Francisco Zulueta was born on August 21, 1891, in
Molo, today a district in
Iloilo City. His parents were Evaristo Zulueta and Atilana Casten. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the
Ateneo Municipal de Manila, Zulueta studied law at the Escuela de Derecho de Manila. He completed his bachelor's degree and subsequently worked as a stenographer and clerk for the Court of First Instance of
Manila. A promotion to prosecutor (fiscal) of
Antique followed in 1920. In 1922 he was transferred to
Capiz and in 1924 to
Negros Occidental. After five years as a prosecutor in Negros Occidental, Zulueta was appointed an assistant judge of a Court of First Instance on June 11, 1929. Later that year, Zulueta was elected to succeed the late
Mariano Yulo in the
Senate of the Philippines in a special election on behalf of the
8th District. Because he was supported in the election by both the "antis" and the "cons" (the two factions of the
Nacionalista Party), he became the only member of the American-era Senate to be elected without an opponent. In the Senate, Zulueta chaired the nomination committee and the health committee. He was re-elected in the 1931 elections and served until 1934. During that time, he was a member of the Philippine Independence mission led by Senate President
Manuel Quezon to the United States that led to the passage of the
Tydings–McDuffie Act that established the
Philippine Commonwealth and led to full independence after ten years. ==Personal life==