essay written by carlos p romulo

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I am a Filipino

I am a Filipino is an essay written by Carlos Peña Romulo, Sr. which was printed in The Philippines Herald on August 16, 1941.

A Pulitzer Prize winner, passionate educator, intrepid journalist and effective diplomat, Romulo graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1918 with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences degree. He earned his Master of Arts degree in Philosophy from Columbia University in 1921. He would join the ranks of the UP faculty in 1923 as an Associate Professor in what was then the English Department. He would be later be appointed to the Board of Regents in 1931. Almost three decades later, he would once again be reunited with the University, serving as its 11th President in 1962.

I am a Filipino–inheritor of a glorious past, hostage to the uncertain future. As such I must prove equal to a two-fold task–the task of meeting my responsibility to the past, and the task of performing my obligation to the future.

I sprung from a hardy race, child many generations removed of ancient Malayan pioneers. Across the centuries the memory comes rushing back to me: of brown-skinned men putting out to sea in ships that were as frail as their hearts were stout. Over the sea I see them come, borne upon the billowing wave and the whistling wind, carried upon the mighty swell of hope–hope in the free abundance of new land that was to be their home and their children’s forever.

This is the land they sought and found. Every inch of shore that their eyes first set upon, every hill and mountain that beckoned to them with a green-and-purple invitation, every mile of rolling plain that their view encompassed, every river and lake that promised a plentiful living and the fruitfulness of commerce, is a hallowed spot to me.

By the strength of their hearts and hands, by every right of law, human and divine, this land and all the appurtenances thereof–the black and fertile soil, the seas and lakes and rivers teeming with fish, the forests with their inexhaustible wealth in wild life and timber, the mountains with their bowels swollen with minerals–the whole of this rich and happy land has been, for centuries without number, the land of my fathers. This land I received in trust from them and in trust will pass it to my children, and so on until the world is no more.

I am a Filipino. In my blood runs the immortal seed of heroes–seed that flowered down the centuries in deeds of courage and defiance. In my veins yet pulses the same hot blood that sent Lapulapu to battle against the first invader of this land, that nerved Lakandula in the combat against the alien foe, that drove Diego Silang and Dagohoy into rebellion against the foreign oppressor.

That seed is immortal. It is the self-same seed that flowered in the heart of Jose Rizal that morning in Bagumbayan when a volley of shots put an end to all that was mortal of him and made his spirit deathless forever, the same that flowered in the hearts of Bonifacio in Balintawak, of Gergorio del Pilar at Tirad Pass, of Antonio Luna at Calumpit; that bloomed in flowers of frustration in the sad heart of Emilio Aguinaldo at Palanan, and yet burst forth royally again in the proud heart of Manuel L. Quezon when he stood at last on the threshold of ancient Malacañan Palace, in the symbolic act of possession and racial vindication.

The seed I bear within me is an immortal seed. It is the mark of my manhood, the symbol of dignity as a human being. Like the seeds that were once buried in the tomb of Tutankhamen many thousand years ago, it shall grow and flower and bear fruit again. It is the insignia of my race, and my generation is but a stage in the unending search of my people for freedom and happiness.

I am a Filipino, child of the marriage of the East and the West. The East, with its languor and mysticism, its passivity and endurance, was my mother, and my sire was the West that came thundering across the seas with the Cross and Sword and the Machine. I am of the East, an eager participant in its spirit, and in its struggles for liberation from the imperialist yoke. But I also know that the East must awake from its centuried sleep, shake off the lethargy that has bound his limbs, and start moving where destiny awaits.

For I, too, am of the West, and the vigorous peoples of the West have destroyed forever the peace and quiet that once were ours. I can no longer live, a being apart from those whose world now trembles to the roar of bomb and cannon-shot. I cannot say of a matter of universal life-and-death, of freedom and slavery for all mankind, that it concerns me not. For no man and no nation is an island, but a part of the main, there is no longer any East and West–only individuals and nations making those momentous choices which are the hinges upon which history resolves.

At the vanguard of progress in this part of the world I stand–a forlorn figure in the eyes of some, but not one defeated and lost. For, through the thick, interlacing branches of habit and custom above me, I have seen the light of the sun, and I know that it is good. I have seen the light of justice and equality and freedom, my heart has been lifted by the vision of democracy, and I shall not rest until my land and my people shall have been blessed by these, beyond the power of any man or nation to subvert or destroy.

I am a Filipino, and this is my inheritance. What pledge shall I give that I may prove worthy of my inheritance? I shall give the pledge that has come ringing down the corridors of the centuries, and it shall be compounded of the joyous cries of my Malayan forebears when first they saw the contours of this land loom before their eyes, of the battle cries that have resounded in every field of combat from Mactan to Tirad Pass, of the voices of my people when they sing:

Land of the morning, Child of the sun returning– Ne’er shall invaders Trample thy sacred shore.

Out of the lush green of these seven thousand isles, out of the heartstrings of sixteen million people all vibrating to one song, I shall weave the mighty fabric of my pledge. Out of the songs of the farmers at sunrise when they go to labor in the fields, out of the sweat of the hard-bitten pioneers in Mal-lig and Koronadal, out of the silent endurance of stevedores at the piers and the ominous grumbling of peasants in Pampanga, out of the first cries of babies newly born and the lullabies that mothers sing, out of the crashing of gears and the whine of turbines in the factories, out of the crunch of plough-shares upturning the earth, out of the limitless patience of teachers in the classrooms and doctors in the clinics, out of the tramp of soldiers marching, I shall make the pattern of my pledge:

“I am a Filipino born to freedom, and I shall not rest until freedom shall have been added unto my inheritance—for myself and my children and my children’s children—forever.”

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The Philippine Literature

"i am a filipino".

by Carlos P. Romulo

I am a Filipino – inheritor of a glorious past, hostage to the uncertain future. As such, I must prove equal to a two-fold task – the task of meeting my responsibility to the past, and the task of performing my obligation to the future.

I am sprung from a hardy race – child many generations removed of ancient Malayan pioneers. Across the centuries, the memory comes rushing back to me: of brown-skinned men putting out to sea in ships that were as frail as their hearts were stout. Over the sea I see them come, borne upon the billowing wave and the whistling wind, carried upon the mighty swell of hope – hope in the free abundance of the new land that was to be their home and their children’s forever.

This is the land they sought and found. Every inch of shore that their eyes first set upon, every hill and mountain that beckoned to them with a green and purple invitation, every mile of rolling plain that their view encompassed, every river and lake that promised a plentiful living and the fruitfulness of commerce, is a hollowed spot to me.

By the strength of their hearts and hands, by every right of law, human and divine, this land and all the appurtenances thereof – the black and fertile soil, the seas and lakes and rivers teeming with fish, the forests with their inexhaustible wealth in wild and timber, the mountains with their bowels swollen with minerals – the whole of this rich and happy land has been for centuries without number, the land of my fathers. This land I received in trust from them, and in trust will pass it to my children, and so on until the world is no more.

I am a Filipino. In my blood runs the immortal seed of heroes – seed that flowered down the centuries in deeds of courage and defiance. In my veins yet pulses the same hot blood that sent Lapulapu to battle against the alien foe, that drove Diego Silang and Dagohoy into rebellion against the foreign oppressor,

That seed is immortal. It is the self-same seed that flowered in the heart of Jose Rizal that morning in Bagumbayan when a volley of shots put an end to all that was mortal of him and made his spirit deathless forever; the same that flowered in the hearts of Bonifacio in Balintawak, of Gregorio del Pilar at Tirad Pass, of Antonio Luna at Calumpit, that bloomed in flowers of frustration in the sad heart of Emilio Aguinaldo at Palanan, and yet burst forth royally again in the proud heart of Manuel L. Quezon when he stood at last on the threshold of ancient Malacanang Palace, in the symbolic act of possession and racial vindication.

The seed I bear within me is an immortal seed. It is the mark of my manhood, the symbol of my dignity as a human being. Like the seeds that were once buried in the tomb of Tutankhamen many thousands of years ago, it shall grow and flower and bear fruit again. It is the insigne of my race, and my generation is but a stage in the unending search of my people for freedom and happiness.

I am a Filipino, child of the marriage of the East and the West. The East, with its languor and mysticism, its passivity and endurance, was my mother, and my sire was the West that came thundering across the seas with the Cross and Sword and the Machine. I am of the East, an eager participant in its struggles for liberation from the imperialist yoke. But I know also that the East must awake from its centuried sleep, shake off the lethargy that has bound its limbs, and start moving where destiny awaits.

For I, too, am of the West, and the vigorous peoples of the West have destroyed forever the peace and quiet that once were ours. I can no longer live, a being apart from those whose world now trembles to the roar of bomb and cannon shot. For no man and no nation is an island, but a part of the main, and there is no longer any East and West – only individuals and nations making those momentous choices that are the hinges upon which history revolves.

At the vanguard of progress in this part of the world I stand – a forlorn figure in the eyes of some, but not one defeated and lost. For through the thick, interlacing branches of habit and custom above me I have seen the light of the sun, and I know that it is good. I have seen the light of justice and equality and freedom, my heart has been lifted by the vision of democracy, and I shall not rest until my land and my people shall have been blessed by these, beyond the power of any man or nation to subvert or destroy.

I am a Filipino, and this is my inheritance. What pledge shall I give that I may prove worthy of my inheritance? I shall give the pledge that has come ringing down the corridors of the centuries, and its hall be compounded of the joyous cries of my Malayan forebears when they first saw the contours of this land loom before their eyes, of the battle cries that have resounded in every field of combat from Mactan to Tirad Pass, of the voices of my people when they sing:

Land of the morning.

Child of the sun returning . . .

Ne’er shall invaders

Trample thy sacred shore.

Out of the lush green of these seven thousand isles, out of the heart-strings of sixteen million people all vibrating to one song, I shall weave the mighty fabric of my pledge. Out of the songs of the farmers at sunrise when they go to labor in the fields; out the sweat of the hard-bitten pioneers in Mal-ig and Koronadal; out of the silent endurance of stevedores at the piers and the ominous grumbling of peasants in Pampanga; out of the first cries of babies newly born and the lullabies that mothers sing; out of crashing of gears and the whine of turbines in the factories; out of the crunch of ploughs upturning the earth; out of the limitless patience of teachers in the classrooms and doctors in the clinics; out of the tramp of soldiers marching, I shall make the pattern of my pledge:

I am a Filipino born of freedom, and I shall not rest until freedom shall have been added unto my inheritance – for myself and my children’s – forever.

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Carlos P. Romulo

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• History, Art and Archives - United States House of Representatives - Biography of Carlos Peña Romulo
• Romulo, Carlos Pena - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Carlos P. Romulo (born January 14, 1899, Camiling, Philippines—died December 15, 1985, Manila) was a Philippine general, diplomat, and journalist known for his activities on behalf of the Allies during World War II and his later work with the United Nations .

In 1931 Romulo was made editor in chief of TVT Publications, comprising three newspapers, one in English, one in Spanish, and one in Tagalog (the second most prevalent language in the Philippines). In 1937 he became publisher of another chain of newspapers.

When Japan attacked the Philippines in 1941, he became an aide-de-camp to U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur on Corregidor Island , and his broadcasts became widely known as the “Voice of Freedom.” After Japan captured Corregidor, Romulo went with MacArthur to Australia and then joined the Philippine government-in-exile of Pres. Manuel Quezon in Washington, D.C., as secretary of information.

In 1941 Romulo won the Pulitzer Prize for Peace for his prewar evaluations of the military situation in the Pacific area. He returned to the Philippines with U.S. forces in 1945. In 1948 he served as president of the United Nations Conference on Freedom of Information in Geneva.

Romulo was president of the General Assembly of the UN (1949–50) and in 1950 became secretary of foreign affairs of the Philippines. In 1952 he was named ambassador to the United States . No longer satisfied with the politics of the incumbent Liberal Party, he decided in 1953 to run for the presidency of the Philippines on a third-party ticket, but he withdrew to become campaign manager for the successful Nacionalista Party candidate, Ramon Magsaysay . At the Bandung Conference of Afro-Asian countries in 1955, he criticized the tyranny of both communist rule and Western colonialism .

When the Philippines was elected to a seat on the United Nations Security Council in 1956, Romulo served as member of the council and during the month of January 1957 was its chairman. He served as president of the University of the Philippines, near Manila (1962–68), and secretary of education (1966–68). He then became secretary of foreign affairs (1968–78) and minister of foreign affairs (1978–84). In his later years, while serving under Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos , Romulo became less democratic in his views. He supported Marcos’s imposition of martial law in 1972 and had by the mid-1970s evolved from a champion of a free press into an advocate of a controlled press, charging Western journalists with unfavourably reporting the problems of less-developed countries. Romulo’s autobiography, I Walked with Heroes, was published in 1961.

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The Wisdom of Carlos P. Romulo, First Filipino to Win a Pulitzer Prize

It was lodged early in my childish mind that the Philippines stood in the exact center of the world. When I learned to study maps I would look from the Philippines to east and west, south and north, and know the world had swept in from all sides to merge in the Philippines. We were the meeting place, the melting pot of the nations, the bridge upon which rested the four corners of that world.

Filipinos had invested lives and blood in human rights. Thus, when the United Nations set out to formulate a universal declaration of human rights, the Philippines was an earnest and enthusiastic participant. The Filipino people had spent close to 400 years fighting for human rights; we wanted the principles and ideals we had fought for enshrined and made secure.

I longed to be President of the Philippines. I was determined to challenge Quirino. But even if I lost, the very fact that someone had dared challenge him would weaken his power. I firmly believed that owing to my years of experience in the United States, which had given us its concept of our democracy, and the years of experience in the United Nations, I would be able to give the Philippines an intelligent and honest government. I had served under four presidents and felt that I had been through the mill. Patriotism had its part in my decision; I was being forced into it by circumstances, not by politics.

The presidency of the United Nations was not thrust upon me overnight. I had to grow up to the measurements it demanded of a proponent of peace. This was done session by session, step by step. It entailed trips halfway around the world, again and again. It demanded nights without sleep, studying, writing, poring over documents; days without rest, and always the curb on the temper and the willingness to give and to receive.

I do not wish to denigrate what America did for us or taught us. What we learned about American culture—their ideals and values—helped to launch us on to the mainstream of liberal democracy. What was wrong was the mistaking of the same means for the same ends. It was not the American enthusiasm to proselytize democracy among us, but the lack of understanding of the workings of the Filipino mind and society that failed.

Can I be blamed for indulging in bitterness? Everywhere in America new Japanese stores are doing brisk business. Japanese products are in every American store. I see Japanese trade being nourished and reactivated in America while the Philippines has to fight for everything it gets from this country.

It was our belief then, and we believe even more strongly today , that we were presiding over the birth of the first truly representative world government, a Parliament of Man, which would bring all nations together in a genuine organic union that would guarantee not only peace for all time, but the achievement of whatever purposes mankind set their hearts to.

After Vietnam, I do not think the American people will ever consent to involving their troops in Asia. Thus, an American defense of the Philippines in the future is dubious. The Americans must now think of themselves, and I don’t blame them.

The luxury of choice is not always open to ASEAN countries. We in the ASEAN, separately and together, have a moral, legal, and if you wish, even a divine right to run our affairs in ways which suit our temperaments as peoples.

The calculus of great power relationships in Asia , including Southeast Asia, is a riddle and will remain so for an indeterminate future.

The survival of mankind will depend on a rational and peaceful use of the sea, its seabeds, and its resources. For as global land resources diminish in relation to the expanding population, mankind must turn to the sea for life.

Diplomats are truly an endangered species . Diplomats have been ambushed, bombed, threatened, and in some cases murdered with an impunity which defies rational explanation. If we look for answers, it might possibly lie in this: It reflects the chaotic conditions of an emerging world whose outlines have yet to be defined.

One should not condemn too quickly the regulation of civil and political rights when this is rendered necessary by the need of the community to defend itself from the depredations of a few. To give free rein to the nihilist few in the name of human rights would mean the ultimate folly of collective suicide.

This is what we mean by human rights: The right to life is basic. The right of all human beings to the integrity of their bodies, the freedom of their minds, to lives of dignity and fulfillment and peace—to that right we can give our allegiance without exceptions or reservations or evasions. But we have, I fear, been toying with abstractions. In the Philippines, we have sought to give life to this all-embracing concept. Fundamental to the achievement of this goal is the question of land reform. A second point is education through cultural re-orientation which makes possible the development of skills and receptivity to new ideas. And the third point is a massive effort at economic development aimed at benefitting all segments of Philippine society.

Rule by martial law, if unduly prolonged, will be governed by the familiar dynamics of dictatorship. Succession in such governments is achieved by violent coups, leading inexorably to the total defeat of the democratic processes.

Most of us view reality through rose-tinted glasses. The problem, therefore, is not in reality but in our glasses.

While you think governments are trying to run the press , governments think the press is trying to run their countries.

This article originally appeared in the August 2014 issue of Esquire Philippines.

*Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.

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"The mission of the US-Philippines Society is to build on the rich and longstanding historical ties between the United States of America and the Philippines. …and to bring that unique relationship to the 21st century."

Carlos P. Romulo: Advocate for the Filipino, Philippine Independence and World Peace

At an August 17 Istorya DC virtual program, featured speaker and archivist of Carlos P. Romulo Foundation for Peace and Development Liana Romulo provided an overview of the life and times of her grandfather Carlos P. Romulo (1898-1985). She traced her grandfather’s early visits to Washington DC as a student (1921), coach of a debating team for granting of Philippine independence (1928), member of the Philippine Independence Missions (1922-1933) and later as Resident Commissioner of the Philippine Commonwealth (1944-1946).

During the war (1942-1944), Carlos Romulo held speaking tours transiting mostly by train over 89,000 miles to reach 466 U.S. cities “vividly depicting wartime Philippines,” stated Liana Romulo. He had embarked on “a mission to beat the drum to raise awareness and shake Americans out of complacency while soldiers languished in internment camps in the Philippines,” she added.

From the Old Chancery building in Washington DC, Resident Commissioner Carlos Romulo led a public campaign about the living conditions and rehabilitation in war-torn Philippines having witnessed the month-long Battle of Manila that killed over 200,000 civilians and wrought devastation to a once glorious city.

July 4, 1946 marked the granting of full independence of the Philippines. President Manuel Roxas was sworn-in as the first president of the Republic. The Romulo family reunited after the war and returned to Washington DC. General and Mrs. Romulo and their four sons lived in a house along the Embassy Row.

In October 1949, General Carlos P. Romulo was elected as the fourth President of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. He was also a member of the UN Human Rights Commission chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt. Representing the Philippine Commonwealth, General Romulo  had co-signed and co-founded the United Nations Charter in 1945. The UN Charter was established post WWII to maintain international peace and security through cooperation among member states. A towering figure at the UN, Romulo spoke for small emerging nations in Asia and Africa.

The legacy of General Romulo, a public servant under eight presidents, is enshrined in a permanent exhibit inaugurated on January 18, 2020 at the De La Salle University. Moreover, “his spirit of nationalism is embodied in every proud Filipino,” Liana contends. Ambassador Roberto Romulo, Liana’s father and Founding Director of the US-Philippines Society further elaborated by citing the sense of duty and pride in performing quality care exhibited by overseas Filipinos working the frontlines during the pandemic.

In his concluding remarks, Society President Ambassador John F. Maisto recognized General Romulo’s qualities as a great Filipino. As a Georgetown University student, Maisto had heard the eloquent speaker discuss preeminent issues and a backdrop – his views of the Philippines and the U.S. He had met him again while assigned as US Embassy Manila’s Political Officer to discuss cooperation and shared responsibilities among Southeast Asia nations. General Romulo offered to establish refugee processing centers in the Philippines for Indo-Chinese refugees seeking asylum.

This Istorya DC event was co-hosted by US-Philippines Society, Sentro Rizal Washington DC, POPDC and RMC Foundation.

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The Right Man for the Philippines

The new President of the Philippines , Ramón Magsaysay , first came into national prominence as a guerrilla fighter against the Japanese; as Secretary of Defense from 1950 until the spring of 1953 , he was successful in subduing the armed Communists and in rehabilitating many of the Huks. This account of President Magsaysay and his program is written by his close friend GENERAL CARLOS P. ROMULO, who was also a candidate for the presidency but withdrew to become Magsaysay’s campaign manager. General Romulo , formerly President of the UN General Assembly and Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines , was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished correspondence in 1941.

by GENERAL CARLOS P. ROMULO

TEN years ago, after the fall of Bataan, I came to the United States in uniform to report to the American people on that tragic if temporary defeat. Now I return in mufti to make a battle report on the triumph of democracy in the recent elections in the Philippines.

It has not surprised me that the Philippine elections have aroused so lively an interest among the American people. We should finally lay to rest the controversy regarding so-called American “intervention" in our elections. On the plane of reason and common sense, the American people had a perfect right to interest themselves in the performance of the system of democracy which they helped to implant in the Philippines. But beyond this, Americans also had a right to do all that Mas reasonable and proper to ensure the free expression of the will of the Filipino people.

The truth is that there was no intervention in the Philippine elections of a sort that might diminish in any way the mutual respect which the two countries owe each other as sovereign and independent states. Had it occurred, such intervention would surely have been resented and rejected by the Filipino people, whose traditions of self-government and sense of national pride are well known to all.

In this contracting, interdependent world, we have learned that if freedom is menaced anywhere, it is menaced everywhere. The real test of intervention, therefore, is whether such interest is clearly calculated to advance the cause of freedom and is welcomed and accepted by the people directly concerned.

“Intervention” was the bogey word in the old days of classical diplomacy. But in an era which has witnessed the rapid development of the principle of international coöperation for common ends, the term “intervention” has acquired a more restricted meaning.

In the old days, for instance, the American dollar Mas regarded with suspicion as the principal tool of American intervention. Today, the underdeveloped countries of the world may be said, in effect, to be asking precisely for such tools through their participation in programs of assistance like Point Four and the Foreign Operations Administration, or through international programs like the United Nations Expanded Program of Technical Assistance.

There was nothing in the conduct of our elections of which the American people need be ashamed. As far as the Filipino people are concerned, they are proud that they were able to make a solid and substantial contribution to the strength and prestige of the free world by the simple act of going to the polling places to vote for the candidates of their choice.

Many of the American correspondents who covered the Philippine elections came down from Korea, where they had previously been assigned as war correspondents. In the light of the dire predictions of bloodshed and revolution, there was a certain logic in the transfer of war correspondents from Korea to the Philippines. But fortunately our elections turned out to be very tame indeed.

Yet our quiet and orderly elections had implications for the future of democracy in Asia hardly less significant than those arising out of the Korean conflict itself. In Korea, the peoples of the free world had stood together to repel aggression and to ensure the Koreans’ right to freedom. In the Philippines, a people stood alone to proclaim its belief in democracy and to give proof of the essential wisdom of a system of government based on the free will of the people. Every proof that democracy works is a victory gained for the cause of freedom, and weighs as heavily on the scales as the winning of a battle in Korea or Indo-China.

Tor reasons similar to those I have already described, the American people showed an equally lively interest in the recent elections in West Germany, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. These countries, too, are vital bulwarks of the free world; in them as in the Philippines, much hope was pinned both on the method and on the outcome of the elections. It is difficult to say which was the more important: that the elections should permit the untrammeled expression of the people’s will or that the right man should be elected.

The Philippine elections proved that these were not alternatives. We had peaceful and orderly elections, and the right man was elected. Democracy can have no better demonstration of its vitality and efficacy than this.

PRESIDENT RAMÓN MAGSAYSAY, who assumed office on December 30, is a man of boundless energy, mentally alert, inspired by a vision of a brighter future for his people. He is no philosopher of freedom, but he is certainly a lighter for freedom, and there is none today as fearless and devoted as he in a part of the world where there is a grave shortage in the leadership of freedom.

Magsaysay is the first pure Filipino — and therefore of true Malayan stock — to become chief magistrate of the Philippines. President Manuel L. Quezon, of the Philippine Commonwealth, was of Spanish descent. President Sergio Osmeña, also of the Philippine Commonwealth, was of Chinese descent. Manuel A. Roxas, first President of the Philippine Republic, was part Spanish. Elpidio Quirino, who succeeded Roxas, was part Spanish and part Chinese. As the first full-blooded Filipino to rise to the highest office within the gift of the Filipino people, Magsaysay fits perfectly into the pattern of Filipino nationalism exemplified by Andrés Bonifacio, who unfurled the banner of the revolution against Spain, and who was in the eyes of Asia a true Asian leader.

The armed forces of the Philippines were politicsridden when Magsaysay took over as Secretary of Defense. One day a politician asked Magsaysay to transfer an officer who had displeased him. The politician had Control of the appropriations in Congress and Magsaysay’s department budget was under discussion. Magsaysay investigated the matter, saw there was no reason to transfer the officer, and phoned the politician to tell him that he was not transferring the officer.

“Of course, you know your budget is now being considered,” the politician said.

“I know,”Magsaysay replied, “and I am on my way now to face your committee, and if you have anything to say about this matter, you may do so face to face when I appear before your committee.” Needless to say, his budget was approved and the politician never mentioned the matter again.

During the days of the Japanese occupation, Magsaysay as a guerrilla was assigned to return to a town in order to find out the actual strength of the enemy. Since there was a price on his head, it was most risky for him to undertake the assignment. He disguised himself as a peasant, went to the town, carried out his assignment, and when he thought he was safe in a barrio about fifteen miles from town, he met an enemy patrol. He hid in a hut, and when the patrol ordered all the menfolk out of their houses and threatened to burn the barrio if Magsavsay’s whereabouts was not revealed, Magsaysay waited for the darkness of the night to help him carry out his scheme. He left his hiding place, confronted the patrol, told them he was the man they were looking for, jumped into the river, and swam across while the bullets hissed over his head.

Unlike his predecessors in office, Magsaysay is truly of the masses. While one does not have to be of the masses to be for the masses, a national leader is twice blest when he is both of and for the masses. His humble beginnings, his unaffected ways, his unsophisticated mannerisms, and his unspoiled nature are perfectly in tune with the rhythm of Filipino life at the grass-roots level. When his critics carped during the campaign at his unadorned political speeches, his lack of guile, his limited academic background, the masses recognized these limitations as part of the bond between them and the man. In his virtues and shortcomings, the men in the street, in the farms, and in the factories saw faithful reflections of the virtues and shortcomings common to their mold.

While his opponent and detractors were campaigning in grand style, traveling like maharajahs and consistently trying to look like fashion plates, Magsaysay was barnstorming in towns and hamlets in his shirt sleeves and in humble style. In its desperation, the opposing camp caused his report cards as a student to be published. His unimpressive academic record — his failing marks — served him in good stead in popular estimation instead of providing his adversary with political ammunition. The masses uniformly reacted: “His scholastic record makes him all the more of us.”

No tree is more symbolic of the sturdiness of the Filipino character than the molave, one of the finest hardwoods in the world. Magsaysay is possessed of a character as strong and unbending as the molave. At the height of the campaign, a group of Nacionalista die-hards, who called themselves “loyalists,”went to Magsaysay to get him to disavow some of the important commitments he made in the Nationalist a-Democratic coalition. After politely listening to their piece, he said: “In your eyes, gentlemen, I must be either a man or a dog. If l am the latter, you would not have to persuade me to go back on my word. If I am a man, nothing you could do or say would make me go back on my word. And I am a man.”

In the task of reinforcing the moral fiber of Philippine political life and of imbuing the Filipino nation anew with the spiritual values by which our forebears lived, these sterling qualities will give President Magsaysay a powerful leverage.

RAMÓN MAGSAYSAY is America’s friend, and the American people have not a stauncher one in all Asia. This friendship springs from and is nourished by a profound belief in the democratic values which he and the Filipino people as a whole share with Americans. But deeper and more vibrant even than this faith is his sincere concern for the people who elected him and, by doing so, placed their fortunes in his hands. He pledged to them a better life, with richer opportunity and greater security, under a clean and efficient government more responsive to their needs. If he is to be the leader of the Filipinos he must, and lie will, deliver on this pledge.

It goes without saying that I am in no position to speak for him, but in my capacity as his campaign manager I did have an opportunity to work closely with him and to familiarize myself with Ins program. From his statements during the campaign, we may reasonably expect President Magsaysay to do the following:—

1. Weed out graft and corruption in the government. He intends to appoint a panel of prosecutors who will be responsible for ridding the government of the “ten percenters,”the peddlers of privilege, and the tax evaders, many of them highly placed, whose misdeeds have not been dealt with properly by the past administration. I must emphasize that the job will be one of prosecution and not of persecution.

2. Implement his land reform program. It is very likely that be will expand the land resettlement project initialed under the Economic Development Corporation (EDCOR) when he was Secretary of National Defense. This project was efficiently administered and highly successful, and it would serve as the nucleus of a much larger program.

3. Raise living standards in the Philippine villages. He has formulated plans to “build up the barrios.”His rural development projects include the installation of artesian wells, the building of better roads and more schools, and the organization of coöperatives to help the farmers increase their yield and get better prices.

4. Implement more effectively existing minimumwage laws and create better working conditions and opportunities for productive employment for the masses of people living in industrial areas.

5. Create a more favorable climate for foreign investment. He knows that the supply of international capital for economic development is limited and that the Philippine Republic does not as yet have sufficient domestic capital to underwrite its development. Over and over again during the campaign. President Magsaysay emphasized the importance of a balanced economic development. He is keenly aware that many of the economic and social problems that beset the Republic will be more easily solved if its economy can be diversified and both agricultural and industrial production increased substantially.

6. Use international assistance more wisely and effectively. He intends to replace the Philippine Council for United States Aid (PHILCUSA) with a new agency that will eliminate red tape and bring about better coördination between the Philippine government and the government of the United States, and also among the various Philippine offices, bureaus, and agencies concerned.

7. Maintain his close contact with the people. He will establish an office which will receive complaints and suggestions from the people. He may also organize a corps of trouble-shooters who will go to the remotest towns and villages to attend to the people’s needs.

Since President Magsaysay is America’s friend, he will hope and wish to be treated as a friend. This means that so long as there is a vital job to be done in the Philippines in order to make life happier and more secure under a regime of freedom, he will welcome such encouragement and assistance as can be rendered by till his friends and well-wishers in the United States. Ramón Magsaysay is now in command in an important sector of the free world’s defensive perimeter. I know that Americans will not only pray for him and wish him well, but will help him all they can, not only that he may hold that vital position for freedom but also that from there, freedom may move on to future victories.

The projection of the personality of Magsaysay into the international picture can only have a salutary effect. As Vice President Nixon has aptly said, Magsaysay’s knowledge of the practical problems of combating the Communist, menace, which is unmatched anywhere in the free world, makes the new leader of the Philippines an outstanding figure in the struggle against Communism in Asia.

One must add to this two important and significant facts: Magsaysay is the first leader of the new school to emerge in Asia, and he is one of the few to assume national leadership by uncontaminated popular suffrage. With a man of the moral stature of Magsaysay at the helm of the Republic, the Philippines can perform the mission of moral leadership in a continent in ferment and in the struggle to make Asia a bastion of freedom.

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I AM A FILIPINO

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Understanding and Embracing One's Identity: "I am a Filipino" by Carlos P. Romulo

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