition which was the first international philatelic show held in the country and was the president of the First Philippine Airmail Exhibition, held in February 1939. Cacho became an honorary member of the Elizalde Stamp Club when the Elizalde & Co. Inc. employees decided to organize it. Among them, Cacho would found a former teammate and friend at Bohemian, Eduardo Yrezabal, who was the stamp club president and shared his passion of collecting. He was also member of the American Air Mail Society, as well of the Philippine Philatelic Writers' Club and was also one of its co-organizers. In 1952, he took part at the First Pan Asian Philatelic Exhibition (PANAPEX) held in Manila where he won practically all the major prizes, having garnered 13 First Prizes, 1 Special Prize, 2 Honorable Mention and the Grand Award.

In the world of stamp collecting, perhaps he had the most complete collection of Philippine stamps with all types of rarities, which included the First Flights of the Country with the Extreme Orient as his sideline. Philately was his mainly passion but he was still an athlete inside and throughout his life as he took part at the sporting activities of the Casino Español de Manila in the meantime.

Honors

Bohemian S.C.

• United States Philippines Championship (6): 1912, 1913, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918
• Campeonato del Carnaval: 1913

Philippine national football team

• Far Eastern Championship Games:
  • (Gold medal) 1913
  • (Silver medal) 1915, 1919