Did you know that Sayre Highway, the main highway which connects Cagayan de Oro City to the Municipality of Kabacan in Cotabato Province traversing Bukidnon Province is named after an American diplomat? The 192-kilometer portion of the national highway was named in honor of Francis Bowes Sayre Sr., the United States High Commissioner to the Philippines from 1939 to 1942 who spearheaded its construction during his term.
Prior to his appointment as High Commissioner to the Philippines, he was Assistant Secretary of State under President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1939. He is shown below with then Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon in Washington DC on April 19, 1937.
During World War II, he escaped from Corregidor by submarine in February, 1942. SOURCE
Sayre graduated as class valedictorian of Williams College in 1909 before graduating with distinction from Harvard Law School in 1912. SOURCE
He was married to Jessie Woodrow Wilson, the daughter of then US President Woodrow Wilson.
He died at his home on March 29, 1972 at age 86, and was buried at Washington National Cathedral.
