Chavit Singson - Biography and Career - Early Life

Early Life

Chavit Singson was born on June 21, 1941 in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur. He is the second among the seven children of José Singson and Caridad Crisólogo. His other siblings, aside from Evaristo (Titong), are Bernardo (deceased), Fernando (Dodoy), Maria Olivia (Honeygirl), Jeremias (Jerry), Germelina (Germy) and Jose, Jr. (Bonito).

Singson's growing-up years were spent in Vigan, where he led a normal childhood "with a very liberal upbringing and a lot of opportunity to play and make friends." He apparently got his own fondness for jueteng from his mother who loved the game. Despite their prominence in the province, it was not always a life of wealth for the Singsons. At one point, the family had to sell their appliances. Singson learned how difficult life was without money. Singson's character was strengthened especially with the seemingly unending family squabbles and political dynasties of his youth, the tobacco industry in Ilocos and how the Singsons got into tobacco growing and trading. The family brought the first redrying plant to Ilocos in the '60s. He studied in Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila and finished his Commerce degree.

Both his paternal (Singson) and maternal (Crisologo) families have dominated the political environment of the Ilocos region for generations. Although many members of both families, such as Chavit are related to one another, the two families have shared a bitter feud which reached its apex in the 1960s and 1970s, when shootings and political intimidation were rampant in the Ilocos region. Chavit considered his uncle, Floro Crisologo as a mentor, but eventually had a severe falling out with his cousin and once-confidant Vicente "Bingbong" Crisologo (who was Floro's son) and there were many bloody encounters between the two. It is currently stated by both sides that tensions have eased.