I am writing 100 today, not 30, but I’m far from finished. This is my 100th article for this column, which I started on March 15, 2019, soon after I irrevocably resigned as the vice chairman and PCEO of the Social Security System on the very day that the President had approved and signed into law RA 11199, otherwise known as the Social Security Act of 2019. Had I stayed, it would have amounted to conflict of interests on my part, but that is another story.
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Last February 8 was the 120th birthday anniversary of the foremost Filipino nationalist and statesman, Don Claro Mayo Recto. It would be a gross overstatement to say that the event was fittingly observed since the day passed with nary a whimper or passing comment even from his own family, or any one of note who cares about our nation’s history and its great sons. I have no idea whether his birthday was celebrated in his own hometown of Tiaong, Tayabas, (now Quezon) or in his adopted province of Batangas. It’s unforgivable when our country (and its people) forgets the great deeds and contributions of its illustrious children who had made lasting impact on our development as a nation. No one can dispute that Recto had cultivated and honed the culture of nationalism and patriotic fervor among Filipinos. He held several key posts in government during the American regime and played a major role during the Commonwealth and postwar years before and after our independence. He served as the president of the 1934 Constitutional Convention, which drafted the 1935 Philippine Constitution. In recognition of his significant role, the draft of the 1935 Philippine Constitution was completed on his birthday, February 8, 1935. Legal scholars and constitutionalists regard this document as the best-written Philippine Charter ever. He served both in the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines with distinction. He was first elected as a senator in 1931 when he won over reelectionist Jose P. Laurel in a battle royale in the Fifth Senatorial District comprising the Tagalog region. It was a contest of wit and wisdom between two intellectual giants. He topped the senatorial elections in 1941 before the war broke out. He held various posts in the Executive Department: Commissioner of Education, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cultural Envoy with a rank of Ambassador to Europe and Latin America. His peers looked up to him as a master parliamentarian without equal in Congress. He was also appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt shortly after his work as the President of the 1935 Constitutional Convention was completed in 1935. In 1924, he founded Partido Democrata and organized the Nationalist Citizens’ Party in 1957, which was his launching pad for his presidential run following the death of President Ramon Magsaysay. Thus, he is the only political leader who had founded two major political parties during his lifetime. His quest for the highest elective position was not successful. It seemed that the Filipino people were not yet ready for his modern political thoughts, keen sense of patriotism and burning nationalism. Also contributing to his defeat was the black propaganda reputedly resorted to by the CIA, which included the distribution of condoms with holes in them and marked “Courtesy of Claro M. Recto” on the labels. His frustration was that all administrations under any president of the Republic toed a foreign policy characterized by “subservience and colonial mentality.” He lamented our sycophant government subservient to America and the Almighty Dollar. It was classic Recto when he assailed the mendicant foreign policy of then-President Elpidio Quirino. “A bankrupt administration must necessarily have a foreign policy of mendicancy and it is inevitable that it should invite foreign intervention to do what it cannot do for itself. Because beggars can’t be choosers, we can be safely ignored, taken for granted, dictated to, and made to wait at the door, hat in hand, to go only when invited.”
What he said then still rings true today that “any sound foreign policy should be solely based on national self-interest.” His greatest political fight was waged when he fought in court to acquit himself from the serious charge of treason when he was accused as a Japanese collaborator during the war. He did not accept the amnesty offered to him and instead chose to defend himself in court where he succeeded in proving the patriotic conduct of the Filipinos who served the Japanese Puppet government during the war. Undoubtedly, he was the brightest mind of his generation whose speeches and writings were much valued and admired. Later day nationalists like Lorenzo Tañada, Pepe Diokno, Jovito Salonga and Renato Constantino revered Recto and regarded him as the Father of Philippine Nationalism. When it was not the fad to be anti-American and opposing American interests in the Philippines was a political suicide, Recto was alone in denouncing the presence of US military bases in our country. Ironically, for one whose love for one’s country was unparalleled, he died alone from a heart attack while on an official mission in Rome on October 2, 1960.
It would make a great difference to have Recto on PRRD’s side as he serves notice to the US that he is terminating the VFA. His incisive analysis and logic, and his gift of language would be unmatched by the Americans. I’m certain that Recto would find cogent reasons, other than Sen. Bato de la Rosa’s visa cancellation, to pound the issue, which would be incontrovertible to the opposing side.
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IT is the saddest day in our life when a nation forgets its great sons and daughters. As Robert Frost once said, “a civilized society is measured by the men it honors, by the men it remembers.” Don Claro, this piece is for you—dedicated to your noble memory!
2 comments
Bravo, Mr Dooc.
Can you give me a list of contribution of sen. claro recto? thank you