February 22, 1947–NOWADAYS when newspapermen meet, they usually talk with nostalgia about Malacañan press conferences when Manuel L. Quezon was the “Big Chief”; others of the days when Sergio Osmeña hardly gave press conferences and reporters depended mainly on Malacañan press releases to satisfy the hunger for news of the then newly liberated readers of the Philippines; but their tete-a-tete often ends with a wise-crack at the expense of the so-called liberal administration! But whether or not one looks back at those days with longing and remembrance,—those days will never come back, and President Manuel A. Roxas is at Malacañan to stay and to perform the acts and deliver the sttements which are the daily headlines of the newspapers of the nation.

It is worthy of note that many newspapermen do not seem to see eye to eye with the President on matters of national concern. Many a post-liberation columnist has made and continues to make a name for himself and circulation for his paper by discoursing on the alleged sins of the present administration, or the frailties of the New Leader. Nevertheless the cold, naked truth is that, under the Roxas administration, members of the press are winning recognition and honors never before accorded them under any other president of the Philippines.

Consider the following facts, for instance. Recently a leading political commentator in the United States hailed the Philippines as the recognized leader of dependent nations and oppressed peoples of the world and as ranking sixth among more than fifty signatory nations of the United Nations. These honors came to the Republic largely because of General Carlos P. Romulo, permanent Philippine delegate to the UN, who is one of the most versatile editors the Philippines has ever produced and, in pre-Pearl-Harbor days, was publisher and editor-in-chief of the now defunct DMHM newspapers of Manila. Another DMHM newsman who has been the recipient of the bounty of our Liberal administration is former Press Secretary Modesto Farolan, the first Philippine Consul-General to Hawaii. Farolan was formerly general manager of the DMHM.

Diplomatic Service

A check-up of the roster of diplomatic and consular offices established by the Republic reveals the amazing but gratifying fact that, as a general rule, a former Manila newspaperman is on the payroll. The Philippine press is ably represented on the staff of the Philippine Embassy at Washington, D.C. by former Pangasinan Congressman Narciso Ramos, a former Manila reporters; A. L. Valencia, president of the potent Manila Press Club and former Bulletin star reporter; and Pilar N. Ravelo-Guerrero, also formerly of the pre-Tojo Bulletin. Newsman Ramos is minister-counsellor, while Associated Press Correspondent Valencia is Ambassador Elizalde’s public relations spokesman.

And who does not remember Salvador P. Lopez who used to preach to newspaper readers via the Herald’s “So It Seems” column? Well, if you do not know, Lopez is in New York City now; a member of Ambassador Romulo’s staff. Also with Romulo in America is former Manila reporter Renato Constantino.

Felixberto G. Bustos, free lance journalist and author of the book that helped Roxas to the presidency, is on the staff of the Philippine consulate in New York City and his boss is former Justice Jose P. Melencio, himself a writer of some distinction.

With Other Bureaus

When the Philippines sent Senator Salipada K. Pendatun and others to the UNESCO conference at paris, a newspaperman was in the entourage in the person of United Press correspondent Rodolfo L. Nazareno. J. C. Dionisio, short story writer and West Coast journalist, is at present with Consul-General Roberto Regala in San Francisco.

Not all writers and reporters are as gifted as Carlos Peña Romulo or as lucky as those who have landed sinecures abroad. Other have to stay at home and keep the printing presses rolling. There are, however, some who are doling praiseworthy work in the government service. Outstanding among them is personable, veteran Bulletin reporter Johnny C. Orendain, who, as President Roxas’ Press Secretary, is the official Malacañan spokesman. Private secretary to the President is Federico Mangahas, he who wrote the perfect prose of the “Maybe” column of the Tribune of yesteryears. Then there is D. L. Francisco, ace FREE PRESS feature writer, whose exposes and “unsolved mystery” articles were arresting the attention of the nation when FREE PRESS Staffman Leon O. Ty and I were still trying to find our journalistic souls by writing poetic trash for campus magazines. Francisco is the PRO (public relations officer, to you) of the Manila police department. Another writer with the police department is Delfin Flandez Batacan who, before his promotion as technical assistant to Malacañan Police Adviser Angel Tuazon, was in the legal section of the Manila police.

I am sure many FREE PRESS readers have been wondering what has happened to Leon Ma. Guerrero, Jr., who, as Totoy, used to thrill them with “Times in Rhymes” and, as himself, gave them those spicy and meaty stories and articles of the pre-war FREE PRESS. I have been told that Leonie is alive but he is busy with protocols and diplomacy now at the department of foreign affairs. Also at the foreign affairs office is former newsman Carlos Quirino; while Manila columnist Teodoro L. Valencia is the secretary of the Philippine board of censorship for motion pictures.

Provincial Journalists

I understand Ligaya Victorio Reyes and Leopoldo Y. Yabes are now members of the present bureaucracy; and that Poet Fred Ruiz Castro is now a colonel and head of the judge advocate general service of the Philippine army, while his chum and co-worker on the Collegian staff, Macario Peralta, Jr., is now a retired one-star general and the chairman of the Philippine veterans’ board. Writer Nicolas V. Villaruz is now special prosecutor of the People’s Court; while former College Editors’ Guild vice-president Arturo M. Olarga is justice of the peace of Manapla, Negros Occidental.

Even provincial journalists and editors have not been overlooked, so it seems, by the President. Publisher Fernando Lopez of the Times of Iloilo is the present mayor of Iloilo City, while former Commoner editor Vicente T. Remitio is the mayor of Bacolod City. Former News Clipper editor Melanio O. Lalisan, of Bacolod City, is assistant provincial fiscal of Negros Occidental and with him are assistant provincial fiscal Jose. T. Libo-on and Special Counsel Joaquin Sola who have been active in Negros journalism and still are as members of the Negros Press Club, an association of editors and writers of Negros Occidental.

Roman Holiday

But the highest honor ever paid by President Roxas to a reporter was that given to the late Benito M. Sakdalan, veteran metropolitan newspaperman who figured in a sensational case a year ago. The President personally and officially lamented his death and Executive Secretary Emilio Abello and Press Secretary Johnny C. Orendain paid him tribute and joined in his final rites.

And when one calls to mind that everytime the President goes on a junket trip he inevitably takes with him a retinue of reporters and newsphotographers, verily it can be said that under Roxas the press and the writing fraternity are having a Roman holiday.

Ruby in a new setting, August 17, 1946

August 17, 1946 1:29 pm / 1 Comment on Ruby in a new setting, August 17, 1946

Ruby in a new setting

By Ligaya Victorio Reyes

August 17, 1946 –TAKE a delicate, gentle girl from the ordered existence of a ladies school and plunk her in the midst of a palace’s social whirl, and you have a girl more than slightly bewildered. You have Ruby Roxas.

Ruby came home from Vassar not so long ago. She came home to a room done all in blue, to the muffled halls of chandelier-lit rooms, the incessant hustle and bustle of state life. She came home to a mother to whom she is devoted, a father whom she adores, a brother who is also a friend. And in coming home to them, she came back to a life completely new, the kind of life she had not planned on living, even she whose life had been a series of changes.

“I never dreamed of living in the Palace,” Ruby laughed. “only a year ago, we were so concerned about just being able to live that we never bothered about where we lived. We were running in the mountains then, and this dream was too remote for every one of us.”

But now that it had actually happened, how did she like being a President’s daughter?

“It carries with it a lot of responsibilities,” Ruby answered the question. “So many people who come to us have troubles, and if you are at all the sympathetic type, you cannot help but feel for them. But this life is such a drastic change from my well ordered school life. Here we have no regular hours for anything! We never know when we shall eat—yesterday we had lunch at four o’clock. That is no longer a lunch, is it? That is a merienda. We sleep late and we get up early.

“I do not know how we all stand it,” she sighed. “I am surprised that Mother, whose health is not very good, has borne it so well. But I am most worried about Father. One must be a superman to be able to stand the life he leads. He works all the time, he has no time at all to rest. With mother and me, though, there are compensations. One of these is the thought that we are helping Father in helping the people, that we are doing our little part. And so many people need help. Many are so down and out. We want to help everyone. We cannot do it, but we can try.”

And in trying, does she ever have time to concern herself with her own dream, her own ambitions.

Ruby laughs at her dreams and ambitions. “At one time,” she said, “I had planned on following in Father’s footsteps. I was going to take up law and become a politician. That was when I was about ten. Now I have changed my mind. Politics is a dirty and a difficult game, and unless one is prepared to sacrifice himself to the service of the people, he should not attempt it. there are so many heartaches involved in it. Your friends of today become your enemies of tomorrow, and your enemies of yesterday are your friends today. It is a hard life, especially for a girl. Now I am content to stay with my family as much as I can, to lead as quiet a life as is possible for me. Then, later,” and here Ruby paused in serious thought, “I plan to write. My greatest dream is to be able one day to write a biography of my father.” I cannot stop talking of my Father,” Ruby laughed in slight apology. Don’t let me. He is my favorite subject and I am his greatest admirer.”

With a valiant effort, she tore herself away from talk of her father to talk of something else. Of Katherine Cornell and Shaw’s “Candida.” Of Laurence Olivier and his magnificent “Henry the IV.” Of Miriam Hopkins who was hoarse when she played “Laura.” Of Frank Fay and his wonderful acting in “Harvey.” Of bobbysoxers and Frank Sinatra. Of books and movies—these last she loves but she seldom seem s to find time for them.

And she talked of Vassar and the life she led there. Everything was so ordered, even fun. Studies took up a great deal of the time, companionship made it to smoothly, and parties highlighted existence in general. She remembered election time and how jittery her friends were about election returns, and the aftermath for her, personally, of her Father’s being proclaimed President. Fan letters poured in, there was a round of entertainment, and she basked, slightly uncomfortably for one so quietly inclined as she is, in a good portion of reflected glory. And she looks back wistfully to a life so comparatively full and simple, and wonders if she could ever return to it. For now she is the President’s daughter, and much though she would like to be just another beloved , pampered girl, she knows she cannot be. For her Father had chosen to serve, and she must sail along with him in the unsettled ship of state.

The Philippines Free Press Online

Tag Archives: Ligaya Victorio Reyes

Articles and items added as of January 27, 2013

Roxas and the Press, February 22, 1947

Ruby in a new setting, August 17, 1946

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