The Philippine-American_February 1946 by Filipiniana Online

rHE PUILlP~INB AMEn CAN fEBROAR~ J9~ 6

~ N E

•

~ESO

FEBRUARY

194 6

• A RA YMON D "HOUSE PUBLICATION

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THE CASE FOR THE PHILIPPINES by Peter R. Edmonds Page II

FILAMERICAN MAGIC by Salvador P. Lopez Page 64 MacARTHUR OF THE PH ILlPPtNES ..... . M. N. Querol Fidel de Castro SONG FOR REDEMPTION (Story) ... .. . . Amador T. Daguio PRELUDE (Poem) . . .... . THE LOYAL NISEIS Anatolio Litoniua LETTER TO GENERAL ROMULO ... . Renato D. Tayag VERSES .......................... . Gerson Mallillin THE LIBERATiON OF MANILA .. . Narciso G. Reyes THE MAN WHO LIED (Story) .. .... . ... . Francisco Sionil Jose THE DEMOCRATIC FAITH . . ...... . ....... . . Pedro T. Orata Manuel L. Morales THE CROESUS . RING (Story) . . . .. . .... . EXPATRIATE . . ..... Samuel S. Holmes THE BEST SHORT.STORIES OF 1945 Delfin Fresnosa SNAKE IN THE GRASS (Story) ..... Daisy Hontiveros-Avellana .THE_PROOF OF THE PIE . . .. ... . .. .. Sofia Bona de Santos YET, I LOVE AMERICA ..... . .............. Pura Santillan-Castrence

DEPARTMENTS LEITERS .. ..... ..................... PLAIN AND HUMBLE ANNALS ......... THE EAGLE'S EYRIE ... . NEWSMONTH ... . CHAT WITH OUR READERS .. .. .

2 38 b4 b7 70

18 22 24 25 / 28 30 31 34 40 43 46 49 55 58 60

LET'S

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Take precautions to insure lenger sen'ice for your truck 01.::. auto by purchasing spare parts from reliable motor dealers. A piston ring may cost less when bougi'lt from just any dealer, but it- maJ,I cost you mO!:e in the 'long' run due to more breakdowns. Pay more for quality parts and you will be adding more years to the lifetime of your vehicle .

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THE MANILA AUTO SU P PLY is more interested in gaining the goodwill of its customers than in pure profit. Smallel' profits mean bigger dividends when we take into account Our hundreds of grateful custornel's. They leave our doors, not as cu-stomers, but as friends.

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SIGNS DESIGNS POSTERS DISPLAYS BIU.BOARDS CINE SLIDES INTERIOR ARTS ILLUSTRATIONS SCREEN PROCESS PROCESS ENGRAVING INDOOR ADVERTISEMENT

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THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

The Home Which

L_e_tt_e_r_§____

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Yo"

Have

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Missed can now be yours, and at prices that will astonish you. Prefabricated houses which have undergone rigid government tests are

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General MacArthur has directed me to acknowledge with thanks your letter of 12 January enclosing a copy of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN, and to express his hope that your decision to remain in the Philippines and engage in the publication of such a noteworthy magazine as the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN wiJI prove a happy Ollie. He recalls that after each war in which our forces have been engaged in the Philippines, not- ( able contributions towards its progress have been made by those who elected to remain behind as you have done--that the ties between the American and Filipino people thereby have been strengthened .... HERBERT B. WHEELER Col., Aide-de-Camp Military Secretary to the Supreme Commander GHQ, SCAP, Tokyo

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Keep It Up

BATAAN Enterprises,

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R. 206 ViJIonco Bldg. 515 Quezon Blvd. Manila

I like the way M. N. Querol presented the end of Yamashita's dream of conquest, so powerfully dramatized and so interesting. Mrs. Enriqueta David-Perez' "1 am the Echo" was really a beautiful voice from the unsung hero of Bataan. It is, I think, one of the best short stories to come out of the war. Don't you think your Chaoses are making your magazine and PhilippineAmerican relations chaotic? The .situation is getting to be very confusing indeed. Here's a salute to the candidness cf Nina Estrada-Puyat's charming refrain to the song of S. P. Lopez and Noel Young. HORENCIO MA. HERNANDO 416 San Diego Sampaloc, Manila

LETTERS Quality and Direction

Our office has received copies of your magazine, October issue, and I find it a very interesting publication. Your stories and articles have quality and direction. I shall look forward to the pleasure of reading future issues of The PHn.IPPINE-AMERICAN. P. C. MORANTTE

Office of the Philippine Resident Commissioner 1617 Massachusetts Ave., Washington 6, D. C.

PHILIPPINE OPERATIONS, INC. Agents for RAY-O-VAC CO., and BROWN-FORMAN DISTILLERS CORP. promise:

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I have here before me a copy (No. 2) of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN. I believe it is wonderful. I think you should make it grow and grow, until it "comes of age," until it becomes an ins4 titution by itself. We need more of its kind and quality. More power to the magazine and its editors. I read from Issue No.3 that the magazine is being used in Manila high schools now as a supplementary reader, and there's no mistake about it. The magazine is so good that only a hypocrite wiJI judge it otherwise. MACARIO B. RUiz Division Office, Iloilo Normal School

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• • • Longer and Heavier?

Some of your articles are getting a liftle too heavy. And they are getting longer, too. Sometimes my interest lags. How about more breezy, popular features for the average reader? B. ROMERO Infanta, Tayabas We hope Reader Romero will be pleased by ;fIte short, snappy a,rticles and the anecdotes which we are running in this is8ue At the same time, We believe it won't hurt him rCa get his intellectua;z teeth into something solid and substan:'ial every once in a whiu.EOITORS

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THE PHILI PPINE -AME RICA N

De Luxe

for my defen se excep t Exhi bit A-th e

I received your "de luxe" issue of Decemb er as a Chris tmas gift from a thoug htful frien d. Your maga zine fills the cryin g need for an essen tial medi um to prom ote succe ssful PhHippine-American relations now and in the futur e.

PHILI PPINE -AME RICA N.

Your December issue is so far your best. The letter s of the two GIs to Miss Palar ca deser ve speci al ment ion. In his inimi table way Fidel de Castr o has depic ted the real spiri t of Chris tmas in his story , "Wit h Refer ence to Chris tmas ." And there is truth in Ligaya Victo rio-R eyes' lines " ... that possi bly bene ath the muck and ruck of war, there is decency and the gentl eness of peace." MANU EL FE. CONCEPCIONI

San Roque, Cavit e City

It was like this: A frien d of mine was readi ng "So You' re Goin g to the State s!" (Dec embe r issue ). I asked her to pleas e pass the maga zine to me, promising to return it as soon as I finish ed readi ng that parti cular aTticle. I read the GIs' lette rs to Julia . Here is food for thoug ht, I mused. Then I read one more article. One more won' t hurt my frien d. And then anoth er .. • she won' t notice, anyw ay, I said to myself. Until final ly I found myse lf engross ed in a silen t liteT ary feast the like of whic h I seldom find in any other locally print ed maga zine. That 's how I forgo t my frien d completely, my trust ing frien d, and my pTomise ,t o retur n the magazine.

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NIEV ES C., PORTUGAL

Liter ary Feas t

I've been sued for "brea ch of promise." I have no witne sses to prese nt

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LETTERS

Stand Up and Cheer!

My husband brought a copy of your magazine which he said he borrowed from a friend. After reading i,t I showed it to other teachers in our school and they all like your magazine very much. After I receive my salary this month I shaH apply for a half-year subscription. I know that 1'5.50 out of my meager salary of P50.00 a month will be too much of a sacrifice and should not be sPared for anything other than food and prime necessities. But I said to myself: Food, yes, not for the hunger of the body alone but for that of the spirit or the soul or whatever you may caH it. And your publication, I think, can supply that nourishment. (Mrs.) REMEDIOS B. BIBAL Libog Elementary School Llbog, Albay

After Years of Literary Malnutrition

Your magazine provides the type of mental nourishment that everybody should relish after four years of literary malnutrition. Let me congratulate you and your staff for giving the public such a splendid publication. However, may I suggest that you make it a fortnightly so as to shorten the waiting time for its eager readers? Don't be sur-prised if you receive many subscriptions from N egros soon. CORA P. SISON, D.M.D. North Negros Hospital Fabrica, Occ. N egros

The suggestion to make the magazine a lornightly hM been submt~ted to the staff. As the staff is divided, we would like to know the opinion 01 our readers on the mall::'.er.-EDITORS

. ..

The P-A. with the PA I have just finished reading through the Christmas number of the PHILIPPINEAMERICAN. And now it is in the hands of a fellow officer. Like my November

The Law of Life:

No one can stay it but ourselves.

Look Aheadand see a new, beautiful Manila arise from the shambles left by the war, a new city more than ever "The Pearl of the Orient."

Build NowConsult us on investments, brokerage, insurance, loans, real estate.

•

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THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

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copy I think it shall travel far and shall pass many hands with so many interesting and thought-provoking articles in it. The P-A has surely got a way with the men in the PA outfit here.

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• • •

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Reputation

It may delight you to know that, among my acquaintances, I have ac~ quired a reputation for being intelligent just because I carry around with me wherever I go a copy of The PHILIPPINEAMERICAN. I praise and congratulate your entire staff in return. There even was a time when I had to be extremely selfish in lending your magazine to a friend but now I don't have to be because it is well circulated in our municipality. Your magazine will be a part of my private library. FLORANTE M. FLORIAN I Rosario, Cavite

c.:¢.~ ..

O-v.~ ~:¢.~

that we have been appointed the Manila Bureau of the

BATAAN monthly magazine, edited and printed in U. S. A. by the BATAAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. WE NEED articles, pictures, subscription agents. Inquire at

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515 Quezon Blvd. Manila

School Help For' the last couple of months I had been continuously reading the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN. The articles you publish are a great help to me and my classmates in our discussions on rna tters pertaining to our social problems and economic difficulties.

CARLOS R. BUENVIAJE Polangui, Albay

• • •

Debating Circle

As a distributor and reader of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN I can say that its growth in circulation is amazing. If this continues we shall have a top ranking magazine in the Islands, both in quality and circulation. Your controversial articles such

"Was Roxas A Collaborator?" and "The Chaos of Collaboration" have led to the organization in this town of lin informal debating circle.

LETTERS

In the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN We have an unfailing source of information ·a nd authority.

1121-1123

RIZAL AVE.

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Manufacturers

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• • •

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Like General MacArthur

It was by chance that I got a copy of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN. Upon looking at the front cover I saw the names of my favorite writers: Lyd Arguilla, De Castro, Lop'ez, Constantino, Pedroche, et ·al. I am glad they have not been liquidated by the J aps. 1 am impressed with the contents "f your magazine and I believe that it has no <qual in the Philippines. For more than three years I have craved for a quality magazine. The coming of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN was like the return of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. I hope our school authorities will permit the! inclusion of the PRILIPPINEAMERICAN as required reading matter. EWiIO L.

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A real juicy

• * * Address·Getter

About the January issue of ,t he PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN. It is very good (and when is your magazine not good?), but ,t here are two things that are beginning to grow monotonous - the Noel Young and the confusion-collaboration issues. And the rebuttals were conducted, I fear, with more than a hint of iron showing .through the glove. M. N. Querol, by ,t he way, makes ·a superb historian. Incidentally, your magazine was responsible for getting an old GI friend of the 37th Division in ,t ouch with us. He read my letter in the December issue of the P-A, which he had picked up in the Red Cross library in Batangas. He had misplaced ·t he address we gave him when he was last here, and my address pub-

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THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN lished with my letter in the P-A was a "lucky break" according to him.

SERVICE to the

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that source, goods of all sorts, vitally needed in this country, are being shipped t o us steadily. Our different departments, each under competent men, are ready j·o assist you in all your merchandising needs. Don't hesitate to see us regarding your requirements. Office Equipment and Supplies Laboratory Equipment and Chemicals Hardware Department El ectric Motors General Machinery Grocery Department Notions & Novelties

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• • *

Most Interesting

have the December issue of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN and enjoyed reading its thought provoking and timely articles. Of special interest to me are the pro and con views on the issue of the day: Was R oxas a Collaborato,'? These are "must" articles for everybody. Allow me to say that the PHILIPPINEAMERICAN is consistently the most interesting pu.blication in the Philippines. I

ROMULO D. COLOMA 83 P. Ramos St. Guimba, Nueva Ecij a

* '" * Unprejudiced

A friend of mme lent me the N ovember issue of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN. I read all the articles published therein and found them to be clear expositions of facts, unbiased and unprejudiced. This is the kind of publication we most welcome these days. I enj oyed reading it. Please send me all your back issues and consider my subscription to have begun with the first issue. As the Money Order service has not yet been estabI'ished in Oul' town, I will have somebody drop in at your office after the New Year to pay for my subscription. TEOFILO C. ' SAN LUIS Justice of the P eace Concepcion, T arlac

Main Office Villonco Bldg" Quezon Blvd.

NOVELTY STORE 89 Escolta

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MANILA

We are coming out with our next issue the first week of March. Please reserve your copies early.

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Offices in the Philippines: 1050-52 Rizal Avenue, Manila: in America. 1726 Marlton Avenue, Philadelphia 4, Pa., U. S . A . Eric Raymond. President; Salvador P. Lopez, Vice-President; Com'ado S. Felix, T reasurer: M. N. Querol, Secret. ary. Entered 8S Second Class mail matter a t the Man ila P ost Office on November 6, 1945. Subscription: PIO a year, PIS two years. Foreign subscription: $5.60 a year; $10 .00 two years. Advertisin g r ates on a pplicat ion. If return of unsolicited manuscripts is desired, a stamped, self·addressed envelope must be inclosed.

Belt Lacing, Machine Tools Domestic Water Systems

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A LETTER TO A WAR WIDOW by Col'. Yay Agustin An article on-

THE CASE FOR THE FILIPINO SOLDIER and a dozen articles, stories, and poems by writers who, by sharing their vision and insight with us, have! made

The PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN the leading magazine in the field.

Vol. II, No.6

1lte

February 1946

P~ilippit1e .. ame'ticut1 . --

Vou need not tell all the truth, unless to those who have a right But let all you tell be truth . -HORACE MANN to know it all.

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The Case for the Philippines by Peter R. Edrnonds OST Americans approach the problem of Philippine rehabilita· tion and independence on the sentimental thesis that we owe it to our gallant alIies to give them a lift out of the appalIing destruction of war. No ques· tion about it: we do owe the Filipinos a helping hand, but if we extend aid on the basis of sentiment instead of on an understanding of at least a few of the complications facing the young nation, will not be long before the United States will have forgo t ten the Philippines al· together. When that happens it is al· most certain that the standard of living there, which was once the highest in the Far East, will sink to the unbelievable depths of poverty in which the rest of the native peoples now live in this part of the world. Historically, a number of factors combined to give the Filipinos a relatively comfortable living. They had the oriental custom of sticking together as a fami ly which enabled them to mini· mize the misfortunes of any member. They had fundamental moral strength and a basis for individual rights from their 300·year.old Christianity. They occupied a strategic position on the trade routes of Far Eastern commerce. Most

important still, from 1909 on, they were an outpost of the U.S. economy. Indeed in 1938, with estimated in vestmen t s in the Phili ppin e3 of $250 million, Ameri· cans controlled near ly half of all the busin esses in the Phili ppines. In lS';'O the Uni ted States bought 83% of the $153 million of goods expor ted from the Islands and sold 78 % of the $135 million of goods imported. Both the American enterprises and the substantial foreign trade were created almost entirely ')y tariff preference give n by the United St ates on Philippine goods. Until the passage of the Philippine I ndependence Act in 1934, r eciprocity steadily built the prosperity of the Philippin es and of the Americans who invested money here. The 1934 act provided for grad'Ually in· creasing tariffs to 100 % in 1946, but as early as 1937 business interests affected by the increasing tariffs began a cam~ paign to alleviate what they called its I'disastrous effects on the Philippine economy." Their efforts to save their own businesses as well as the Philippine economy were meeting with only moder~ ate success when suddenly the Japanese ended all discussion of the problem, and in the end further complicated things by destroying most of the businesses.

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

understand the nature of Jap·· It is anese destruction is important. almost as important to Americans as understanding that what was destroyed was as much a part of the U.S. economy as the state of Mississippi. When the mad little men of the Yamato race left Manila and Iloilo in shambles, the gutted shells of buildings were not all they left behind. It is true that this physicel damage has been the subject of much guesswork-all the way from $150 million to $3 billion. (The U.S. has settled on Senator Tydings' figure of $464 million) . Other kinds of destruction were even more important. For instance, there is the destruction of the ability to produce. The biggest paint factory in the Islands escaped bombs and fire, but the 28 machines in the factory were run by the Japanese on such inferior materials that not enough parts could be assembled from out of these to get a single machine running. Philippine buildings h ave been unpainted for five years. Before the war Japanese fishermen from the Ryukyus monopolized the fishing industry, one of the principal sources of the Islands' food. Now there are few who know how to fish, even if the boats are available. Result: 10 pesos for a repulsive little fish the size of an un~ dergrown perch. Then there is the general paralysis of economic life. Property which was transferred during the Japanese occupation cannot be used as security for a loan because of questionable title. Notes, loans, and accounts receivable may never be collected, because in many' cases the records went up in smoke. A family of my acquain ance may not be able to get war damage insurance, because all records of title to their property have disappeared. Many, of the men who might otherwise make some sort of a start against the perpetual irritations of doing any sort of business have been broken in health or

mind in Japanese camps.

pl':-~ns

or internment

Most important and most difficult \0 repair has been the moral degradation. During the occupation it was patriotic to resist authority. It was patriotic to steal. It was patriotic to murder. Men who could daily plunder the Japanese, then walk home under a gruesome string of bodies hung from the arches of Rizal Stadium for petty crimes, have not become honest overnight. The difficult days of liberation brought just as great trials in hunger and lack of clothing and ahelter as the Japanese occupation. By far the greatest amount of relief to date has come from the black market. Over a billion dollars worth of goods have been stolen from the Army and sold at inflated profits. The J ap himself could not have devised a more vicious system to destroy the moral fibre of the country. Daily there have been murders. Robbery is more rampant than it has ever been in the Islands, and everybody hates everybody el'se who is in the black market. EspeciallY do they hate the Chinese, who have profited with consummate skill. Yet largely through the black market, Filipinos have been able to feed and clothe themselves. The blame must lie largely with Army and shipping officials who did not provide the goods through legitimate ch annels with more speed and in sufficient quantities. What the Philippines need is a chance to be honest again. MOST Philippine thinkers are agreed on what America's role should be in giving the Philippines their chance. Strangely enough their views are very similar to much American thinking on the subject - at least up to a point. Both Americans and Filipinos are agreed that the proposed $456 million dol~ar war damage payment is a just discharge of a moral obligation where no legal ohligation existed. ' Filipinos

THE CASE FOR THE

applaud American insistence that this money be used for investment in the Philippines and not f or liquidation of enterprises of a questionable future-reviving a sugar central, for instance. Both countries agree that free trade must continue for at least a few years before the young Philippine nation is required to make its way alone in world trade.

PHILIPPINES

trialization , f the country. As in China or South America that can best be done with American money and American skill.

There is no profit in undere stimating the difficulty of industrialization. In 1940 nine-<tenths of all Philippine workers were engaged in agriculture. The Islands have yet to take the first step - the creation of light industries, At this point parallel thinking-and particularly textile manufacturing. Perall public talking-stops. Privately haps with equipment stripped from JapFilipinos see no hope of ever putting _ an, the Philippines will be able to take their nation on a footing to balance their this step, but in its early stages it will trade in a free international market. be handicapped by the low skill of workThey can't sell to China, for instance, ers and will undoubtedly produce higherbecause China either produces all pro- cost textiles than could be imported from ducts herself (sugar, vegetable oils, em- China or India. From there the path is The Islands can broidery ) or there is no market (hemp, even more rugged. cigars). British Commonwealth trade support only a small steel industry belooks even worse, because all Philippine cause of lack of coal, and t!:ey are denied products e"cept Manila hemp are pro- the prospect of a coal chemical industry duced in greater quantities for export for the same reason. Explorations to from British possessions in the Orient. date reveal no hope for a petroleum inThe only way the Philippines can pay dustry. The greatest hope for the presf or the goods they must import to keep ent seems to lie in the lumber industry and in the industrial possibilities of wood UP their prewar standard of living is to continue to sell goods to the U.S. on a processing and wood chemistry. Beyond tax·free basis or persuade American all these obstacles is the greater problem Other money to flow into the Philippines sO of developing skilled workers. that the Philippines can then buy U. S. countries have found that the answer goods. The only alternative would be is two-fold-training in light industry for the Philippines to do without most and more and more mass education. In of the u.s. products they have been ac- the Islands, both of these will take many customed to using and get by largely long years. It is still the marvel and the on what they can grow and make them- regret of .the Western powers that Japan selves. To Americans neither of these was able to accomplish the change in a short period of 25 years. alternatives looks very good; for we are Right now, however, with the great beginning to realize that there is nothing but eventual disaster in the practice ~f buildings of Manila crumbled and sagendlessly sending people goods and get- g ing, ,t heir reenforced concrete bowels ting either gold or promises to pay in exposed, industrialization seems a dream. Before there can be industrialization the r eturn. On the other hand, in cruelly Filipinos who start guiding the I slands destroying the Philippine economy, we as a politically independent nation next woultl at the same time be losing a con- July 4 must give the country enough oiderable market for our own goods. political stability to make it safe for

T HE

real answer for both the Philippines and America is eventual indus-

American investment. They must at the same time solve grievous social unrest among long exploited share croppers and

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

wage earners. And above all they must increase the educational opportunities w;thin the country. All this will take a long time and a lot of patient assistance from the United States. Certainly the economics of the Philippines doesn't make fascinating reading but it is the framework on which the structure of the new nation :nust be built. Philippine leaders realize this much better than most Americans, yet so far they have not gone about nailing on the political clapboarding with any great display of skill. The Commonwealth Congress contained many legislators who are under suspicion of collaborating with the Japanese, yet in spite of its already shady reputation this body made the poiitical mistake of voting itself three years' back pay and even considered giving itself a boost in salary. The result is that the gentlemen who should be guiding the Commonwealth toward nationhood are widely regarded with rather scathing contempt. The helpless fumbling of public officials with relief plus a minor amount of petty graft have put most of the administrative officials into similar disrepute. The U. S. Army has carried on the actual administra tion of the country J and evuybody knows it. The great question of the day is what is going to happen when the Ar my withdraws. In getting an answer to that question one always eventually ends with the same repiy : It all depends on the United St ates. In a sense this &nswer is inevitable because of the weakness of the Commonwealth government and the peculiar politics in which it is tangled. There is only one real issue in Philippine politics. ShaH independence be postponed? Yet no one dares raise this iswe because to do so would be political suicide. 'l'wo parties in Philippine history have di,'~ rapid deaths trying to promote sto tehood or a dominion status in opposition to independence. They

died despite rather substantial financial help from businessmen who stood to lose their fOl-tunes with independence. Furthermore, both the Phiiippines and the United States now find themselves in the awkward position of being shining lights in a world of pretty shady imperialism. The ideal of independence means so much in world affairs that it is something which neither of them can now afford to compromise.

T HE liberal American press, which has paid the most attention recently to Phiiippine affairs, has somewhat overstated the facts about Philippine collaboration. It can be either a crime or it can be a convenient political smear. When Genel'al MacArthur left for Australia, Philippine officials had verbal instructions to stay at their posts. From the Japanese they soon had very specific instructions to stay at their posts or risk severe punishment. The choice for any individual official was to do what he could for his countrymen or himself by staying at his job or turning it over to a Japanese, and risk prison or torture as a consequence. Manuel Roxas, Senate president and probable candidate for president, put the issue very succinctly when he said: "Secretary Ickes and the left-wing Amel'ican press g ive the impression that Our People's Court must turn in convictirns of collaborators or else U. S. aid wm be denied us. I consider this an injustice. I want to see everyone sus .. pected tried, but I want them to get a fair trial. We consider we have set up a competent court. The Philippine government is willing to abide by its decisions. But certainly there should be some common sense in approaching the problem. Because some administrators stayed on the job, does that mean that every dog-catcher must be tried fer collaborationism?H Senator Roxas personally feels that the test of guilt should be the actual giving of aid and

THE CASE FOR THE PHILIPPINES

comfort to the Japanese in their war effort. Both the fiery Senator and elderly President Sergio Osmena are members of the NacionaJista party. The party has ~ very well intended secial program. It hopes to proceed with the purchase of large rice estates and their distribution to present share croppers by government-financed sale. It hopes to continue to break the usuricus financing and marketing of rice with the National Rice and Corn Corporation. It hopes to settle the rich and unpopulated regions of Mindanao. It hopes to encourage cooperatives, to increase public health activities, to improve education. Philippine cynics observe that the Nacionalistas have on hand. only a surplus of paving <materials-for the road to hell. For the present, it must be admitted that the cynics are right, for the Philippine government has no funds, and except for the shaky hope of borrowing from the United States it has very little chance of getting any substantial funds in the near future. Nearly all prewar taxes of the Commonwealth fell on business and commerce, and now there is practically BO business or commerce. There is no real property. The government has no adequate machinery for collecting complica ted taxes. In addition to the ineffectiveness caused by the shortage of experienced leaders and government technicians there is one more factor which places the responsibility for Philippine rehahilitation squarely on the shoulders of th United States. That is the real danger of fascism. In this war we have had a very good picture of the conditions that breed fascism, and most of those conditions are now simmering in the Philippines under the lid of U. S. Army administration. I n Pampanga province there exists social un rest of long standing caused by

the depressed condition of the tenant farmers. Prominent among the leaders of protest are the Hukbalahaps, some of whom are professed communists. The perpetually thorny problem of social unrest has been complicated by the fact that many of these men are armed and that they are sweating out the $64 question: Were they guerrillas or were they bandits? The Huks are a minority and probably couldn't win a dozen mayoral. ty elections if disarmed, but they definitely contribute to making the political scene uneasy , especi ally because they are fig hting for a cause which, from the point of view of social justice, is dead right. In the industrial centers are a group of ruined business barons. Before the war these men wielded tremendous political influence, a very natural stat e of affairs for the grou p r esponsible for the building of a frontier economy. Many of these men backed the wrong horse during the Japanese occupation. They tried to conceal their money in real estate. Unfortunately real property was destroyed by the fighting and hy the mad Japanese. On the other hand, the Chinese definitely hacked the right hor se. Following their rather strictly mercantile tradition, they put their money into jewelry and other goods of great value that were easy to conceal. In the fantastic inflation that followed liberati on they profited to a point where they were virtual monopolists of all the commodities in the islands. The Chinese haye long been di sliked for their devotion to mercantile operations and their sometimes rather merciless financial and middleman operations in the provinces. Their current success has made the sentiment against them so active that the Chinese Government has filed at least one protest in the last few months against mistreatment of Chinese nationals in the Philippines.

THE PHILIPPrNE-AMERICAN

A ND

so the stage is set. TheI'e is hunger and social unrest, which can be met with promises of tenancy reform. There are a group of business barona who can be promised their old power. There is a ready made scapegoat in the Chinese. There is a large and well armed Philippine army. All that is needed is the potential dictator and the chance to act. There are many good reasons to believe that neither the man no'r the chance to act will soon appear. The best reason would seem to be that the economic dependence upon the United States would prevent any such regime from selzmg power. Secondly, the United States will always be present in a military sense in the permanent bases contemplated for the Philippines. Furthermore, t hough much of the stage setting for fa scism has always been present in lesser degree, the Filipino's love of freedom and individual rights has continued to push ttiward democratic independence. Yet both because the danger does exist and because the government wiII take years to develop the men it will need to guide the new nat ion successfully through its coming troubles, the United States must lend a helping hand. The hand will not be bitten for a long time, because Filipinos fully realize their country cannot exist without it. The great danger both for the United States and for the Islands is that the United States wiII lose interest in a few years, and insular policy will revert t<1 a tug of war between groups who stand to make or lose dollars and pesos if the U. S. Congress can be persuaded to slap on a restriction here or extend a privilege there, It may surprise American~ to learn that the principal reason that' Filipinos are soon to get their freedon~ is not enlightened U. S, colonial policy It is primarily because U. S. sugar in

terests wanted to eliminate the tax preference on Philippine sugar and because U. S. dairy interests wanted to hobble competition to dairy fats from Philippine vegetable oils. They waged a continual and effective campaign for Philippine independence. Should the United States public lose interest, the Islands might soon find themselves with the cruel independence that would best serve only the interests of U. S. competitors of Philippine products. To many Americans it may seem that our complete control of the future economy of the I slands and the substantial influence the U. S. must exercise over the Philippine government for the benefit of both countries is a far cry from what they learned in grammar school about the meaning of the word "independence." The best answer to this was provided by Dr. Andres V. Castillo, economist to the Philippine Senate. He said: "Cer.taintly, from nOw on the Philippines are going to be utterly dependent upon the United States. A whim of the United States will be able to ruin the islands or create great prosperity h ere. But what is the difference? Isn't it the same with China? Isn't the future of Britain and the British empire going to be determined by United States aid? And South America, and France, and Spain, even Russia will have a hard time going it alone. The whole world is dependent upon the United States. The only difference is tha t the Philippines are moving toward political independence. Those other countries already are there." Dr. Castillo is right. American policy il:: the Philippines is just a microcosm of American policy in the whole world. Thinking Filipinos realize the tremendous effects every American <\ecision will have on their futures, but it is not at all evident that there are many Americans who reali.,e how really great their nation is. There may now be large

FATAL HABIT

numbers of Americans who will agree that the United States should for its own best interest expend the money and the patience that it will take to raise the living standards of the Philippines through indu.strialization. They understand that we will be able in this way to sel1 more goods to the Philip:;>ines and buy more products from the Philippines in return. There are probably even more Americans who would encourage such enlightened self-interest in dealing with the world at large. But to get down ~o cases, it does not seem likely that there are many domeseic cigar

manufacturers

who

would

en-

courage the continued duty-free ent ry of Philippine cigars because the total sum of businessmen engaged in

COIn-

merce with ~he Philippines as well as the two nations as a whole benefit thereby. But enough U. S. citizens must interest themselves in the larger picture to force the domestic cigar man into the alternative business of im,porting

Philippine (and Havana) cigars, even perhaps use the socialistic device of compensating the cigar manufacturer for his loss instead of making him take it all himself. When you start multiplying the cigar Industry by adding embroidery and sugar and beef and wines and oil and rubber and textiles and lumber products, and all the other goods that move in international trade, the amount of wisdom that will be required to make enlightened self-interest prevaH over unenlightened self-interest becomes evident. For Americans it is an age for great

courage

and

great

understanding-

more courage and more understanding

than we have ever shown in the past. To the degree that Americans fail the alternative is inevitable ; a poorer American

and

impoverished

world. The painful history of the recent past shows the price of poverty. It is social unrest, fascism, and war.

* Fatal Habit ONE OF my GI fri ends told me this story. It was du ring the week after the Americans entered the city. A Japanese straggler, dreSSed in Filipino civi lian clothes to escape detection, roamed the streets.

An American M.P. politely went up to him and said: " Better get going, buddy.

There's going to be some bloody shoot-

ing around here anytime now."

The J ap hurriedly left. But he made one fatal mistake. bowed out of habit before he turned to go.

And the M.P . was not dumb. He saw through the disguise and apprehended the very much surprised Japanese. -SOPHY NATALIE MORGlN

I don't understand myself.-Jose GM'cia Villa. Know thyself.-Socrates. From the Manila Post

MACARTHUR of the Ph ilippines by JIll. N. Querol N J anuary 1942, Douglas MacArthur f ound himself in an aw bvard position. HIS Fllamencan tlOOpS had been awar ded the coveted Presidential Citat ion for their masterly wit hdrawal into the cit adel of Bataan; but t he t actical situat ion - which is to say, his tac tical situation-had deteriorated beyond all hope. America's Pacific Fl eet upon which the democracies had depended to challenge Japan's southward march of empire, lay in the silt of P earl Harbor. Guam had fallen; Manila h ad capit ulated; Singapore was about t o f all. I n the Bataan jungles 70,000 F ilamericans were walled in between Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma's imper ial t r oops and the sea. It was probably the greatest dilemma ever f aced by a field commander since the Au strians, badly outmaneuvered at Ulm, surr ender ed to Na poleon without f iring a shot. B'lt MacAr thur kn ew that it is the office of the good commander to be as a torch spilling its light in the dar k, t hat cheerfulness in the face of disast er is one of the secrets of command. Across the blue water from Corregidor sped the words that drew a laugh from t he men at the front .... "They have the bot tle. But I have the corle" MacArthur was determined to hold that cor k. He knew that the Philippine Sea had become a Japanese lake and that immediate help was not forthcoming from the outside world, but he had no doubt of the ultimate arrival of a mighty armada loaded with the men

and material to beat the J ap. Therefore his strategy of defense was one of depth, capable of sustaining prolonged fighting and incessant retreat. Not for him the tactics of cavalry-fighting one moment and fleei:1g the next. He would make the J ap pay dearly fOl' every inch of ground he took. Let him come and try to smother the Filamericans with overwhelming firepower: they would be dug in along a line of battle, ready to meet him there. When their supplies became low, he, MacArthur, would con~ duct lightning Taids on the enenlY's stores, then retire to the safety of his lines with his precious prize. The J ap's superiority in armament and numbers would tell in the end and defeat would have to be faced; but even then there was to be no sur render. He intended to spiit his forces into guerrilla ban us, take to the hills, harassing the enemy from every side. Then, when help arrived from the American mainland and fresh troops were landed on the beaches, his guerrilla army would appear from nowhere and strike at the enemy's rear. MacArthur arrived at this decision not upon military considerations alone. Five years before, he had assured his friend Manuel Quezon that the Philippines could be defended and that no power would attempt a Philippine invasion unless it was prepared to lose millions of lives and billions in treasure. Upon that assurance he had staked his professional reputation.

MACARTHUR OF :rHE PHILIPPINES

his father Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur had helped prove that defense of the Philippines against a wellequipped, determined force was hardly possible. A winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor during the War between "I've studied the problem since 1928 the States, the elder MacArthur later and I am convinced that it is defensible, commanded a division in General Elwell or that its conquest can be made so exOtis' American Expeditionary Forces in pensive no nation would attempt it." the Philippines. The facts of that campaign, which HOMMA'S repeated assaults against constitute an effective argument against the Filamerican line, running roughly the thesis of Philippine military defenfrom Abucay in the east to Bagac in sibility, were not sufficiently conclusive the west called upon MacArtbur to prove to Douglas MacArthur. Like his father, his words. who as military governor of the PhilipAs he pored over his tactical maps pines was bold enough to institute the and designed the intricate strategy that writ of habeas corpus when Filipino resulted in the Japanese slaughter at guerrillas still threatened peace, he was Abucay, he had reason to feel elated. prepared to prove that it could be done. His raw, ill-equipped Bataan army Throughout the darkest days in Babecame overnight an army of tough taan, his faith in that belief was never veterans under the stress and fire of shaken. '1.'0 the ailmg Quezon, bedndden battle. He had six years to train that in his lateral On COl'l'egidor, he wou l,d army, to turn it into an effective frontsay j oculal'iy : line force. In Bataan's treacherous de"We'll go back to the Philippines, Mr. files it was pl'oving itself equal to the President, and if necessary I'll put you finest troops the enemy could throw back in Malacaiian on the points of my against it. bayonets. l1 When MacArthur undertook to train MacArthur meant those words pi:ecise: that aI'my, the enemy was, in his judgly as he said them. He had for Quezon ment, hypothetical at best. Japan? a close and abiding friendship, its roots Probably. But if Japan were to make a driven deep in his aln10st mystical con· Philippine entry upon America's withviction that the Philippines formed a dodrawal from the Islands, she would split minant pattern in the lives of the Macher empire into two parts and render Arthurs. As military governor I the elher military position difficult. Macder MacArthur had caught the inlagiArthur was convinced that Japan's milination and love of the Filipino people. As tarists were too astute to try a push to general-in-chief of their army, the the south. Nevertheless he plunged younger MacArthur stood between them with grim seriousness into the task of and the Japanese conqueror. training an army for a war that may he Philippines indeed is a land to never come, and for his complete devotion to that self-imposed duty the gratecome back to. Here in this land of tall ful Quezon conferred upon him the palms and sweet rice, he had seen the baton of a field marshal. hand of destiny. He had begun his mi'litary career with a survey of Leyte "It's a big job," MacArthur admitted. "But I want to do it in defiance of the as a lieutenant of engineers. As a brigeneral opinion that the Philippines Can- gade commander, he had journeyed to not be defended." Bataan upon his own responsibility and Oddly, some thirty-seven years before, mapped out a defense line capable

Plagued by wonies over possible J apanese encroachment, Quezon had raised the question of Philippine military defensibility in blunt terms. MacArthur's reply was positive and simple:

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

of protracted resistance. Now the impatient Homma was subjecting that line to fierce amphibious attack; but the defending troops, deployed in mass upon it were holding well. In the Philippines h~ had received his first practical training as a combat officer; i~ Ba.taa~'s opaque jungles he was proVlng hiS fitness for command. In this hour of grave peril, MacArthur and the Philippines were one. So at his headquarters on Corregidor he bent over his battle maps-the American commander of a predominantly Filipino army. A white man, he was at heart as Filipino as the lowly frontline soldier whose face had become as brown as a ripe coconut under the Bataan sun. TC1 Douglas MacArthur, Manuel Quezon was not Manuel Quezon: he was "Mr. President." Every day, on Corregidol', h '1 visited the sick leader, giving good Aheer to dep'Tessed spirits. Directly from MacArthur, Quezon learned of th" little victories snatched from the J apanese by the men at the front. MacArthur was Quezon's messenger of news from the outer world. In the President's lateral, while enemy aircraft roared, Quezon and MacArthur talked of the coming peace and the rebuilding of Philippines. When Quezon at first refused to leave Corregidor upon Franklin Roosevelt's request, MacArthur insisted upon it as vitally necessary to the coming peace. That night, in the submarine that started Quezon on his trip to Washington and to death, MacArthur was silent and subdued. The President was sick: Could he stand the strain of an. underwater journey? What if he were caught by the Japanese?

HE fretted at his headquarters until he got official word that the President had reached his distination without mishap. Then he concentrated on the problem at hand: Homma's divisions were

poised on the left-center of the Bataan line, ready for a whirlwind thrust. The situation was rapidly becoming critical, but MacArthur was determined to see Bataan through. When orders came from Washington instructing him to proceed to Australia and assume command of the Southwest Pacific, he refused. Not until his staff officers convinced him that he was the man to lead the counter offensive from the south did he change his decision. His final orders to his successor in Bataan, Li-eutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright, were brief: I want you to make it known to all the element8 of your command that I am leaving ov..- my repeated p?·otest. The defense of Bataan must be deep. For any prolonged defense, you must have depth. When the supply situlation become~ impossible, there must be no thought of surrender. You must p,ttack. You should aetack stmight no?·th with the I Corps and reach Olongapo. The II CO?·ps 8hould advance rapidly to Dinalupihan and thence move quickly west on OlonlJapo, where you will join forces and be able to seize Japanese supplies. In the hot, oil-smelling cabin of the submarine that took him to Mindanao that night, MacArthur saw visions of a rugg.ed army, ful! of mobility and striking power, grappling with the Jap. Above this army was a swarm of divebombers-artillery on wings-terrible in the sun. This was such an army as he would lead in the Philippines when the time was ripe. From the time he drove the Japanese inch by bloody inch from Mount Owen Stanley in New Guinea, the whole world knew that MacArthur had a personal war against Japan. "I shal! return," his promise to the Filipinos was no mere propaganda slogan; it was a formal pledge redeemable when the date fen due. With fierce insistence he wheedled the men and material needed for a sustain-

LIFE OVER DEATH

ed Pacific offensive. This was not easy: Washington was preoccupied with the European front. To get his requisitions approV1ed, MacArthur continually threatened to resign his command. But at last the triphibious campaigns could go on-battles that were marked with his personal touch: the quick feint, the swift by-pass, the wide envelopment. One by one the J apanese bastions fell: Lae, Buna, Biak, Hollandia, Morotai, Angaur. As he landed his great army on Leyte's beaches, he saw a dream come true. MacArthur had returned, but someone had fallen on the eve of the journey home: Manuel Quezon was not with him. At the joint session of the Philippine Congress, another leader was on hand

to receive his supreme tribute to the courage of the Filipino people. For his fidelity "to his plighted word, after a long and difficult campaign," the Congress declared him an honorary citizen of the Philippines. His likeness will be stamped on coins bearing the inscription "Defender-Liberator," and his name will be carried in the permanent rolls of the Army. When his name is called in parade formations, the senior non-commissioned officer will reply, "Present in spirit!" This honor accrues to MacArthur a. long as this country exists, a fitting memorial to a life dedicated to the service of the Philippines. To Douglas MacArthur, the Philippines is home, and the reply, ((Present in spirit!" will never be an empty phrase.

* Life Over Death WHILE strolling about the ruins of Fort Santiago days after the booming of cannon had ceased, I came to a place where a pile of bleached bones and skulls was smo~ thered by thriving weeds. In the midst of this desolation a tiny vermillion flower bloomed in solitary splendor. It was like a speck of light in a murky sea. I stooped to contemplate this symbol of hope over despair, of life over death. To my amazement I noticed that the little plant was growing from under a skull. In its struggle to see the light of day it had pushed outward and curled its tiny stem until it found an openinga cavity of the eye-through which it reached upward to spread its leaves in the sunshine, blooming above the nasty world even if only for awhile. Contributed by SANCIiO ENIUQUEZ

Song for

REDEMPTIION by Fidel de Castro ceps and perception, and in love with Marcelina Arcu ego. For nights while the moon grew in size ERNARDO CARPIO died in the Bernardo would sit down on the bamboo middle of a song. floor strumming his guitar softly before The bullet opened a hole in his an oil lamp on the squat dining table. t.hroat, but to those who loved him, his .on the table before him was a piece of death is an indictment against demo- paper and a pencil borrowed from Terio cracy. , the j ue t eng collector. H e died the evening of the day TruPlucking the strings searching for the man, Attlee, and Stalin sat at a round right tune. Softly for the hesitant hearttable in Moscow to talk about controlling beat. And then warmly enflamed for the atomic bomb. the swift splendour that knows no time Bernardo Carpio died in a little barrio and waiting now: I love you, Marcelina, in Nueva Ecija wher e moonlight and the mOon and the plow are both for hangs like a banner under the eaves. us, and forever for our children the Where t he seed, at last, has found its dreams and the toil between the seedplace in soil and in men's hearts to unfold ling and the star. And the fevered finger wrote. The its miracle. The miracle, or rather a part of it, notes and the words and more. The penwas unfolding in BeTnardo's song when cil performed a blueprint for the summer a bullet hit his throat and stopped the and the future of love, for the querulous beautiful r evelation. The song was heart and the fire and the bells in the silenced in the middle of its direction blood. That was Bernardo Carpio's love song but the beginning and its implications that night, and when his voice vibrated were clearly defined. in the moonlight, the wind from the The music and the words died not on fields carried the notes clearly under the a note of triumph. The pitch was just beginning to rise. leaves, over the listening growth on negIt was an intelligent note, a little am- lected yards, into the friendly open winbitious perhaps, impassioned, but res- dows. And the people knew that Bernardo ponsible. Carpio, at last, had decided to ask MarThat wa s how the song died in the celina Arcuego to be his wife. middle of a night made for love. HEY all knew about the plans. The Bernar do Carpio's death-song was act ually a love song. And more. clean bamboo house by the stream with For he wa s t wenty-five years old, a a window to greet the sunrise and a papoet wit h a guitar, a soil tiller with bi- pag near the stairs for the tired worker

SoNG FOB REDEMPTION

from the fields thirsting for a dipper of cool watel' and bright communal talk. A farm of their own: the government will see to that. And the children: Clothes on their backs to go to school on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and to church in town on Sundays. And after thirty-five years, maybe Manuel Sergio Carpio, the eldest, will be delivering speeches in the town plaza during election time on how to serve and not fool, cheat and bleed the peopie, on how to run the government and kill the evil forces working against democracy. That night the people in the barrio f:rst heard Bernardo's nervous guitar prelude, and then his voice, and then the men went out into the night and congregated in the unfenoed yard in front of the Arcuego home. They wanted to see the bewitching effects of the lover's serenade: Marcelina arising from . her dream, and dreamy with sleep but heavenly with excitement and the unworded surrender, opening the window to reveal the flower of her face th rough the moonlight hanging like a banner under the eaves. The barrio folk wanted to see the sweetly aching consummation of a quiet and idyllic romance interrupted by the violence of World War II. They knew everything that had happened between the time enemy bombs first fell on Philippine soil and the hour the last guerrilla bullet was fired in the hills. How Bernardo grew in stature. How the barrio wrote history. How a legend was born. And the following were the highlights: 1. In the hills Bernardo Carpio was referred to as Commander Luna of Squadron 26. 2. Each twilight he died and lived with his men, and the unresurrected deaths he monumented in blood-tingling ballads.

3. He carried in his heart courage, hate for the enemy and love for God, country and Marcelina. 4. In his pocket, her rosary and her portrait taken in the town's only photo studio a year before the first bomb f ell. 5. He knew what Democracy was all about. Bernardo Carpio: Poet and songwriter. Lover and patriot. Farmer and stalwart. The silence in the yard as Bernardo sang that night was full of respect, and in the heart of the men who listened memory leaped like a dancer weaving the pattern of a lifetime crowded with the first life·engulfing touch of finger against the beloved reality and the words and music un spooled from there until each setting of the moon through the long unremembered years. Bernardo Carpio sang with his eyes identifying heaven with the closed window that was, he knew, about to open. The pitch was just beginning to rise. It was an intelligent note, a little ambitious perhaps, impassioned but responsible. I love you, Marcelina, and the moon and the plow are both for us, and forever for our . . .

T HERE was a volley.

Nobody can tell even now how many shots were fired that night. The men ran and stumbled in confusion. There were many noises. Ugly, sharp, splintering. And through all this Bernardo kept on singing. The pitch was just beginning to rise. The note was not a note of triumph. And then the bullet hit its mark and the unfolding miracle died before its completion. The unfinished song was silenced forever in the ugly hole that gaped in Bernardo's throat. That was the gravest casualty of that night's tragedy.

THE: PHILIPPINE:-AMI!:IUCAN

The city newspapers carried a front page story three days afterwards and the lead read as follows: "In a shooting affray between MPs and lawless elements in a barrio in Nueva Ecija, two men, a woman and a child were killed." No simple lead could have been more truthful than this: " Bernardo Carpio died in the middle of a song. The bullet opened a hole in his throat, but to those

who love him, hi. death is an indictment against democracy." And the phrase "those who love him" would have meant the farmers, the workers, the peasants of the world who are now singing their song for redemption. Who will cock the loaded gun, aim at their throats, and squeeze the trigger to silence the song before its completion?

* PRELUDE

by AMADOR T. DAGUIO . , This is the beat of my heart Seeking you: drumming its ca./l In pulses no measures can part For you alone. All The years I spent in the sun Of my childhood, and my manhood's rise , Troop now in glorious longing, run To the call of your eyes. No tears shall sorrow my lov e, No pain shaill be palmed by me As fat e's gift-having you. Prove If you will, even as you now see. For I offer you the fragrance bloomed From all the flowers my thinking distilled: And what bitterness I found is doomed , Only sweetness is left-the rest I killed. Listen, therefore, to the 'music of my breast, Lean upon me, I look up to the light. I love yoUr-I love you tende1'ly-rest Your loveliness in me, for it is night.

The enviable war record of Japanese-American soldiers

The Loyal Niseis by Anatolio Litonjua

Na restaurant in downtown Manila recently two Nisei soldiers-Niseis are Americans of Japanese descent

-were taking

ice~c:r€am.

Presently, a

Phfiip,pine Army lieutenant seated at a near-by table spotted t hem, nudged his companion, another Filipino. "Damn Japs," h~ said aloud and hurled a stream of abuse on the two Niseis, maligning their r acial antecedents and impugning their loyalty to America. Bootblacks idly standing at the doorway were attracted by the incident, went into the restaurant, gawked at the two Japane",,Americans as if they were strange animals in a zoo, and contributed their bit to the harangll~. The Niseis struggled hard to control themselves. Not wanting to create .. scene, they abruptly stood up from their half-emptied cups of ice-<:ream, and walked out. In another incident, three Niseis were walking down the Escolta one evening when they were stopped by a Manila policeman and perfunctorily ordered to show their credentials. Presently, more Filipino cops arrived in a jeep, sur-

rounded the bewildered Niseis, and gave them a stinging lecture on military deportment-"Rol! down your sleeves, you Japs. Button up your shirts." The Niseis protested that since they were off-duty they were not expected by the military authorities themselves to be strictly ae rigeur in their appearance. At this, that particular specimen of "Manila's Finest" blurted out: "If I had my way, I'd kill all of you J aps."

Such incidents are regrettable because they tend to create animosity towards a group of people who have proV1ed to be one of our most loyal allies. Such outbreaks are usually the outcome not 80 much of racial intolerance as of ignorance. The influential New York Times in .. recent editorial deplored the occurrences, g iv ing as reason for Filipino bitterness the fact that "over three years ~f Japanese occupation had taught them to hate t he very sight of a Japanese, in whatever uniform he might be dressed ," To the credit of the Niseis subjected to ill-treatment, it may be said that they have shown admirable self-control in the face of frequent provocations.

THE

Niseis concerned belonged to the interpreters and translators team which has been rendering invaluable service in the current war crimes trials in Manila. Major General Basilio J. Valdes, former chief of staff of t he Philippine Army and a member of the military commission that tried Gen. Masaharu Homrna and other war criminal suspects, has highly commended the services of Nisei interpreters duriJlg the trials. "In the past," General Valdes said, "these men have contributed much in the campaigns for the liberation of the Philippines. Today they are doing a difficult and valuable service in assisting the trial and prosecution of those war criminals who brought so much terror and violence to the Filipino people. The job of clearing the .urrendered force. of

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

Japan from the Philippines has been immeasurably hastened by the untiring work of Nisei interpreters in the field." Though the attitude of the Filipinos here toward the J apan€se-Americans i. to be deplored, the situation is less serious than in the United States where the authorities admit that the Nisei problem cannot be solved overnight. In certain instances, the prej udice against the Japanese-American has been as bitter and relentless as that against the Negro. Acts of violence perpetrated by white Americans against Nisei on the Pacific coast in recent months are wellknown. There they have b€en driven from their homes 0 1' expelled from communities, often under threat of physical injury and death. The hatred of the Nisei is a complex of racial prejudice, economic rivalry, and wartime hysteria. In the Philippines the Nisei problem is less complicated, the local antagonism against the Japanese-Americans being the simple outgrowth of the abhorrence of the Japanese as such ,e ngendered by ihe war. The Niseis, it must be borne in mind, are Japanese born in the United States or its territories, such as Hawaii, and are therefore American citizens. Brought up in the healthy atmosphere of America, they are much like white GIs who gripe, swear J get bored and homesick, like to have fun. Since liberation I have m€t a goodly number of them. A finer group of soldiers and gentlemen I have not had the pleasu!'e to know. Hearing them talk is just like listening to any other group of GIs who like to grumble at the snafus of the U. S. Army. "Hell, t he earlier I get home to dear old U. S. A., the better it will be for my morale," says a 22-year-old Nisei- technical sergeant who has spent three solid years overseas. At the time of the fall of Okinawa another Nisei sold;"r wrote to his folks in the U. S. how "damned glad" he was

over America's acquisition of additional "real estate" because it meant the war would be over that much sooner. At the same t ime he expressed contempt for "these J aps" who were surrendering in such increasing numbers that he could no longer go to his regular Sunday baseball games. This Nisei was an interpreter with a processing team in a Luzon prisoners-af-war camp. Some Niseis share the prejudices of some white GIs toward the Filipinos. A Nisei's letter to his girl friend in California talked of "these stinking flips" and of Filipino girls "who don't rate a second look." Maybe this lonely soldier only wanted to reassure his f iancee that he was still faithful and that no other girl could take her place in his heart.

T HE

point is that the Niseis are loyal Americans despite their Oriental features and their J apane~e ancestry. Their r~cord in this war is enviable. Most spectacular Nisei achievement in combat was that of the looth Battalion -composed entirely of Japanese-Americans-which the Army News Service called "the most decorated, worst hit group in American uniform." Incorpo~ rated later into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, it slugged through the worst phases of the Allied campaign in Italy, France, and Germany. It is one of the three or four U. S. Army units which are entitled to wear the blue Presidential Citation Badge with oak-leaf clusters which was first awarded to the USAFFE troops in the first Philippine campaign. In less than a year of action, the combined teams suffered 9,230 casualties, including replacements, out of the original group of 8,000 which left Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Th" Pl'esidential citation for the 100th Battalion reads: "The fortitude and intrepidity displayed by the officers and men of the 100th Battalion reflect the finest traditions of the Army of the United States."

ONE PUDDLE TOO MANY The first day of the Pacific war, two of the oliginal members of the lOOth Battalion captured the lone crew of a oneman Japanese submarine which groundod on a reef off Oahu. This was, incidentaUy, the first Japanese to be taken by Am'erican soldiers in this war. The missions assigned to Nisei soldier! in the Pacific during the decisive periods of the war and later were ~quaUy vita!. They performed delicate tasks in military intelligence that helped hasten the Japanese surrender. As translators and interpreters, they risked th'eir lives in missions to persuade the Japanese to leave their mountain hide-outs and give up the fight. Today an intelJigent, hardwork;ng group of Niseis numbering at least 60

'1.7

still "sweat it out" here, serving as translators and interpreters in the war criminal trials. When the death verdiet on Yamashita was handed down by the American military commission, I had occasion to ask a Nisei interpreter what he thought of the decision. "If Yamashita i8 guilty," the Nisei said, "I don't see why he shouldn't get the supreme penalty for such horrible atrociti".. Had the war turned the other way, I don't think the Japanese would even hold the semblance of a tria!." Another Filipino rudely butted into our conversation, "Tell m~ frankly," he addressed the Nisei, "do you feel any loyalty for Japan?" The Nisei reddened, but only for a moment. "I am an American," he said.

* One Puddle Too Many WE WERE walking along the trail, seven of us in a row. We carried a radio transmitter and five of us were armed with carbines and tommyguns. Father Frank, as we called him, was in the lead. He ' was our camp chaplain-a short, curly haired, bespectacled representative of the Lord with ·a resonant bass voice. The moon was beginning to come up. The trail wound through the ghostly coconut trees. Moonlight filtered here and there through the overhanging palms lighting up patches of hard, clayey ground. After a while, we noticed that Fat her Frank would skip, walk and jump every now and then. The first time he jumped, we jumped with him-he was the guide. Afterwards, finding nothing to jump ov-er, we just walked. Just the same, our curiosity was aroused. We noticed particularly that ever;ttime we came to a patch of moonlight, he'd jump. So, we all knew, he thought the patches of moonlight were water puddles. We just kept quiet. Father Frank soon noticed, however, that we were not jumping with him. He looked closer and found out that he had been jumping o;'er imaginary puddles of moonlight. Not wanting to "mbarrass him, we held our laughter. He stopped jumping and just walked with his peculiar rapid gait. Soon we came to a particularly shiny patch of moonlight. This time Father Frank didn't skip or jump. He just walked on with all the jauntiness and assurance of the unwary. There was a big splash . .W e looked, and there was the benevolent Padre standinli knee-deep in real, honest-to-lioodne •• water. Contributed by Rli:UBilN C. BALAOOT

Letter TO GENERAL ROMULO by Renata D. Tayag My dear General: HEN I was in Washington, D.C., last December, I went to your office at 1617 Massachusetts Avenue to pay my respects, as all Filipinos should who go visiting in Washington. Dr. Arturo B. Rotor offered to present me to you. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for the Filipino people, you were busy attending some conference or session at Capitol Hill. I was somewhat disappointed, for I thus missed the chance of talking with the person who is the voice of the Filipin'o people in America. Yes, I wanted to talk with that voice, as well as listen to it. I've been told that there is no escaping it. When you speak, eighteen million Filipinos speak. The voice is you" but it is also the voice of the people whom you so ably represent. The voice is eloquent mainly because in the eyes of America your people's deeds have been eloquent. Americans told me that they have heard that voice f rom the platform, over the radio, and in the movies. lance had occasion to listen to that voice during my first week-end in Detroit. It was at the Telenews on Woodward Avenue. The main feature was HOrders From Tokyo," a pictorial ac· count of the brutalities the Japanese committed in Manila. You came on the screen to give the introduction. There was a hushed silence the moment you utter ed your first words. Hel'e was a Filipino, short and pug-nosed, every inch a foreill'ner, yet how eloquently he used the Enll'lish tonll'U"! When the movie

was over and the lig hts were turned on, my companion Captain Angel Salcedo and I stood up to go out. All eyes seemed turned to us and I suddenly became selfLater I thought how that conscious. white audi.ence, having just been thrilled by the spectacle of an English-speaking Filipino general must have been delighted to see two of his countrymen right 111 their midst. Later that night I conceived the idea of calling on you at the American capital. Had we met I would not have been satisfied with merely listening to your voice. I would have talked with it. I would have prayed for your kind indulgence to listen to me on something which is of grave import to Philippine-American r elations. I felt sure then that you would not have had the heart to r efuse. I understand you won't have anything to do with collaborators. Well, I am not one. Except if we take into account that, having lived in a town, I and the rest of my family automatically became members of a neighborhood associat ion, and that I got marr ied and had a child during the Japanese occupation. I should add that I bowed before the Jap sentry whenever I had to, even as the boldest guerrillero did when he visited town. I was in the batHe of Bataan, but this happened 50 long ago that it is no longer accepted as a test of loyalty, it seems. I was in the Death March too and reached the Death Camp. All along the way our countrymen who saw how we

LETTER TO GENERAL RoMULO

.uffered tried to give us food. In San Fernando, where I studied in high school, an

acquaintance

threw towards my group a package of puto seco when the

guard was not looking. But before I could even stretch an arm to reach for it, a dozen pairs of starving hands were flying in the air in fl'enzied competition. As a result the rice cookies were scat-

tered in the dust. Yet, not a tiny .bit had gone to waste. I saw tears in the eyes of the civilians who stood by. Pardon me, sir, for talking of these things. Because remembering them, I cannot but feel that these indeed were our people, loyal in the fight and not one whit less so in defeat. Such a people deserve the fruits of victory.

I T is of our people, whose loyal and valorous deeds have given strength and eloquence to your voice, that I had wanted to speak to you. They suffer still from the wounds of war and there is chaos in their hearts. America has promised to help them, and no doubt she will, but only perhaps to the extent that she understands and trusts them. Better than anyone else you know, sir,

that America has a warm spot in her heart for our people. We are a nation dear to America because we were loyal

to her in war. The Americans believe that the Filipinos remained 99 per cent loyal, which is true. But how long will this continue to be th1e American attitude? Because I believe that there is danger of a radical change in that attitude, I appeal to you to do something about it. On April 23rd we shall elect the officials of our independent republic. Contending for the presidency ave two capable, patriotic and loyal Filipinos, President Sergio Osmeiia and Senate President Manuel Roxas. America is watching this struggle for political supremacy with deep interest. Anything said or published about the presidential contest or about the candi-

dates is avidly read there. Thus a section of the American press, through constant repetition and lack of rdutatioD, has given Americans the impression that the Filipinos are divided into "loyalists" supporting Osmeiia and HeolIa-

bora tors" backing up Roxas. Unfortunately this impression has been given added currency by a recent statement of the U. S. High Commissioner. The fact of the matter, however, is that there are resistance leaders with both Osmeiia and Roxas. True, the anticollaborationist Hukbalahaps and Democratic Alliance oppose Roxas. On the other hand, two famous guerrilla leaders-Leyte's Ruperto Kangleon and Mindanao's Datu Salipada Pendatun,.among ot.hers, are supporting Roxas' candidacy. 8imilarly, there are "collab-

orators" in the camps of both. The collaboration planks in the Osmeiia and Roxas platforms are substantially .t he same: they favor bringing to fair and speedy trial all who are charged with treasonable collaboration with the enemy. It is obvious, therefore, that you cannot

draw .t he battle line in the current election campaign on the issue of collabol'ation. What I wish to point out is this: If

America should come to believe that our people are divided into pro-Osmeiia "loyalists" and pro-Roxas "collaborators,"

the results of the coming elections would, in any event, caUSe her grievous disap-

pointment. If Roxas loses but yet receives a substantial portion of the vote, America's esteem and perhaps solicitude for us will sufier a corresponding diminution. And if Roxas wins, America, re-

coiUng from the shock of an erroneous judgment, will I . e her high regard for us as a con~essed nation of traitors. I appeal to you, therefore, to correct the distorted impression which is being foisted on the American people. Collaborationism ;s not the issue in the Philippine presidential election. The Filipinos are politically divided, but as of old-principal1y on the issue of personal

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

leader.hip. The struggl~ is not between "loyalists" and "puppet collaborators" but simply between those who believe that Osmena will make a better president than Roxas and those who believe the contrar y. LET the American people hear you say so, sir. Today America has faith in our integrity and loyalty, and we deserve it. Let this f ait h be impaired, and our relations with America will suffer a serious setback. You have influential friends in Ameri ca-and a reputation. When you speak f or us, your voice is heared not only in Capitol Hill but in all the forty-eight stat es. Explain, then, to America the true situation that prevails in the Philippines. Speak up, not f or Roxas' sake, but for all of us who love America and

are anxious to keep her affection. Say it now, against the day when all explana.j,ions, no matter how true, may be too late. Perhaps you are constrained from doing so lest your action be construed as disloyalty to President Osmena. There is a way out of that difficulty. Let President Osmena know your purpose. SeCUl'e his permission if you think it necessary to do so. He has shown himself to be a just and reasonable man. Out of his deep concern for our people, he cannot but see that this vit al service must be performed and will give you leave to speak. I cannot believe that he would press a doubt ful per sonal advant age at the expen se of his people's future. Very sincerely, RENATO D. TAYAG

* . VERSES

by GERSON M. MALLILLIN Communion T he bullet s(~id to the hea1·t: From now on we shall neve1- part, I sought you--you only in the pastNow- l am with you at last. Feast Th e worms said to the roots of the tTees : This is the age of plenty and peace, W e have the best to drink and eatHuman blood and human meat. Problem The fields that once were clea?' of stones A1-e clutte1-ed now with bones And broken implements amd a1'mg That make it difficult to till the farms.

not a whimper ... not a tear-

The Liberation of Manila by Narciso G. Reyes HE liberation of Manila was the fulfillment of a blood compact between the peoples of the Philippines and America, a compact written not on parchment but on hallowed Philippine soil: on Bataan, Corregidor, Cebu, Zamboanga-wherever American and Filipino soldiers fought and died side by side in defense of something mOTe precious than the sum total of their individual lives and bigger than their two countries put together. In February, 1942, when it became evident that naked courage and sheer will to win could delay but not overcome the overwhelming might of the invader, General Douglas MacArthur sealed the compact with the words, "I shall return." When American troops, therefore, entered Manila in the evening' of February 3rd last year, three y,ears almost to the day after General MacArthur's departure for Australia, they were not merely capturing an enemy-held stronghold or liberating a friendly city. They Wlere keeping an historic rendezvous, in redemption of a pledge forged on the anvil of a common struggle. They were fulfilling a compact signed in blood shed for a common cause. Th" Filipinos who cheered the incoming American troops saw them as comrades in arms who had fought their way across ten thousand miles of land and water to keep a promise given in the dark days of defeat and disaster. They thought littLe if at all of the dictates of military strategy that made the retakin~ of the Philippines an absolute nece.-

sity quite apart from the moral and psychological considerations involved. As the material evidience of triumphant American power unrolled before their eyes, the thing that rang like a bell in their minds was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's message of hope captained in the first leaflet from America that they had received in captivity: "The entire resources, in men and materials of the United States, stand behind that pledge." For their part, the Filipino peopl,. kept faith with America. They were loyal when it was hardest to remain loyal: after the American forces had been vanquished and Old Glory hauled down in the dust. While Burmese nationalists rejoiced over the fall of Singapore and Indonesian patriots exulted over the extirpation of Dutch power in the East Indies, the Filipino people became more devoted to America with each of the initial reverses suffered by American arms. Their loyalty fed on adversity and drew strength from defeat. The American soldier was never closer to the Filipino heart than when he shuffled, prodded by his conqueror's bayonet, to the prison pens of Capas and, later, marched in disgrace through the streets of Manila.

THE light of the unique tie. of affection which bound the p,eoples of the Philippines and America in peace and war, it is easy to understand the frenzied, almost ecstatic happiness with which Manilans welcomed the liheration For the people of Manila, as forces.

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

indeed for the entir e Filipino nation, the retaking of t he city by General MacA rthur's troops meant not only the end of three years of bondage ; it meant the fulfillment, at the cost of incalculable effort, suffer ing and the sacrifice of human lives, of a pledge that has set tho pattern for a new dispensation in t he relationship between strong nations and weak; above all it meant t he r estit ution of the means and opportunity to engage once more in the open, by the side of America, the foe t hat from the beginning of the war both had fought with equal purpose and dedication . These thoughts were uppermost in the minds of the people of Manila when the mechanized sp1larhead of t he U. S. 1st Cavalry Division broke the thin crust of Japanese defenses in the no r th and entered the city at sundown of that memorab1" day. In the northern districts, which were overrun and taken with hardly a struggle, the central emotions were happiness and thanksgiving raised to t he nth d'egree. When the first Amer ican t anks rolled into the city, the pent-up longing of three years explod:ed int o manifestations of joy as reckless and deHrious as anything could be this side of sanity. These incidents stand out in my memory : Along Rizal Avenue, oblivious of t he danger of death, crowds rushed to the • treet to ch eer the white-starred tanks. In the dusk they might easily h ave been mistaken for enemies, both by the American tankmen and the J ap units scurrying southward t o j oin the Jap forces ent renched along the P asig. But a feeling stronger th an fear moved them, and t hey r an to the sidewalks and street corner s to show, if only by a shant or a wave of the hand, that they rejoiced over t his moment for which they had waited three years. On O'Donnell and Antonio Rivera, people climbed to the rooftops, hoping to catch a glimpse of ·t he American soldier s.

Across the street from a Japanese sent ry post on Tayuman, a group of little children started to sing "God Bless America." A gang of laborers passing by took up the tune and soon the whole neighborhood was ringing with the song which during the Occupation had become a symbol of the love of the Filipino people for the people of America. A ranking officer of the Allied Intelligence Bureau, unable to contain his impatience, met the spearhead of the Amedcan force near Blumentritt, identified himself, and guided one of the command cars to Sto. Tomas University, where American nationals were interned. Being the only one in civvies, he made a conspicuous target. A hand grenade thrown by a Japanese sniper hit him below the heart and killed him. His act was .ymbolic of the temper of the city which would not brook a single moment's delay in its liberation and was quite willing to risk death to hasten the advent of freedom even if only by SO much as a split second. It remained for the people of southern Manils, however, to give a new meaning and dimension to the readiness of the city to pay the pr ice of liberation. A.ide from the boon of freedom, the people of the northern dist r icts had good cause to rejoice and give thanks when !their half of the city waS liberated. Their homes were not burned . Their women were spared from the lust of the enemy. They did not see their children die at the stake or the point of the bayonet. The battle by-passed them : they were not caught in the cross-fire of friend and cornered foe. Southern Manila was sacked and most of it razed to the ground. Yet the wounded and hungry survivors., emerging ~rom the charred ruins of their homes, could utter only words of thanksgiving. GENERAL MacArthur, watching for signs of complaint, bitrterness or re-

THE LIBERATION OF MANILA

gret, saw none and thought the faet worth recording for history. He bad the people of southern Manila in mind when he said in a speech before the Philippine Congress: "During the battle for Manila I have seen mothers anguished of soul for their dead children-I have seen fathers bereft of all whom they held dear and with all their material possessions gone-I have seen a continuous line of refugees slowly trudging north-without food , water or shelter, and knowing not whith~ er to go in search of sanctuary-but through the stark terror and tragedy (of it all there is one thing I have never heard, one thing I have never seen. I have never heard a whimper; I have never seen a tear ... " Something more than the innate courage and forti tude of the Filipino people, to which General MacArthur ascribed their Spartan behaviour under the enemy's sword, sustained the people of southern Manila through an ordeal which for sheer horror and barbarity has few parallels in modern history. A new spirit was at work among them.

Three years of servitude under the most brutal of masters had taught them 11' nothing else could the infinite value of freedom. Measured against it, suffering and sacrifice, wealth, position, creat~ ure comforts and life itself shrank to insignificance. If death were the only door to liberation, and it was given them to make the choice, they would themselves have gladly turned the key and stepped over the threshold. This spirit found one of its most touching expressions in the dying words of one of the anonymous thousands who died in the Intramuros holocaust. This man, a laborer who could not even read or write his own name, was routed out of his hiding place by a fear-crazed J apanese soldier iust before American troops entered the Walled City. In the last rattles of the fighting, he was hit and mortally wounded by American machinegun fire. His wife bent over him crying, but he wiped her tears away. "I die content," he whispered. He touched the spot on his breast where the bullet had entered. "It came from the other side," he said. HIt's an Ameri'can bullet. Manila is free."

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He noticed that I was offended. "How come," he continued, grinning, Hthey never caught you with the goods?" "You yourself have said just now that the J aps are dumb. I am thankful for that. Had they taken pains to poke into the cogon that grew abundantly beside the trail, they would have discovered our guns there. But they didn't." "We!'e they as stupid as that?" "No," I answered. "They asked us a lot of questions but we managed somehow to stick to a story that we were in that vicinity only because we were buying some carabaos from the farmers there." "And not a shot was fired, eh?" "Of course," I said casually, "We were outnumbered. It was useless to run."

"A spy may have told them where you were headed .. ," "I doubt it," I said. "If they knew that we wer·e guerrillas, they wouldn't have given us a chance. It would have been a massacre. We had nothing but forty-fives and thirty-eights." The cook brought in a plate of steaming camobes which Lt. Alza literally devoured. "To the hungry," he muttered,

THE MAN WHO LIED

Hno camote is bad even if it is spoiled." He was starved after that one day hike from Guyab. "Still there could have been an informer who led them to your trail," he insisted between mouthfuls. " It could have even been this man I was sent to -eliminate."

"I don't know," I admitted finally. HOf course you have to consider such

a possibility," he said. "How could those Japs have captured our runner last week? They must have known we wel'e interested in the Biba, else they wouldn't have posted more sentries all of a sudden. How? Don't say it was a coincidence. We can't blame people for liking those Japs. But when they start squawking and telling them things, I don't mind using this ... n

HE laid his pearl-handled twenty-two on the lable. "They were really mad over the death of Nagata," I said. "They ought to be," the lieutenant said. "I hope they weren't too tough with you though." "Thank heavens, no," I replied. "But there were two among us who w-eren't so lucky. The Japs didn't waste time at all. Yes, they worked on us all right, but what could we ten them? We didn't ewn know what we were there for till we got there. You see, we weren't the only prisoners." "There may have been a stool-pigeon who listened to the stories you told each other," he insisted. "I'm not sure," I said. "There were so many character there that I didn't have time to observe them all. You just can't, at a time like that. You think only of yourself. There was one however whose appearance struck me at once." "What did he look like?" "Two things in him attracted me," I said. "His general aspect and, well, hi. brand new shirt. It was just my

sIze. He looked to me like someone who had just come out of a seminary." "What was he doing there with the rest of you?" "He was brought in a couple of minutes after we went in. Of course I didn't ask him his name. Do you think I am the sort that goes asking everyone his name and favorite flower?" "That's being properly cautious," he beamed approvingly. "And this felI o\v ... " . "He looked scared. --Very much scared. I pitied him." wDid they ever give him the works " "No," I said, Hit was the fellow who came in a little later who really got the works. He was bloody all over and I still wonder now how he ever managed to stay alive the way he was. Must have been a real he-man. His hands were bloabed, practically mashed to a pulp. He groaned miserably. It made me wince, the way he held his hands high before his tear less eyes and said: 'It's too late now-even to wish.' Must have wanted to be a painter. Or a mUSICIan. The town doctor, who was with us, examined the hands, and just shook his head. Well, this seminaristlooking fellow I am talking about went near him, too, to comfort him perhaps. He didn't do a thing however. Just stared there. Then he went away, visibly shaken, his face white. Must have felt dizzy at the sight of blood." "Touching," Lt. Alza said without emotion. "Ah, but you ought to have seen him when the second torture victim was ·brought in," I continued. "The poor farmer looked completely done for. He had a gash in his right cheek where the raw flesh flapp:ed uglily. God, what a picture he made I He kept moaning hysterically, 'I have a wife and five children ..• wife .•. children,' till he lay still. Dead, of course. We all were suffering from mental torture, not knowing who would be next. Well, this

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

man suddenly cr ies out loud: 'Stop it, 5tOP it! . .. ' If "The man with the new shirt ?" "Yes," I said, "the man with the new shir t . We tho ught he had gone crazy and we tried to pin him down and soothe him, but he burst free from us and ran t o t he bolted door. He started pounding on it. We t r ied to pull him back. Then the door was flung open by a big Jap. I can't tell exactly how it happened. I only remember seeing him blaze away at the J ap with a t hir ty-eight. By now t he garrison was in an uproar. As the thundering feot approached, he r ushed out fi.ring wildly and shouting 'I killed Nagata . . . I killed Nagata. .. I killed .. .' There was a voJley of shots. Hobnailed boots shuffled outside and from where we cowered in aWe and fear, t hrough the open door , we could see the bodies of three J aps and his own slumped in the hall. God, what a man and what a glorious way to die! "

HEwas a very good liar,"

Lt. Alza

said. /l Oh, yes," I agreed. 1I 0f course I know now that it was Ant onio who got Nagata. But does t hat make any difference? I take off my h at to him." Lt . Alza lit another cigarette. "But fo r h im, you would still be there."

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I nodded, "Funny how those Japs apologized to us when they set us free yesterday. It was wonderful to be free again. I still think they shouldn't have done what they did to his body. You see, when we got out, the first sight that greeted our eyes was his body dangling from the tall acacia . .." "What!" Lt. Alza almost jumped. "Yes," I repeated. "They hanged his dead body there and his brand new shirt was all in shreds .. ." The lieutenant wiped his brow and said, "When I left Guyab this morning, he was stil! swinging there." Silence. "I don't think I'll ever lose my faith in human nature," he mus'ed afterwards. "Cowards die many times. He may have been a coward but he died a brave man. Perhaps he changed when he found out that money or convictions don't mean everything, like the future or a wife and five children for instance. P1srhaps .. ." "What are you talking about," I interrupted him abruptly. He calmly drew a picture from his pocket and laid it on -the table. It was that of the man with the new shirt, the man who Hed to save us. "He was the spy I was sent to kill," Lt. Alza said quietly.

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,...-----ORIENTAL COLLEGE'--634 Isabel St., Near Espaiia Lealtad St. Next to Legarda Elementary "The College of Distinction"-will soon open courses in Liberal Arts - leadine- to A.A. a.nd A.B. degrees } Education - leading to B.S.E. delrl'ee Firal! two years Business Administration leading to B.S.B.A. beiDi: oftered now Law - leadin/il.' to Ll. B. degree (pre-law offered now) High School - leadine to High School diploma (2nd Semester beKins March 18) Secretarial - leadin2' to Office Secretary diploma } Clerical - le.din&, to A.icst. Office Secretary diploma open at Steno2'raphy. Typewritina- - leadin~ to a protictency certificate any time For detailed information. write to

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Executive Secretary

Plain and Humble eAnnals A

COMELY young city school-marm, meeting her fifth-grade class for the last time (she was going on maternity leave) asked her pupils to write unsigned, uninhibited essays on what they really thought of her. The r esults were some very diverting boners which must have made her blush: "What I like about my teacher is that she is very fun of jokes. She is comical. She is always confiscating my comics." "My veacher has a beautiful figure. Although she has a baby her beauty does not go away. She always eats adulterated bananas, the mOl'e adult the better." "My teacher is the most beautiful woman I hav;e ever encountered. When she smiles her smile makes her very ~ n chanted."

"Dear teacher: You are very fond of smoking cigarettes. Why don't you try tobacco? No heart feelings, m'am!nI -HERNANDO G . CoSIO

• • • Two

milk vendol's who had the habit of adulterating tOOi r cided to cleanse their souls by sing to the town priest. "You go first," said one, lll'n

been .in milk deconfesswait for

you."

So one went ahead and after a while she returned. "Well," she said, "I told the truth. I said I am a milk vendor and that once in a while, in order to haVle a little more milk to sell, I add a little water to every bottle." "And what was your penance?" "I was made to recite a long prayer which got my tongue all twisted up and dry."

The other went in confidently and confessed. When she came out she was beaming. "I told the priest I sell water to which I add a little milk. And he told me to keep up the good work!" -JOEL P. GoMEZ

• • •

MYoId aunt, a friend of ours relates, once threw too whole household upside down with laughter. It seemed that one night, while the family was taking supper, the old woman suddenly jumped fr om her seat, clutching a fold of her skirt and shrieking, "Centipede, centipede!" Everybody went to her rescue. Armed with slippers, forks, spoons, knives, and bare fi sts they went forward and alI together began attacking the centipedJe where the old woman had it trapped in a fold of her skirt. When everybody had had a chance to strike at the helpless myriapod, thie woman loosened her hold-and out jumped her starched cordon! -DELY PATERNO

• • •

ONE rainy day my kid brother fell into an open canal with shallow but swift-running water. He managed not to get drowned though he sank several times gasping. Throughout his struggle till he was fished out to sarety he w::ts crying at the top of his voice. "Now, my Boy," I asked out of cuTiasity, "why did you cry? You are not going to drown in tllat shallow water, didn't you know?" "Yes, I know," he said, "I cried because mama was not there." -ALFREDO J. MANHIT

PLAIN AND HUMBLI!I ANNALS DURING the Japanese occupation many ingenuous Filipinos put one over on the invaders. A friend of mine, for example, would always greet a J apamese sentry thus: "Mayoraska! "

One day, a Japanese, surprised, insisted it was "Sayonara." I'It's all the same," said our friend. "that is Tagalog, you know." "I want you to say it in Nippongo," insisted the Japanese. And our friend complied, "Sayonara."

"That is better now," said the Jap-

"When the Japanese were here, what did you hope for and expect?" A smart boy stood up and answered: "I hoped, m'am, that the war would soon end and I JeJ<pected the Japs would leave the Philippines and the Americans return."

"Why, did you really believe in America's superiority?"

"That is one reason, m'am." "And what may the other reason be?" "Simple grammar, m'am: NIPPONgo; AMERI-come!" - GALICANO A. SARMIENTO

• • •

anese.

When he left, our fri~nd was pressed for explanation. "Simple," he said. 'Mayoraska'-MA Y ORAS KA-your hour of reckoning will come-do you get it?" -ISAIAS D. NAVARRO

oj:

WORRIED-LOOKING GI, no doubt from Texas, approached a Filipino boy standing near a down-town bar and asloed the latter where the place caUed "Big Double A" was. The boy was stumped; he asked if it was a laundry perhaps or maybe a night-club the soldier was looking for? "No," the soldier l'epUed, Hit's where I'll meet my blind date ... here," and

he showed the boy a scrap of paper on which was written the object of his search.

The boy could not help chuckling as he read: "BIGAA", (pronounced Biga-a) a town in Bulacan some twenty miles from Manila. B. V. PAGUIO

• • •

HIGH school teacher, desiring to Impress a GI visitor, asked her pupils:

LT. RidJer of Mt. Vernon, N.Y., and I were driving somewhere in Ermita,

Manila. "What street is this?" he asked. "California, sir," I answered. We made a sharp turn to the right. HAnd this?" "Pennsylvania, sir." "I never knew California could be eo near Pennsylvania here m the Philippines." "That's not all, sir," I said. "Colora· do is just over there on the other side, and now VIle are about to cross Tennessee!" -J. B. HERNANDEZ

* • *

PROFESSOR in piano noticed the f ingers of her ten-year-old pupil. They were dirty and her nails were rimmed with soot. "Lily," he said quite indignantly, HI cannot stand your fingers. Look at them. Aren't you ashamod of yourself? Go out and wash your hands before we begin your lesson." "Aw, never mind," answered the child, "I'll just us. the black keys, anyway." -DOMINGO G. PEREZ

The Editors of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN invite readers w contribute to this department. For each anecdote published, we shall pwy 1'5.00. Original, .hort, humorous, unpublished, human interest .torie. ar.e preferred. Please address "Plain and Humble Annals" Editor, PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN, 1050 Rizal Avenue, Manila.

-A working credo for the life of freedom-

The Democratic Faith by Pedro T. Orata EMOCRACY, real democracy, establish a world government that will first flou r ished in the Greek pr omote peace and prosperity among all city-state, reaching its full deve- nations. We in the Philippines are a part of lopment in Athens under Pericles. There all the citizens, as members of the All- this world-wide process of democratizasembly, participated directly in law- tion. Our sacrifices in this war and our making. But citizenship was limited to participation in the council of free nathe free men who constituted but a tions have given proof of our desh'e to help build the new structure of democrasmall portion of the total population. In E urope much later, following the tic freedom and world peace. Yet, In Industrial Revolution in E ngland and order to make this desire d f ect ive in the French Revolution, the people, gra- fact, we must understand the r eal meandually and after r epeated struggles, ing of democracy and realize the responwere able to wrest concessions f r om their sibilities and obligations it entails. In r ulers that nullified f orever the doctrine this way alone can we become full y consof the divine right of kings and en- cious of the implications of democracy throned in the hear ts of the common for the guidance of our living. Educapeople the concept of liberty. From ·tion, better than any other institution, should lead the way toward the that time on the people ruled. In the United States, much later, the clarification of the meaning of democoncept of democracy was extended in cracy not only as a way of life but a. scope and meaning. By a Presidential , a way of educating as well. The mere profession of democracy is Proclamation, the sla.ves were f reed and given full citizenship rights, at least in no guarantee that one understands or theory. By legislation the women of interprets its meaning rightly, much less America were given the r ight of suf- pracUses it. Confusion among believers frage. This process of democratization in democracy has often developed because has been extended fur ther by the inclu- of conflicti-ng points of view regar,ding its sion of the entire west ern hemisphere requirements, t.he obligations that it imwithin the orbit of f ree n ations, and ul- poses, and the rights and privileges that timately it is hoped, as a r esult of the it guarantees. Among us may be found global war j ust over, of aU the colonial many superficial and even false concepand semi-colonial peoples throughout the tions of democracy. There are those who world. believe that democracy gives everyhody To complete this process of democra- the right to vote and to hold any pubtization, an int er national organization lic office r egardless of his qualifieahas been f ounded on the basis of the tions and fitness for it. Others interconcept of the "sovereign equality" of pret freedom to mean that one can do aU nation s belonging to it r egardless of precisely as he pleases, renounce all size, economic status or military power. social obligations, and treat the equal It is the purpose of this organization to rill'hts of others and even the laws of the

THE DEMOCRATIC FAITH

state with eontempt. A corollary to this point of view is the conviction that "democracy is to be measured by the ease with which an individual of enterprise and t.alent can acquire property, rise in the economic and political world, and eventually enroII his name or that of his children among the socially elite."

W HAT is the real meaning of democracy? It is generally admitted that democracy is more than a form of government. It is also a species of economy, a variety of social philosophy, a way of life. Lord Josiah Stamp quotes in an article, "Essentiar Characteristics of De~ F'oeracy," the following succinct analy~is of the various aspects of democracy: It is generally supposed that liberty is a simple and single conception ; when it is studied it is found to con· sist of four elements, united, indeed, at bottom, yet often separate, and sometimes opposed. There is national liberty - the freedom of one's country from foreign rule. There is political liberty-the freedom of society from government by a despot or an oligarchy. There is personal libertythe freedom of the individual to think, speak, and act as he will, subject to the equal rights of others. And there is economic liberty-freedom for the ordinary man from the restrictions imposed by poverty, overw()rk, bad environment. The man who is fully free is one who lives in a country which is independent, in a state which is democratic, in a society where the laws are equal and restricti()ns at a minimum, in an economic system in which he is assured of security and livelih()od and comfort. There have been many attempts to c()dify the articles of the democratic faith. Although no two such codes are exactly alike, they alI contain the fundamental beliefs and convictions of the great seers of mankind from every land and clime. They are embodied in customs and traditions, In Bills of Rights,

in systems of law, in ethical codes, in religious creeds. Hereunder is an at· tempt to list the fundamental tenets of democracy as they may be applied and implemented in our educational system. ARTICLES OF THE DEMOCRATIC FAITH Democracy is a society of free men1. In which human life is valued above all things else and cannot be used for a purpose alien to its nature and welfare; institutions are weighed finally by their effect on individual growth and development; and provision is made for the maximum realization of personality, character, and excellence, subject only to the limitations of unequal natural endowment and the slow and Uneven process of economic progress; 2. Which recognizes the right of citizens to rule themselves; i. e., to propose measures and policies and to discuss them freely, to decide issues at the polls, and to appraise, criticize, and amend decisions made; and imposes the corres~ ponding obligation to be socially informed and intelligent about issues presented, to abide by popular verdict reached by due process of law, and to seek reversal if desired, by the same method; 3. Which is made effective by freedom of the press, of speech, of conscience, and of thought; validated by constitutional process; sanctioned by custom; protected by institut ions of government; and made possible by a policy, economic order, and competence necessary to promote and maintain the kind of society in which freedom can be enjoyed; 4. Which, through an effectiv~ "ambination of governmental structure and a social and economic order, provides maximum individual freedom and equal opportunity for every man to find his place among his fellows, to achieve selfsupport, maintain self-respect, and render social service; 5. Which, as a living organism, dy. namie and flexible, rather than an inert

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

tialities to the utmost, subject only to his' own individual limitations and his willingness to share the same rights with other individuals; .

fabric or fixed structure, possesses the capacity for change in order to meet new requirements and conditions; 6. Which flourishes in proportion as citizens have faith in the honesty and integrity of their fellow men and possess the willingness and intelligence to cooperate with them in advancing the ends of personal and social living; 7. Which recognizes the superiority of the method of peace over that of war; of reason, b'u th, .and intelligence over that of dogmatic imposition and prejudice; and accepts compromise in the provisional adjustment of conflicts and controversies; 8. Which depends on organized education for its survival and improvelnent, and is sustained and fulfilled by the discipline of free men to put loyalties and knowledge to socially desirable use and to order life in the light of understandIng and toward the attainment of socially shared purposes; 9. In which racial, cultural, and political minorities should not only be tolerated but respected and even valued with the proviso that whenever such minorities employ the liberties of democracy to undermine and eventually to corrupt or destroy those liberties, they forfeit the guarantees of a free society; 10. Whose combined welfare no less than the welfare of the individuals composing it requires that the individual be born well and be given all the opportunities necessary to develop his poten-

11. Which places emphasis, not upon getting things done quickly and perfectly, but in having them done with a view to widening the al'ea and extending the scope of the common concerns and purposes of men by the deliberate process of consideration, compromise, and ad· justment of the various interests involved; 12. Which, living under a reghne of peace and law, promotes a fraternal and friendly spirit among all men; establishes everywhere a condition of equality, sympathy, and kindliness; recognizes no discrimination based upon family, race, nationality, religion, politics or economic status; and employs differences derived from diverse ancestry, life conditions, or personal aptitudes or convictions, not to found rival and hostile groups, but rather to enrich the common life; 13. Whose success "is measured, not by extent of territory, financial power, machines, or armaments, but by the desires, the hopes, and the deep-lying satisfactions of the individual men, women, and children who make up its citizenship."

14. Which rests on faith in the intelligence of the common man and on a be~ lief in the possibility of a rational approach to human problems.

--v-DAY

STUDIO,..----.

Takes Pictures Day & Night with Special Service for Servicemen Finished in 2: Hours Marirw Singson 324 Bustos, Sta. Cruz

OWNER •

•

:::::s- :

The Croesus Ring

~~I~

____JI

by Manuel L. Morales IMMY'S Cellar is the best bar in town, everybody says so; GIs and Filipinos alike leave the place satisfied with the drinks and the service. And when the drinks and the company pall, as sometimes they do, Jimmy always can be depended upon to liven things up. Jimmy owns the place but he acts as bartender most of the time because he says he got his start that way. Jimmy himself is a man of indeterminate age and nationality, probably with a touch of English blood i'n his veins. How he managed to escape internment in Santo T omas is a tale that Jimmy loves to t ell. But theTe is one story that Jimmy has told nobody except me, and I got it out of him when he was in an expansive mood. One afternoon I was perched on a stoor in front of the counter, the only custom~ er in the house, when Jimmy started the ball rolling by saying, "Working in a bar like I do, I meet all sorts of people. I have been a bartender off and on for maybe twelve years. And the type of man I'm not familiar with just does not exist. There is one fellow whom I remember welI, though I met him only twice, because of a story he told me." HWell, how's business nowadays?" I hastily interrul'ted, leery of a boring monologue. I thought then that I had heard all of Jimmy's stories. ,"Oh, very good; in fact, it's downright scandalous. As I was saying, this fellow told me a most unusual story, most unu-

~lUaI.J'

I sighed and resigned myself to listening. Besides, I might get a drink on

the house with Jimmy in this mood. "You've heard of Alfredo P. Villoz?" he asked. As I straigh1lemed up and nodded, I felt a prick of interest, for who had not heard of Villoz, the millionaire who died in 1941 and left his entire estate to charity? "Well, this man I'm talking aboutret's call h im J ao--met Villoz one night at t he J ai Alai Keg Room in the most unusual way. Joe was at that time in dire financi al straits, as they say it in books. Besides, his pretty wife had just died in childbirth and as he couldn't work a lick with her always on his mind, h e got the sack, naturally. He had just about decided to end it all, like in the shows. But the sporting instinct in him demanded one last fling; sO he sold everything he had and now we find him at the K:eg Room. And what does he do when he steps in but bump into old man Villoz who was going out. Villoz is knocked down but he is unhurt, only dazed, sort of. He looks at his hand and sees that the ring on his finger is no longer there bu·t is lying On the floor right )lndJer his very nose. People rush up to help the rich c>ld man. But he waves them alI aside, picks up the ring; looks at Joe queerly, and gaes off on his way." "Are you trying to tell me in your crude, roundabout manner tbat Joe was houn<1ed to death by Villoz?"

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

Jimmy looked pained. "To continue with Joe. He dropped in at the place where I was working about a week after the incident. Then, as now, there wasn't anybody in the saloon but him and me. We soon got to the chinning stage when he had had four or five shots; he loosened up and told me about the incident with VHloz. Only, it seemS there was more to it than just the shoulder bumping. It seems that Villo., who had grown very ill, sent for him. Well, Joe at first did not want to go, but he said to himself, what the hell, he can't get anything out of me as I am stone broke. "So he goes to the old man's house, only it is not a house but a mansion. He is admitted right away and is led to the old man's room. The old man is not only sick; he is dl'ing. He says to Joe something about being brave in the fa<le of insurmountable obstades and such rot. J oe is relieved, for nothing is said about what had happened before. Very soon Villoz is telling Joe the story of his life, bu t Joe is keeping only one ear cocked to the sp,eakel' because he is busy looking around at the richness of the place and wishing he had one !'ike it. Pretty soon he has seen everything and he is getting bored and now wishing he is some place else, preferably a place with liquor. The old man keeps on talking and slowly draws from his finger the ring that had fallen when Joe bumped into him and hands it to Joe who is very much bowled over. ESpiecially when he learns that the old man is giving it to him, no strings attached.

T HE

ring is curiously shaped, with dark stones set in old gold. The old man has noticed that Joe has nc>t been listening, so once mo~ he tell's him that the ring belonged to Croesus or some such person with an odd name. The ring is a luck charm; with it on him, the old man said, he had started with hardly a shoestring and wound up with half the greenbacks in the hlands. It now be-

longs to Joe because the holder must relinquish it to the man who causes it to faH from his finger. As the ring fits snugly, it is not easy for any ordinary man to do this-<mly he who is really fated to succeed to the ownership of the ring can do it. Joe is bewildered but recovers sufficien tiy to say thank you to the old man. Pretty soon the interview is over and J oe goes off. "Next day Joe learns that Villoz is dead. He decides to test the power of the "ing, to see if it is what it is cracked up to be. He gets into a crap game, but as he is broke, he stakes the ring. The crap game ends early and Joe walks off with his pockets full of money. He is feeling high and decides to celiebrate : he enters the first saloon he sees. Which is when, I meet him. "That was the day before the papiers were full of war. The J aps were getting too big for their pants. I forgot all about J oe and his ring in the struggle that carnie. As you know I went to the hills and joined the guerrillas. After nearly a year of that life I told myself I could never help the cause any by hiding up t hem in the wilds; I ought to be here in the city where things hummed. So I came down and got me a job at a downtown bar. Boy, those Japs were sure dumb. They thought they had all the white men rounded: up and when I t old them I was a. mestizo they left me alone except for a few routine raids and quest ionings. But as t hey never could g1e't anything on me they soon got tired of it and forgot me altogether. "Then I heard abou~ Joe. The man is making money hand OVler fist. I never see him in all this time,. but everybody keeps talking of how h" has put over nu·m erous deals running into big money, and sporting expensive clothes, and strutting like ·a walking jewelry store. Buying up real estate right and left and spending money in general like hie was turning it out of his own private pmnting press. Right up to the

THE CROESUS RING

end of the occupation he is flying high, wide and handsome. Yessir, Joe's ring was what it was cracked up to be." HDid you see him again 1" "YIeS, I saw him for the second time last April. I was, getting off an Army truck when I slipped and fell on top of a man, and who do you think it was? Old Joe in person I He looked at me queerly while he was dusting himself off. I recognized him right away and asked him if he remembered me and our talk at the bar 80_ years ago. He was startled and looked at hts hand involuntarily. Then he nodded and grinned. We started talking to each other, but we were rudely interrupbed by the two men who were with him. It seems that they were guarding him and that he was bound for Bilibid Prison; ;n fact, he was getting

into a car on his way there when I fell on him. He was booJoed on a charge of treason while in th€l process of getting rich when the Japs were here." "Is that aIJ? Of courSe he was bound to end up in Muntinlupa for having been a buy and sel~ tycoon. I thought there was mor e, a moral or something Jiloo tha t. Oh, yes, if the ring is really a luck charm it will g~t him out of there in no time .at all, won't it?" Jimmy smiled slowly and said, "Why, I suppose it would at that, if he stiJI had it. But when I feU on him the ring eame off his finger." He picked up the glasses carefully. I sab still on the stool and stared in fascination at his hand. On thJe third finger was a curiously wrought cing-dark stones set in old gold.

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-An American explains why he is staying-

EXPATRIATE by Samuel S. Holmes ALL this a defense. Or an apology. Or whatever. I'm an American soldier, and I'm going to be discharged in the Philip-

pines.

I don't like t he place so very much. I prefer flush toilets, telephones, hot baths, good jazz, speed, glitter, theater, slickness, excitement, pace-and in Amer-

ica I can have those things. Not that they aren't availa):>le here for the rich, but I'm not rich. Of course, ther e are the postcard values here, and I treasure them. I mean the clear, brightly colored scenes that moved me so when we first landed here, when the Philippines were ,a s new and curious to me as t he world to an awakening child. The carabao, the caretellas, the self-satisfied happiness of the fishwives in the market, squatting and singing their wares- these and thousand uther things seen and heard and smelled had for me color and newness and freshness, without too much reality. But now the postcards fade and become finger-marked. I look back over them nostalgically, longing for childhood again and its simplicity. I go to the market now no t to watch but to buy fish, and I am annoyed !it the fishwife for the steepness of her prices. It is hot and, unlike everyone else, I am sweating horridly and mopping my brow. I look up to meet stares that draw a color line as pronounced as if my skin were bright green. I look up hoping to see a fri end or mere acceptance. The stares are there. I light a cigarette and hide behind the hardened

eyes of composure. Things become mOI'e r eal. The postcards fade. Or is it my vision? Yet I am always hoping to find new and brighter postcard. Last Sunday I went on a picnic with the fourth grade of the San Leon (U mingan, Pangasinan) Barrio School where I'm trying to teach English. Now, for a while, I have the splendid mental postcard of huge shining leaves serving as both table and plates, piled with cotton-white rice and skewers of mudfish bent double like stylized dolphins on an American bathroom wall. Yet postcards are not enough. Still I'm staying h ere. Let me tell you about a procurer. Call him Dionisio. His hair is long and black but not curly. His eyes are just as black, and very wide. H e walks like a panther. He is the strongest Filipino I have ever seen. I met him in Baguio last May. From the first he fascinated me. We became friends. And when he knifed an American soldier in a bar-room fight, the first thing he did was to go to a mutual friend and leave a message for me: "Goodbye, my f riend. I have killed an American soldier, and I am sorry f or that. I can't stay here any more. Godbye." Then he fl ed. In all his haste he left that message for me. In the United States I am not capable of making so close a friend as that. I want to learn why. I want to try to understand the forces which may produce an individual able to establish so close a human relationship.

EXPATRIATE

T HERE

is a peculiar Filipino individuality which has not responded to the stimulus of Spanish influence as, say, /the Mlexican and Latin-Alnerican na~ tions have. ~nd

yet, Filipino artists and writers will surely agree that the potentialities of Philippine culture have scarcely begun to be realized, that is, felt as a force in the world. I have used the word culture in perhaps the most original sense of its meaning: a growing thing, a thing that dev~ elops by growth. The art, the music, and the literature of a nation are the reflections or expressions of its culture by its individual artists. The Philippines is a living organism capable of growLh and culture. Of that I am sure. The most hopeful and dynamic experience of my life has been seeing how here, despite impossible obstacles, life go es ea1'gerly on . People glue old jalopies together somehow, and ther.e is transportation in Manila. Crops get planted. Soap gets manufactured, and shoes. Call some Jf it black market if )'ou like, but still it's life going on. P erhaps never in the history of the world has there been .0 much conspiracy in restraint of trade as in Manila this past year, yet still life goes on. Cakes and pies get baked, whiskey (foul) gets made and sold, pansit and coathangers, and candy, and soft drinks, and perfume, and pomade get manufactured. Here in the province, a friend of mine has built a rice mill out of long hours and energy. The Philippines is indeed living, and can grow as a culture. To live and to die are human drives, yet I believe that the hope of the Philippines lies not only in its predominant will to live, but in the fact that its way of life has been traditional. This is the soil from which its present life and present relative prosperity have grown. Filipinos are living

today, not only because t hey want to, but because they knew how yesterday and the day before. Historically, the wor ld's grea.t cultures-Egyptian, Greek, and Romanhave emerged during periods of economic prosperity, in times when at least some individuals have been economically free. Now, I have read that there has never been mass famine in the Philippines, and in view of current conditions, that seems to me a reasonable premise. It is, then, a reasonably rich nation. By tradition it has reproduced itself, yet it has not produced a culture of any world force. Here, I am convinced, lies fallow a huge reserve of economic fTeedom and cultural energy. Recently, the mass of the Filipino people has suffered horribly under the onslaughts (intentional or unintentional) of cruelly destructive machines. SUl'eJy they are entitled to the use of productive machi11l€s in achieving individual eco· nomic freedom, hence, in developing their culture. Yet the directing intelligences and spirit here (I mean every Filrpino government official, every businessman, clergyman, educator, artist, farmer, . poet, writer) should study carefull y the record of the machine in America, where individual neurosis and insanity are high, where men depend on machines which they do not understand and which destroy them on highways and in factori.s in unbelievably appalling numbers. They should r emember the Pittsburgh smoke, and the toll it takes. They should be aware of the danger of industrial concentration in an atomic age. They should remember the tradi tional life here. For the people here love, or at least respect their land and would not willfully abuse it, as Americans have abused their land.

A MERICA has no culture in the sense of a growing thing that has developed, because America's won freedom is free·

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

dom from the past. Only lip-service is given to tradition in America where the past is a gorgeous picturesque costumepiece, like Gone Wi;lh the W ind. America has r evolved into being, for better or for worse, and is still revolving, and I like it fi ne because I'm an American. Yet I am aghast at t he shor tcomings of spiritual and cultural potentiality in the United States. The Philippines is all potential. The Philippines can be a cultural force in the world, and a force for peace in t he F ar East and in th e world. Well, I'm curious, a nd I'm going to stay her e for a year or so to watch what

happens and, where possible, to participate. I want to see if the spiritual and intellectual ener gy of morally minded Filipino leaders can overcome the inertia and harn ess the forces of traditional life to produce a significant culture. Of course, that doesn't happen in a year or two (but it can start in an hour, or a minute or a second) . F or morality is not a f ixed code but a stat e of mind which carefully evaluates r elative truths in a chang ing world, and initiates action upon the r esults of its evaluation. Well, I'm staying. Then, after a while I'll go home.

1 1

1 1 1 1

OoPIN

l-:Q~UG

1 1

, 'I 1

1, 1

LlXI~URI8RomIDE

J,J.t:..fAMILJA~ GOtD lA8U

, ,, .. ,, ,, , ,, •

The Best Short-Stories

of 1945 ROM the start I would like to make a number of things clear. Even if the values that I cherished as a shortstory writer may have turned out to be restricted and inadequate, I like to think that my literary taste has been pretty catholic. And I'm no iconoclast either. I have approached my task with reverence, strongly believing in the integrity of the individual writer.

Perhaps I could have made my task easier by emulating the methods most frequently used by our critics before the war. For example there is Leopoldo Yabes. He has just laid down the dictum that writers fall into two groupsthose who have vision, and those who haven't. Again, he says, this writer belongs to the Saroyan school; that one writes like Hemingway, or Dorothy Parker, as the case may be. There was another bunch of literary high priests. The invariable methods went something like this: Red, pink, lily white. You're not red, just a pale shade of pink. You will do. Lily white? You can go to the dogs. There is still another group of critics, the most represent.ative of whom will say: Ah, ha! you haven't read or imitated (presumably) Gertrude Stein? James Joyce? T. S. Eliot? etc. Too bad, my boy, your writing is not great. Your writing can still be understood, you're no good. Write so that not .even you will understand what it's all about. If you can do that, you're an A-l genius. They simplified it further by just saying: You're okay; and you, you're not okay. I do not follow Yahes when he divides writers into those with vision and those

by Delfin Fresnosa without it. For just where lies the dividing line, and what sort of vision it is, he has not said or amplified. He has been content to classify writers according to others whom, even if only superficially, they are supposed to resemble. And it would seem also that he could not see beyond contemporary American literature, neglecting to state whether Philippine literature could claim roots in the literature of Europe or even of the Orient. Nor do I hold with those cri· tics who say that already Philippine literature isa promise fulfilled. That is wishful thinking. Even so, the liter·a ry tenets by which almost all our writers have been guided, whether consciously or unc-onsciously, were largely derived from those that were then in vogue in America. Or ra· ther, from what was passing out of fashion in America. Most of our reputable critics too were merely echoes It seemed. F<>r example, I remember very well when the right thing was the slice of life, and the outlawed and the damned was the mechanized story. Then we had another: the proletarian slant on literature. We also had the hoity-toity art for art's sakers. Well, I only h ope we knew what we were doing. But to be fair, our writers were not the only imita,t ors. The Americans helped themselves very freely too to what the Freneh had evolved as to est.hetic norms and techniques. And mostly the left-<lvers at that. Though Symbolism, Impressionism., Naturalism, etc., had been developed by the Europeans long before the turn of the cent.ury, Americans discovered it only after W orld

THE PHILIPPINE- AMERICAN

War 1. Even the technique of James J oyce could be said to have been practised somewhere aro und the 80's by a Frenchman named Laforgue.

process of drying up, and whatever literature he might be said to be still producing was in the main arid, densely bewildered, merely competent.

This was specially true in the PhilipsllCh borrowings are not to -be pines. We did not have any long cuidecried. Literature is a continuous ,t ural background to speak of. Though stream, and twentieth-century hu- this could have been a source of strength, manity is not so radically different from, it became a handicap. Instead of boldly say, eighteenth or nineteenth-century striking out on OUr own, unhamper ed by humanity. Such methods could be pro- the subconscious weight of tradition, we ductive of great literature possibly. But merely fell in line wLth our men.tor, somehow I feel that they indicate a sort America. of laziness, a vagueness, a bewilderment What will be the effect of the war in a writer. Material progress has f ar on our future literature? For several outst.ripped our knowledge of our own minds. I wonder what kind of a differ- years we have been cut off from the ent world We would hav,e now if the en- source of our ideas about art, literature, ergies, the initiative, the perseverance of even life. I r emember feeling grat.ified humanit¥ had gone into the investiga- when I r ead in one of the local papers tion of the universe of the spirit instead that many writers went back to reading of the world of matter. Now we are living the ancient Greeks and Romans again in the at.omic age, as the phrase-makers and the other fountain-heads of recorded say. And how do we express ourselves? human wisdom and experience. Yet our Shall we pick up again the modes of ex- writers must build from there, letting pression of some pre-twentieth century what ' they have read serve only as the craftsmen to describe the complex and scaffolding; they must not stop there scientific world we now live in? Moral- and disguise what they have read as ly, how shall we express ourselves? or their own. t.houghts. It has been said that too often reading become a substispiritually? or esthetically ? To illustrate: Once upon a time the tute for thinking. priest and the witch-doctor were the big HE war has been, one of the profjshes; next, the warriors were the fairhaired boys of humanity; then t he poets foundest things that has happened came in for their share of glory. Pre- to us. It is still t oo recent, \lowever, lo sently, the man with the biggest wad of be viewed in the right perspective. Bllt money was the Hero-the dream incarn- no one will doubt that it has uncovered ate of the biggest mass of humanity. for us such a wealth of material that to The workers, the scientist s, had their in- talk about it is a hopeless thing. And nings. The bourgeoisie came in for their the world too that the war has ravaged share of glory and of damn atjon too. seems to stagger tl,e mind. The millions For that matter, take war itself. Once who bave died, the millions still sufferupon a time it was a value, very serviceing and dying, the mystery of the terab\.e and at the same time hallowed. But rible weapons of destruction that have after the first World War it speedily been fashioned and the minds that conlost its enchantmen.t, its ~Iory-war had ceived them, even the ultimate answers merely become obscene. to man's hopes--it would seem a hopeThe point is that prior to the outless task for anyone even t.o cross the break of World War II the spirit of man threshold of understanding. I do not had become impoverished, the main- know if literature will be able to cope .prings of his experience were in the with it and thus continue to remain a

Now,

THE BEST SHORT-STORIES OF 1945 vital part of human experience. It is a challenge nevertheless. The methods by which We human

beings communicate witll one anoth'?r will seem inadequate, and the perspectives we shall use will be of terrifying

malinitude, but let us hope. And let u. not altogether give up our myths. The common people always had them. Let us have even one myth to believe in, and let it be beautiful and satisfying and resplendent.

ROLL OF HONOR The Twenty Best Stories of 191,5 AGA JR., R. T. ALFON-RIVERA, ESTRELLA

**. So Sorry (NaUon) August *.* Rich Man, Poor Man (Peoples' Mag.) August 3

*•• Find Me the Words

(Liberator)

June 4 ARCELLANA, FRANCISCO

*** Knife of the Times *••

ARGUILLA, LYDIA V.

•• *

BORJE, CONSORCIO

***

COSIO, HERNANDO G.

*.*

CASTRO, FIDEL DE

**.

DI210N, D . P AU LO

*.*

EDROZA, GENOVEVA D.

..*

EDWARDS, CHRIS

•••

HONTIVEROS-A VELLANA, DAISY

(E vening News)

September 29 The Dead (Sunday Times) October 7 YOU"s Faithfully (PhilippineAmerican) November To the Brave (Sunday Times) July 1 The Short-Cut (Evening News) October 6 The Little-Town Barber (Sunday P ost ) November 4 I'm Coming Home (Filipino Observer) October 10 None of the Bitter (Monthly Post) October

Battle for the Philippines

(Philippine-American) Septembel' **'* Mission Accomplished (Sunday Times ) November 11 Fa" F"eedom and Dernoc1'acy (Manila Post) October 28 Seven at the Stake (Monthly Post) November

LOPEZ, SALVADOR P.

•••

MENDOZA, R. p.

•••

ORTEGA, Very Rev. Fr. JUAN

**'* How the Image of the Virgin of the Rosary was Saved (Filipino Observer) June 2

PEDROCHE, C. V.

*** Like Beasts, You Might Sa.y

*** VICTORIO-REYES, LIGAYA

.*.

•••

(Monthly Post) November Picture of his Wife (Sunday Times ) November 4 Company Dance (Monthly Post) September Just Waiting (Philippine-American) October

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

T HE following is an index of Philippine short stories published from May to November 1945. This list is complete except perhaps for ce,·tain magazines which may have published short stories but which folded up after an issue or two. In evaluating these stodes I have not tried to depart from tbe familiar critical norms on substance and form. The stories preceded by two asterisks can claim distinct ion eitber by the significance of their substance or by their form, but mostly form. Perso.n ally, again, I think that the forms belabored now by our sbort-story writers seem inadequate to express fully and significantly values that have become the legacy of our times. For it seems to me that the literature that we are going to write will have need of history to go into its making. And I say tha,t seriousness is a virtue,

that a writer must needs, fint of all, he aware of the relation of literature to buman life, viewing the pageant of humanity moving .across the stream of time, not merely as a tremendous spectacle but also as the summat.ion of individual experiences. Tho imaginative writer must express the temper of the .t imes, and give us the feel of the various problems and relationships of which he is bOlth a part and a spectator. Within the relatively restricted perspective that I have brought to bear upon the*, s~ories I have selected .twenty stories as ;the best that have been published during the period indicated. And they can favorably hear comparison with the best of our pre-war literature. They are very good stories-<ieeply felt and deeply imagined, and written with the same essential seriousness in which they were conceived.

LIST OF PHILIPPINE SHORT STORIES AGA, JR.,

R. T.

ALFON-RIVERA, ESTRELLA

ALVAREZ, CONSTAlNCIA ARCE, EMMA ARCELLAN A, FRANCISCO

ARGUILLA, LYDIA V.

ARTIAGA, VICTORIA J. BAGUIA, ALFREDO G.

**. .* *••

So Sorry (N.ation) August '18th February (Filipino Observer) June 9 Rich Man, Poor Man (Peoples' Magazine) August 3 *'** Find Me the Words (Liberator) • Two Days Without Water (Monthly Post) September •• Honeymoon (Monthly Post) August •• * The Dead (Sunday Times) October 7 ... Knife of the Times (Evening News Sept. 29 •• Sleep in Unheavenly Peace (Evening News) November 17 •• Writer in War (Peoples' Magazine) September 2 •• Banca-Banoa Incident (Sunday Times) July 15 • My Gun 'Patena' (Manila Post.) Oct. 28 •• Yes, I Remember (Sunday Times) Oct. 28 *.* Yours Faithfully (Philippine-American) Nov. _. Be My Love (Filipino Observer) July 81 • Alegria Under the Sword (Monthly Post) November

THE BEST SaORT-S,.OORIES OF

BDNIGNO, VI1IGINIA B ONA DE S ANTOS, SOFIA

BORJE, CON SORCIO BULLO, R E MY R. C ANLAS, P ACIFICO M . C HANCO, MARIO P. CONSTANTI NO, EMILIO

COSIO, H ERNANDO G. CRUZ, RoBERTO D. D ACANAY, AMADEO R . .CASTRO, FIDEL DE

QUiANGCO, G ERARDO

EDROZA, GENOVEVA D . E DWARDS, C H RIS GABRIEL, J OSE M. G ARCIA, MARTA A. G LORIOSO, PABLO R. GOMEZ, G . C . G UERRERO, EFRAIM MA. GUZ MAN, GLORIA V. HONTIVERD S-AVELLANA, DAISY

JUAN, J OSE

IU.YE, ANTHONY J.

•• The Mak ing of Cecilia (Sunday Post ) November 4 • Present for Uncle Sam (Sunday T imes) September 30 • When T hey R eturn ( Philippine-Amel'ican) November •• Sister L ucienne's Gift (Filipino Observer) October 24 •• • To the Bmv e (Sunday T imes) J uly 1 •• A L ette,' to B ill (Phil.-American) Nov. • W hiskey (Filipino Observer) August 7 • J e"sey (S un day T imes) October 21 • Uneasy the Dead ( Evening News) Oct. 27 • S tory of a Meeting (Filipino Observer) J une 30 ••• T he Short-Cut (Evening News ) Oct . 6 •• G"ave for Two (Manila Post) Oct. 28 • Pr e-Wa.· Sketch (Evenin g News ) Oct. 13 • F or t he Stout in H ea.·t (PhiJippineAmerican) November •• H e Shall S ee the Light (Sunday Times ) October 14 Li ttle-Town B a.·be,· (M an ila Post) Nov. 14 ••• I'm Coming H ome (Filipino Obser ver) October 10 •• H omage to the Living (Manila P ost) Oct. 14 ". T here Was No Peace in BascMan (Evening News ) October 13 • • A ll Men Are Not B,·othe,.s (Sunday Times ) Sept.ember 23 • E vanescence (Filipino Observer ) Nov. 15 ••• None Of the Bitter (Monthly Post) October • •• B attle for tite Philippines (PhillippineAmerican) Sept ember • Image of the Virgin of AnUpolo (Filipino Observer) June 23 • • T he Zoning of Polo (Monthly P ost) Oct ober • • An Unfo"gettable T eacher (Manila Post) October 28 •• 'Lola' (Filipino Observer) Sept. 16 •• T hey Died B" t N ot in V ain (Filipino Obser v,e r) J une 16 .* I f It We"e Sim,eon (Manila Post) Sept. 16 • I k ill Y ou TO?norro'w (Philippine-American) Sept. • I n the Little Town of Bay (Phil.-American) October ••• Mi.sion Accomplished (Sunday Times ) • T he W"ong E ncore (Filipino Obser ver ) May 26 • Vigil's End (Sunday T imes ) November 11

DIZON, D . PAULO

1945

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

54 LAYA,

J. C.

LIONAG, EMY M. LoPEZ, SALVADOR P . MALAY, ERNESTO L. MALLARI, I. V. MARION, JOHN FRANCIS MENDOZA, ANTONIO MENDOZA, R. P . MOLINA, ANTONIO OFIAiNA, M. D. ORTEGA, Very Rev. Fr. JUAN PEDROCHE, C. V.

•• Bela'" the Deluge (Monthly Post) Nov. • Liberation 01 Manila (Monthly Post) Oct. •• So, Forget Me (Evening News) Nov. 10 ** You,' Eyes A"e Old (Filipino Observer) July 10 **-' Fa" F"eedorn and Democracy (Manila Post) October 28. • Ah hal (Manila Post) October 14 " ATm of the Law (Manila Post ) Oct 7 • Jeep Was a Lady (Nation) October * 'Huba-Huba' Joe (Philippine-American) Nov• •• First American Raid in Manila (Monthly Post) September Seven at the Stalee (Monthly Post) Nov. * Ant-ipoio-A 'Tableau' (Filipino Observer) June 23 • Tacio (Evening News) Nov. 3 *.* How the Image of t he Virgin Of the RosaT'II Was Saved (Filipino Observer) June l! ... Like Beast,You Might Say (Monthly Post), November *** Picture of His Wife (Sunday Times) November 4 • Thank God, ::;he Said, For the Smell 01 Bread Philippine-American) Nov. • Two Dates (Sunday Times) Aug. 12 •• F"om My D,a,·y-Dec. 1, 1948 (Nation) Oct. • The Visit (Sunday Times,) Nov. 11 Faith is a Queer Thing (Manila Post) •• A Letter to 'Aguirre' (Manila Post) Se~temb.er 23 •• Don't Laale at Me That Way, L uis (Filipino Observer) July 17 • Nasugbt. StOTY (Filipino Observer) May 26 •• Behind the Shimbu Line (Sunday Times) July 8 •• Reward (Philippine-American) September ... Hello Joe (Filipino Observer) May 12 " Veteran and the Hostess (Nation) Sept. • Along the Old Naguilian R oad (Filipino Observer) July 24 ".. Company Dance (Monthly Post) Sept. ••• Just Waiting (Phmppine-American) Oct. •• It is a Litt7,e School (Filipino Observer) Nov. 7 • Mama Has a Date (Evening News) Oct. 20 • Father ... We Are Hungrv (Nation) July

PERFECTO, WALDO S. PESTANO-JACINTO, PACITA PINEDA, M. POLOTAN, KERINA RoDAS,

J. M.

SALAK JR., MANUEL SANCHEZ, FLORIAiNO SICAM, GERONIMO D . SOLOMON-GALANG, MARIA "TIAGA, TIAOO"

TruNIDAD, LUIS MA. VEYRA, JAIME C. DE VICTORIO.REYES, LIGAYA VILLARAZA-GUZMAN, G. YUVIENCC, EMY ZU~IGA, OSCAR DE

Snake in the Grass by Daisy H ontiveros-A vellana

ALFWAY between the city of Iloilo and the province of Capiz lies the town of Tapas. Sleepy, utterly ene-hanting Tapas, nestling close to mountains majestic in their grandeur. Mention the name Tapas to any young buck from the Visayas, and watch the look of rapture on his glowing face. For the town is known far and wide for the beauty of its dalagas. And fairest of the fair was Imelda, she of the limpid eyes and raven tresses, Imelda who played the piano and sang like an angel, and who had a slight edge over all angels, because she could cook besides. Marvelously. Truly a para. gon among women, was this shy inday. Reason enough, then, for the stalwart young swains of the town to enshrine her beautiful image in their hearts, and to follow her adoringly with their gaze when on Sunday mornings she entered the church, eyes downcast and a faint blush tingeing her lovely cheeks. And when on moonlit nights, the local young Lochinvars sallied forth with their trusty guitars to serenade the damsels of Tapas, many a wistful look was cast towards the closed shutters of Imelda's window, and many a sigh wrenched a manly breast, as with breaking hearts the brave Bolt.".OS went reluctantly past the fair one's home. Eighteen years old was Imelda, and

no man had once told her he loved her. No man dared, unless he wished to ree.. kon with Imelda's father, Tay Ponso. Short, thin, and sallow-faced was Tay Many years ago, he had been P onso. known to a respectful Tapas as D on Alfonso. That VIas when he was newly married, and was tacitly acknowledged the richest man in town. The girl he wed, Pilar, consented to marry him in the vain hope that she could reform him. For Don Alfonso was not only the rich. .est man in Tapas, he was also a confirmed gambler and a great imbiber, and though he was truly devoted to his wife, he was certainly not blind to other pretty faces. H e further neglected to tell Pilar until after the wedding ceremony that in the course of his eventful life he had acquired unto himself a son, now aged two, whom he had quietly installed with its mother in a little nipa house at the outskirts of Tapas. Tears, condemnation and more tears from Dona Pilar. Don Alfonso solemnly swore never again to stray from the straight and narrow, and further swore nevermore to drink, and 'not to go with the boys that did.' He kept his promise religiously for over a year. Then, some time after the advent of Imelda into the world, lighthearted Don Alfonso threw away all promises to the winds and, making up for lost time, merrily resumed his straying. Small wonder, then, that in spite of his wife's frantic efforts, by the time Imelda was sixteen the family fortune

55 •

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

was reduced to nil, Dona Pilar was Nay Pilar, and Don Alfonso was Tay Ponso, or (many times) referred to variously as That Sot, or That Man, or-among the young blades-the Tapas Tenorio. In a town where the soil is as lush and productive as i~ is in Tapas, even t he lazy do not starve. Tay Ponso, his wife and daughter lived comfortably enough. It was his oft-repeated theory that no man ever had honorable intentions where women were concerned, and therefore no man would come up to his house to court Imelda, or -and here Tay Ponso would bring out his balisong, a wicked-looking affair, and stood whetting it with sure, decisive strokes. So then Nay Pilar would ask, derisively, HAnd why did you get married, pray?" To which Tay Ponso would answer, with brilliant inconsist.ency, H Aba! That's different. I fell in love with you." Even the coming of the J'apanese produced no perceptible dent on Tapas affairs. When news came from .a neighboring town that a small detachment of the Imperial Army was marching towards Tapas, the townspeople simply packed whatever belongings and foodstuff they could carry and resignedly moved to nearby J amindan, a recognized guerrilla stronghold. Tay Ponso, resourceful as ever, speedily made fri ends with t he mayor of J amindan and thus secured for his family a most comfortable h ouse, one belonging to His Honor. The feeling in J amindan was so unanimously anti-Japanese thai; the guerrillas had t heir headquarters in town, they walked about with guns prominently displayed, and their top-ranking officers lived with the mayor. The arrival of a breath-taking beauty like Imelda naturally excited much adverse comment from t he J amindan dalagas, and much preening and strutting from the guerrilla officers, among whom was Captain Mario Enriquez, a college-bred, Iloilo-born, dashing young man who speedily laid siege, and success-

The captain fully, to Imelda's h eart. made so bold as to do his courting right under Tay Ponso's indiguant nose, literally. For despite dire threats and significant whettings of the balisong on the part of the irate father, Mario calmly went on paying court to his inamorata. . He had f ound favor, not only with Imelda, but with Nay Pilar, and in the hands of this lady Tay Ponso, for all his rantings, was as putty.

The whole town sat back on its heels 'and gleefully watched the progress of the romance, with bets being laid pro and can. The day Mario asked for Imelda's h and in marriage, Tay Ponso went to the nearby tiangue and drowned his sorrows in drink. "Sooner would I be dead," he declared solemnly, "than have t hat marriage take place." CAME Christmas Day, and everything was in readiness for the traditional dance to be held at the mayor's house. Grudgingly Tay Ponso consented to esIcort his wife and his daughter to t he important event. With the dance in full swing, Tay Pan so was maneuvered unobstrusively into the diniug room and there plied with drinks; while in a room beyond, behind closed doors, a civil ceremony was being quietly performed, making Mario and Imelda man and wife, with a tearful Nay Pilar in close attendance. Once the ball was over, Tay Ponso collected his wife and his daughter and, still unsuspecting, went home. If nothing went awry, the very next day Mario was to take Imelda to his hacienda nearby, where thoughtful fri ends were waiting with a priest who was to marry them in the approved Catholic way. So the fateful day dawned, and Nay Pilar asked her husband to go markettiug for her since she wasn't f eeling well. Tay Ponso was a dutiful soul, so, despite a loggy h ead, off he went with a basket slung over one arm. Mario, who had been lurking around the corner, allowed a few minutes to pass before he

SNAKE IN THE GRASS

went up the house, where a frantic Imelda was awaiting him. Nay Pilar hurriedly gave them her blessing and t old them to be off. A pair of swift horses was tethered at the edge of the town, ready to take them to the hacienda. Imelda had thoughtfully left a letter stuck on the traditional pin cushion, informing her parent of her departure from single-blessedness. This letter, Nay Pilar was supposed to find and hand her husband, several hours later, when the fugitives would be too far away for Tay Ponso to give chase. Quickly Mario and Imelda descended the stairs, ·reached the bottom step, and then Imelda uttered a little cry. For coming towards them, eyes diligently searching the ground, was Tay Ponso. Near the market he had discovered that h is money must have dropped out along the way, and so he was retracing the l'Oute he had taken. It was too late for the lovers to turn back into the house, so they decided to brazen it out. Mario squared his shoulders defiantly and waited. At this highly critical moment, a steam-roller made its plodding and noisy way from ' a side street and out, right across the main road, thus cutting the young people from Tay Ponso's view. Now with some men it's philately, with lothers it's money. Tay Ponso was fascinated by machines. So now he halted his search for the lost money, while he : gazed, entranced, at the slow-moving steam-roller. Mario acted quickly. I"Let's go I"~ he whispered, and clutching firmly at the maleta, he and Imelda made Itheir way unobserved, down a side street and off to where the horses waited.

T AY Ponso, having gazed his fill at t he steam roller, slowly went back to his house, all thoughts of marketing for gotten. Nay Pilar, who had been reduced to a frightful state of nerves at her post near the door, completely ::>st ,all her composure and flew towar ds her husband, waving Imelda's letter in one

hand. "They're gonel" she cried. "They've eloped !," And promptly fainted at his feet. Naturally Tay Ponso couldn't go after Mario, what with his wife to attend to. When Nay Pilar had recovered sufficiently, however, she told the whole story to an outraged Tay Ponso. Furiously he strode up and down the room, hurling epithets at the absent Mario. "Hel! fire!" said Tay Ponso. "That I should find out, after all these years, that the woman I married," he paused, dramatically, "is a snake in the grassl" Nay Pilar stopped crying at that. "Alfonso," she said, "I have stood many things, but being called names I will not standi" She started getting her clothes together and throwing them into a maleta. "Where do you t hink you're going?" asked Tay Ponso. "I am go ing," said his wife with dignity, "to my daughter." Snap went the maleta. "And my son-in-law," she finished, triumphantly. She did, too. Once more Nay Pilar enlisted the aid of the mayor, and had herself driven in style to the hacienda. Tay Ponso went off to the tiangue and proceeded to get beaut ifully under the weather. At the hacienda some few nights later, a meek voice called to Nay Pilar just outside the gate. "Who is it?" she asked, although she knew well enough. "Me. Alfonso." Diffidently. "What do you want?" "Could you-" haltingly, "won't youcome home now?" "What's the matter," Nay Pilar asked, "why don't you come to the door? Are you so afraid of Mario 1" Tay Ponso was momentarily aroused. HHell fire!" he said. "I can lick that young pup anytime." Sheepishly he continued, "It's_it's you I'm afraid of." The darkness hid Nay Pilar's smile. "All right, Alfonso," she sighed. "You might as well come in, and meet your son-in-law."

The Proof of the Pie by Sofia Bona de Santos HY the humorists of our time should pick on the well-meaning newlywed's culinary shortcomings to flaunt before an unsympathetic world will always r emain a mystery to me. In fact, I've reached the conclusion that even Adam, in the pre-apple days, must have looked upon his pet rib's f,eeble attempts at making steak Ii la Parad-ise with that supercilious lift of the eyebrows and derisive snigger which are peculiar to husbands. One day I found myself in the unen•viable predicament of either doing my . own cooking or starving to death. At the moment, I fan cied starvation the lesser of two evils, but there was my hushand and daughter to think of. As for my husband, to say that he was dismayed would be an understatement. He was speechless over the calamity of it, and I at first sought consolation in the belief that he did not relish seeing his mate subj ected to the rigors of cooking minus gas, water, electricity, and kitchen utensils. On closer observation I divined, with the unerring instinct of a wife, that he was haunted by bleak visions of future meals of burnt rice, steaks perfectly suited for patching the soles of GI boots, chicken meat that would look and act as if it had been stolen from a taxidermist's shop, and canned salmon, canned saJI'dines, and still more canned salmon. "Cooking!" scoffed my uncompassionate kinswomen. UN othing to it. And it's high time you learned it too. You won't wait till you're a grandmother, and by that time, your grand-

158

children will be f eeding you anyway." I must have looked utterly woebegone because after a while they relented and started giving me pointers on this and that recipe, most of which went clear over my head. Anyway, armed with a desperate door-die attitude, and aided by a maid whose knowlelge of cuisine was just about on a par with mine, I plunged ·into a shopping nightmare of pots and .;stoves and pans and other kitchen paraphernalia. Thus equipped I set about fixing the tiny cubicle which only by a 'supreme effort of the imagination one could have called a kitchen. That first meal wasn't so bad. The rice wasn't burned, even if it was raw • .in spots. The fried fish, despite its dishevelled look, was edible; and the dehydrated egg looked exactly what it was-an omelette with thwarted ambitions. If the strain which the novice-cook has to undergo requires more than ordinary fortitude, it would take a very hardy soul indeed, and the physique of an amazon, to brave the terrors of Manila's public markets for the first time. It is bad enough to have the inevitable mud and filth splashed and smeared on your feet by thousands of marketers. While you do your buying outside, with a little of God's air and breathing space around you, you manage

THE PRooF OF THE

,to maintain your ground squarely on both legs. But once you are swallowed within the market's cavernous mouth, you are jostled and punched and shoved and deafened to a point where you feel like a badly battered jellyfiah. You remain on your feet only by sheer force of habit. You make a round of the meat stalls and thrust a timid experimental finger at huge chunks of beef and pork, only to have it almost chopped off by an evil-looking vendor. The butcher grins satanically and hurls onto the tab"'. more and more slabs of the gory stuff. Literally seeing red, you stagger away blindly and almost get entangled in several hundred meters of entrails. For a minute you are confused and can't quite explain how ox.tongues and hoofs and kictneys got together in such intimate melange. It is Salvador Daliish. and you reel away just in time to prevent your own entrails from tangling up. You manage at last to stumble into the fish section, and the fish vendors instantly have you spotted. They have an unerring eye for a greenhorn, or maybe it's because by the time you get there, you do look a bit green about the gills. They try to pass off to you all the stale and staling fish in their baskets, but you refuse to be duped. You go through the motions of examining the eyes, gills, scales, )€tc., and with an air of worldly wisdom that doesn't fool the vendor one bit, you finally make your purchase-only to discover later that it was the wrong kind you bought. Thus a harrowing week for the novice, trying out simple dishes that look horrifyingly complicated in their newness, and all the While dreaming of lavish and epicurean dinners. You are smothered in recipe books which sooner or later you learn to distrust. One day r attempted to make Arro% a la Valenciana. One book said to fry the chicken; another, to boil the chic. ken. Undecided, r tried the eeny-mee-

ny-miney-no method and ended up by frying the chicken. Glowing with victory, r set my -piece d. resistance on the table and urged my husband to take a bite. He did take a bite-but that'. all he took, for the chicken remained on the bone. Very patiently he asked, did I boil the chicken 1 If not I should have done 80. As it was, the leg he took had enough muscular vitality to be able to run back to the chicken coop. All is not woe in my story, however. A time came when my efforts seemed to be crowned with success-and most unexpectedly. Tired and hot on a particularly stifling day, r flopped into my chair and glared belligerently at my husband across the lunch table. Before us was a bOWl of chop·suey and a platter of Arroz a la Cubana--an incon.. gruous combination to start with. "Don't you dare utter one disparaging word about the meal," I mutt.ered savagely, withal inwardly, "not one word." And what do you think! The dear man was really pleased with it! r was so surprised that r lost my appetite for the rest of the day and thenceforth went about the house in a sort of daze. Moral to newlyweds: Don't let cooking get you down. The trite old sayings still hold good. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again, and all that sort of stuff. If your man gets t oo critical and a bit on the ulll'easonable side, just quote to him, very sweetly, from Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

I require aU things that are good and true All things that a man should be, 1/ you give this all, I will stake my Ii/_ And be all you demand 0/ me. 1/ you cannot do this, a laundress or cook

You may hire with little pay, But a woman's heO/T't an.d a woman's

love Are not to be won that wall.

-Common sense about race relations and prejudices-

Yet, I Love America by Pura Santillan-Castrence HE racial prejudice that 1 met in America has not made me bitter. So that '.vhen I talk calmly about it, it is not because I have become an Olympian, but because I cannot pretend to be excited when I am not. I went to America infused with very young dr eams. I was to see lovely sights and take part in wonderful experiences. I did both, as a matter of fact. Fortunately (or was it unfortunately?) no one had told me that America was a land of prejudices, so that I went, blithely ignorant of what I was in for , When, later, For Rent signs mysteriously disappeared from windows as I approached them, while looking for a place to stay in during the summer, I realized what the phrase "finding out the hard way" meant. I was young and sensitive,. and the blow hurt . For the first time I had a feeling that I was not wanted in a country which, already then, I loved very intensely. I studied in the Middle West. In hilly Ann Arbor wi·t h its gentle slopes of summer-warm greens and violets, pinks and reds, its cool spring rains, its lingeringly sweet autumns, its wet, shivering winters. My Filipino boy-friend (my husband now), waS in the university boxing team, and I sang in the university choral union; at Least in the stadium and in the music school our brown skins did not clash with the white. If anything we made for v'a riety, and our University could point out to us selfrighteously: "See, we have no prejudices !'~

I stayed in one of the university girls' dormitories. My room was adj acent to that of two girls who have become my life-long friends. Of nights when there was !lot too much school work for the next day one Or the other room would be used for our eternal gab fests. Far into the wee hours of the morning We would talk, threshing life's problems with our young wisdoms. And Elizabeth would tell me the next morning: "Did you know that you made noises with your teeth when you are asleep?" For, more often than not, on those memorable nights the three of us would sleep in the same room, with two beds pulled together to accommodate us. The y,ears have deepened this college friendship which h ·, 8 all the chance of keeping as long we three live. The first letter I received after liberation came from one of these friends. I was mistyeyed when I read: "I have two thousand dollars for you. When can I begin sending the money?" The second came from one of my university professors. "The first ones We shall look after will be our people. Tell me what your husband and you would care for as jobs here." SUMMER vacations I used to spend with my dormitory friend and there m her home. I was not a Filipino and she an American; we had no race, we were just friends who loved and respected each other. Her parents treated me as one of the family and her brothe'!'s made me feel like a visiting princess. Prejudice? What was that? In my friend's house I

YET, I LoVE AMERICA

was the distinguished guest. And because around, that my J ewish classmates sat the guest liked wild grapes, never having in a group by themselves. True it is that we Filipinos were made had them before, she had a plateful of them every morning. What would she like much of in programs and gatherings to do in the afternoon-a wiener roast, where we were asked to speak about our boating party, dancing? She had ;'0 country. But young though I was and swimming suit? One had to be produced. inexperienced, I felt the kindly condesEvening walks? Swell, that was what cension and the too dulcet patronizing. We were curiosities. We talked English, eVleryone wanted, anyway. Indeed, if I wished to, I could gloss so? And we wore shoes as though they didn't hurt, maybe we had them in our over this business of prejudice and claim country too? Great white brother with that it was really not a problem to be reckoned with by Filipinos going to the his gl1eat white hand approvingly patting the little brown brother's back. United S.tates. Because, personally, I That was what I felt. I remember bithave had the great good fortune of findterly resenting this patronizing, let-meing a haven in friends who took me infla t nose, high cheek-bones, brown-ness look-you-over attitude. and all, and loved me yet for them, it OF pr<>judice then one must talk. Beseemed, into the bargain. I enclosed cause one can't just accept it and keep myself in this circle of affection, look:dlent. It exists, alive and kicking, it is ing out only whenever necessary, and here in our country now, very close to not caring, in my youthful self-suffius, manifested in various ways. That it ciency, if others did not fare as well as I does exist was shown very clearly when, did. in a speech of mine whose topic was not But I did look out. And I saw many raCe prejudice as such but GI-Filipino things. I saw that Miss Marshall, my marriages, the main issue was forgot. colored classmate in Latin, was alon-e in t en and the whole discussion after the her corner of the room, that I alone, in spoech centered on the color question. fact, ever sa t near her ( I learned later My purpose was to show our Filipino that if I had known what was good fo r girls what they would be up against me I shouldn't have been so chummy with when they married their GI boy-friends. her). I read in the papers that one Mid- I pointed out that they would not bewestern University which was in the Big come American citizens by the mere fact Ten wouldn't play our football team be- of their marriage with their blond cause there was a colored boy in it. And fiances, if of themselves they were not I heard that in a state nearby a visiting eligible as citizens. More likely than not friend, a Filipino, was made to remove they would not be, f or they could not his hat to show his straight hair before have served in the Coast Guard or in the he was allowed to get into a show-house Navy of the United States, so that all -they had to be sure he was not a Negro. that they could hope for would be to be I noticed too that while I was invited to included among the non-quota immibecom e a member of honorary societies, grants.-a very unsatisfactory status. I was never asked into sororities where Th'ere was, of course. no getting away I would come into equal social contacts from the idea of prejudice On this queswith my white classmates. Why that tion of mixed marriages. The couple didn't hurt then, because it didn't, is would have to decide wisely where to something I can't comprehend now. I liTe. Some states would simply be imsaw also that my Jewish dormitory mates possible for permanent residence. The were looked down upon and pushed Filipino bride of an American captain

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

belonging to a socialite family in the Southeast recently wrote to a friend here: "Bob's love has not waned, but the family snubs me." How long would Bob's love keep from waning against the onslaughts of family disdain and indifference? No one can, of course, answer the question, not even Bob. Lesser men than Bob have solved the problem by simply fading away. That, as will be recalled, was what Nano C. Lucero, a GI, did when he could no longer sta"d the situation created by the presence of his· Filipino wife, Ramana Romero, and his :lalf-breed infant. The problem of children came up too in the talk, mestizos with their curious superiority and inferiority quirks: they exhibit a distinct superiority complex when dealing with the Filipinos which the latter naturally resent, and a distinct inferiority complex when dealing with the Americans which only amuses the latter. I cautioned, of course, again,t generalization, for, taught the proper sense of values, mestizo children can be themselves, integrated, clearly-defined individuals. The rub is in the fact that America flaunts her democracy almost aggressively. She admits her own race prejudice yet unshamefacedly and with self-ri ghteous indignation condemns the Nazi theory of Aryan superiority. In substance there is really no difference between the two prejudices except that the Nazi, in his madness for world power, bluntly and in black and white proclaimed and gloried in his ridiculous sense of superiority. In fact it is this hypocritical attitude about race that Europeans deplore in Americans. I have been in Europe, I have mingled with Europeans in Manila, and I have to admit that-at least in the countries where I stayed, France, Switzerland, Italy-I saw no instance of race prejudice.

WHY don't you, I was asked after my talk, solve your prejudice the way I did?

It was an American lieutenant who described himself as coming from the South and as having been born to the prejudice against the Negro which is taken for granted there. It seemed that he accepted this prejudice at first. He was in fact very contented with it when the bottom was suddenly knocked out of his smugness by an excellent lecture on cellulose chemistry given by a colored man. He was stunned, he came out of the lecture a new man, a reformed man. The problem of race prejudice had been solved for him! I could not answer him because I did not wish to be personal and say that as far as I was concerned race prejudi:!e was a finished story too. We were not in a revival meeting where we told our brothers how we saw light and were saved. I could not tell my audience, without seeming to be conceited, that I could not be hurt anymore by anybody's prejudice knowing that as I stood there I was as good as any white or black or brown man in the audience. I knew because I had found out. I had white classmates in America who couid not make the grade, while I did; I had also white classmates whom I looked up to because they knew so much more than I did. Miss Marshall ironed out many of my Latin difficulties even as an Italian fri end helped me in linguistics. I took my Ph. D. alone in my class because my white colleagues floundered on the wayside. They got their degrees later. I travelled around and found out that men were basically the same everywhere. But having found this out I have not solved the problem of prejudice for the other Filipinos, much less for the whole world. It is, as I told my smug lieutenant, too big a problem for me. Tackling this question is like dashing my puny strength agai"st a mountain. A friend, without saying so in so many words, accused me in the papers of what she thought was a wishy-washy attitude. Why don't I come out and say that I am against GI-Filipino marriages be-

YET, I LOVE AMERICA

cause I know they will not work? Well, I answered, because I really don't know, each marriage being an individual case. Why don't I come out on this prejudice question with definite statements and solutions? Because I can't make the statements and don't know the solutions. Probably because I believe with Sir Arthur Keith that pl1ejudice, if properly channeled, has a place in civilization,

making as it does for competition and therefore progress. Probably because, too, in my heart there is this unquenchable lo ve for America which is as much a part of me as breathing. Also, perhaps, because my dearest friends on earth are Americans with whom through all these years I have held loving hands across the seaS.

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The Eagle's Eyrie FILAMERICAN MAGIC by Salvador P. Lopez T IS an odd commentary on Philippine-American relations that today no group of Filipinos feels more deeply aggrieved towards the United States than the very men who cemented those r elations with blood and fire. Through four long years of common struggle and sacrifice under the magic spell of Filamerican ideals, there was every good r eason to expect that nothing would ever impair the strength of those r elat ions. But victory has been won, the war is over, and the once po .. tent Filamerican magic is fast becoming spent.

The other day we read in the Manila Post the hurt and cynical letter of a Filipino soldier addressed to AFWESPAC, in charge of PhiHppine Army aff airs. It complained, if we remember right, against the cur r ent rulings on back pay, promotions and the 18-peso pay of the Filipino enlisted man, and then went on to suggest that AFWESPAC better pack up bag and baggage and get out of here before the next war breaks out because he is definitely not going to be a "sucker" another time. This is typical of the embittered and, we f ear, somewhat misguided attitude of t he Filipino soldier towards the Army under whose banner he once fought "0 gallantly. It is no comfort to say that the American soldier has griped with equaL violence against the Army-his own army. The American soldier has griped, but rarely and never principally on pecuniary matters. The comparison tags the Filipino soldier as a cheap

mercen ary and does him a grievous injustice. The Filipino soldier was never a mercenary. He went to battle and fought as bravely as he did under the inspiration of motives certainly more exalted than the expectation of a paltry 18 pesos a month. You may get hardened characters and shiftless adventurers to fight any enemy for even l ess than that sum of money, but n ot the 20-yearold Filipino boys who forsook their homes and schools and fought on Bataan three months or went to the hills three years. The Filipino soldier was too young and too simple to be mercenary. He was in the Army, first of all, because he was under orders to do so and because he was taught to r egard milit ary service as one of his primary obligations as a citizen. Later, after the war broke out and he found himself f ace to face with the enemy, he was steeled to the encounter by the impact of three powerful emotions: love of country, loyalty to America and hatred of the invader. We do not intend to glamorize the Filipino soldier and to paint him as a knight in shining armor who was committed to a crusade far too sacred to be defiled by unworthy motives. Doubtless he was often scared and he worried a great deal about the people he had left back home: about the helpless mother or wife and children who were at the mercy of enemies other than the J aps : grief and hunger, illness and want. And because grit and determination and

FILAMERICAN MAGIC

spirit are not all that's required to win a modern war, he grew increasingly anxious too about the dwindling supplies of food and medicine, the complete lack of air support, the melancholy promises of help from America. There may have been those who grumbled against the miserable pittance of 18 pesos a month and bitterly resented the unequal standards of pay and treatment under equal standards of courage and peril, life and death. But they were distinctly in the minority. The blood that was so copiously spilled on Bataan by white soldier and brown was not the color of money.

A LL

through the long and dreary months of waiting and holding, the solemn communiques and .t he rousing pep-talks sped to th" beleaguered Filipino soldier from the Voice of Freedom on Corregidor: Help is on the way and will be here any day now, and it will come in such overwhelming force that the hated enemy shall be beaten back and utterly destroyed. Later, towards the end, when it waS thought necessary maybe to inject some morale-building plasma into the hearts of the starving and disease-ridden troops on Bataan, another announcement came from Conegidor: The U. S. Congress was considering a bill to federalize the pay of Philippine Army officers and men. And President Quezon, in his anxiety to make the promise r eal without delay, authorized the payment to Philippine Army officers of the same base pay as was received by American officers. The amount involved in a similar increase in the pay of the Filipino enlisted man was so large that the Commonwealth Government could not foot the difference without Federal aid. The common soldier's chance would! come later. Wasn't the Congress in Washington already about to approve Federal pay for everybody? The doctrine of equal pay for equal risk did not originate from among1 the Filipino soldiers on Bataan; they were

too relentlessly harassed by starvation, dysentery, malaria, and tile J aps to bother about a fatter pay envelope. It was dinned into theil' ears by the Voice of Freedom on Corregidor and loy Station KGEI in San Francisco. In the days of the ominous lull that preceded the final Japanese assault, they thought not of money but of rice and bread, sulfathiazole and quirtine, tanks and planes. Vaguely they felt that the question of unequal rewards and privileges would resolve itself in due time, that the American people who had so lavishly off ered up their tears and prayers for them would not only do what is just and fair but would outdo themselves in typical American fashion. Sentimental America, caught in a paroxysm of remorse and sympathy, would open the strings of her purse even as she had opened to them the chambers of heart. Now, the war is over. After the prodigal and prodigious expenditures of four years of war, the lynx-eyed auditor, the shrewd horse-trader, the hard-headed creditor, and the habitual budget-balancer that have taken the back seat for so long in the mind of the American are back. America is tired of being the treasury, arsenal, and feed-bag of the world. The Philippines has been caught in the recoil from that period of extravagance. ,The party is over, and they have taken down the sign on the wal!, "On the House." And the hapless Filipino soldier, who has just eaten half a s andwich and drunk half a bottle of coke, must hurry because they are collecting the trays and the glasses. THUS, in the period of peace, when he should be enjoying the rewards and satisfactions of a job well done, the Filipino soldier has been placed in the painfully humiliating position of an ignoble mercenary. Wearing most of the decorations and ribbons in the gift of the United States government as well as of his own, including the coveted Presidential Citation (awarded to only two or three other U. S. Army units) ,

THE PmLIPPlNE-AMERICAN

he resents the tragic disorganization and miscarriage of policy that has reduced him to the status of a beggar. H e resents the circumstances that have compelled him to place his patriotic service on the scales that it may be assessed in dollars and cents like so many pounds of peas and peanuts., ~

There is reason for his resentment. He is not a Filipino for nothing, and being a Filipino, he is extremely sensitive by nature as well as from custom. He will not come out in the open, wearing his heart on his sleeve, for though a question of rights is involved, it also involves something which he vaguely perceives to be a matter of "honor" and "good taste." You will not get him to organize in protest. Not for him the methods of the frank, aggressive and extrovert American soldier. It is not surprising that the near-mutinous GI demonstrations in Manila have only left him gaping and amazed. But precisely because he IS not the aggressively rebellious kind, he tends to brood over his grievances, to become embittered over wrongs that are perhaps

--Cheer Up, Bidder -

exaggerated, to despair about the possibility of a just and generous solution. While he may have reason to resent his condition, the Filipino soldier has no reason to despair of such a solution. We cannot believe that relief and satisfaction are never forthcoming. He has been, as we have said, the victim of a tragic miscarriage of policy. But the situation is r.ot beyond repair, and with less acrimony and more understanding on both sides, a way out of this dark prison of mutual recrimination and disgust can be found. The case for the Filipino soldier must be presented-clearly, fairly, thoroughly, above all with dignity. It may be somewhat late, but not yet too late, we think, to do this. The facts must be brought out in the open-for t he U. S. Army authorities here, for the War Department in Washington, if n ecessary, for the President of the United states himself, to know and understand. Uncle Sam may be tightening the strings of his purse, but he cannot also have closed the doors of his understanding and the chambers of his heart--so soon.

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NEW§MONTH By Baldo1nero T. Olivera EUROPE ILL men ever learn to settle their differences across the conf erence table instead of by force of arms? They didn't after the Kaiser's war, but today, after Hitler's war, they were trying hard. In London last month, fifty-one nations convened for another bid to preserve and promote the peace. The Uni ted Nations Assembly heard Britain's Premier Attlee deliver the opening speech, elected Belgium's Paul Henri Spaak president, made Norway's Trygve Lie general secretary. But hardly had the routine organizat ion been completed when the atmosphere became charged with international grudges of long standing. By the second week of session, the fight was on. The main event: Russia 'Us. Great Britain. It all started when ancient I ran let it be known that she would bring up before the UNO the little irritation which led to the establishment of the autonomous state of Azerbaijan. Russian "in_ terference," the Teheran delegation charged, was at the root of the wliole affair. True or not, the Russians thought they recognized someth ing John Bullesque in the Iranian demarche, promptly countered this was a minor border dispute that could be settled bilaterally, r etaliated by challenging Britain's poli cy in Greece and Indonesia.

The debate between Russia's Andrei Vishinsky and Britain's Ernest Bevin grew hotter as Russia insisted the presence of British troops in Greece was a threat t o the peace of the Balkans. Britain boldly challenged the Council to lay down a straight guilty or not-guilty verdict on Vishinsky's charges. There was talk of the dreaded veto power being lashed by the Muscovites on the Security Council. When Syria and the Lebanon made matters worse by demanding the immediate withdrawal of British and F rench troops from the Levant, diplomats just about threw their hands up in t he air in confused desperation. Then, just as dramatically as the dispute began, it fizzl ed out when Russia early this month suddenly retracted her charges. Diplomats saw in the sudden backdown some clever cloakroom maneuvers by the American delegation whose bulging pockets represented the most potent bargaining whip among disputants angling f or fat American loans. Across the straits in France, General de Gaulle last month resigned the presidency. Reason: disagreement with the Communist-controlled Assembly over currency and army poli cies. A week-long Cl'lSIS ensued, ended when De Gaulle, was succeeded by Socialist Felix Gouin who up to that time was head of the French Assembly.

,---------Portraits That Satisfy·---------. at

636 Quezon Blvd.

PAD'S ART

PHOTOGRAPHY T he Art of ArCs in Photogmphy Manila

T HE P HILIPPINE-AMERICAN

Another government tottered meanwhile fUl·ther south in Spain where HEl Caudillo" Francisco Franco was being squeezed by Allied pressure from one side, by Monarchist intrig-ue from another. As talk of joint American-BritishFrench-Russian boycott of Franco increased, Don Juan, pretender to the Spanish t hrone, flew to Portug-al in what diplomats called the first leg of the Bourbon dynasty's return fligh t to the Spani sh throne. Don Juan was in a huddle with Monarchists in Lisbon as the month ended, while Franco, fearing Republican resurgence, appeared inclined to dicker with Juan under whose reign he stood excellent chances of playing strong man behind the throne.

THE FAR EAST PEACE-on paper, at least-.came at long last to old China last month. The Battle for Power between N at ionalists and Communists ended in a draw when Referee George Catlett Marshall, erstwhile dynamo behind the world's greatest military machine, wangled out an agreement to cease fire, persuaded the combatants to get together on building a strong, united China. It was a victory for Chiang Kai-shek, who won recognition from the Big Guns -the Uni.ted States and Ru ssia-as the legitimate nucleus around whom to rally all China. But it was a victol"Y fOl" other politicos, too, who won civil rights and assurances of fuIl participation in a democratized government. At presstime, the P eople's Political Council had completed the draft of a provisional agreement for a constituent

convention in May and a general election to foIlow under the constitution. Considerably improved, too, was the situation in another Far East trouble spot: Indonesia. Actual warfare during the month simmered down to isolated extremist thrusts as Dutch and Indonesian leaders prepared ,t o do battle- by arguments. Arbiter was Sir Archibald Clark-Kerr, trouble-shooting British special envoy pulled out of Moscow to do spadework and clear the Netherlands East India mess. Clue to the possible outcome of the present negotiations was a st",tement by D r . Herbertus J. van Mook, lieutena'fit governor-general, who, after consultations with the home government, flew back to Batavia with the message: "My people have fully realized that colonial days are over. The time caIls for new relationships."

THE PHILIPPINES Gr,;N. TOMOYUKI YAMASHITA had a merry game of hide and seek with destiny last month. Condemned to death by hanging by a military commission in Manila last December, the erstwhile "Tiger of Malaya" moved a trifle away from the shadow of the gallows when the U .S. Supreme Court ordered a stay in the execution of the sentence to give his defense opportunity to show cause why the defendant should be given a civil trial in American courts. For two days last month, Yamashita's able lawyers argued before the high bench that the military commission was illegal since the war was over, and h ad no jurisdiction over the case since the

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Philippines was not military territory. The Supreme Cou rt recessed, pondered the case long, f inally announced in a sixto-two opinion that ther e was nothing illegal about the commission which found Yamashita guilty. The Court therefore ruled it would not interfere. Yamashita's hopes grew dimmer when, close on the heels of the Supreme Court's ruling, General MacArthur formally sustained the f indings of the commission, ordered the execution of the sentence, specified that Yamashita was to be executed stripped of uniform and all military appurtenances of the military profession which, MacArthur said, the J apanese commander dishonored by permitting his men .t o sack the ancient city of Manila. It looked like lights out for Yamashita-until War Secretar y Robert P. P atterson ordered MacArthur to stay the execution once more pending President Truman's decision on a plea for clemency by Yamashita's defense. Swiftly President Truman sent word: He will not interfere. Yamashita must hang.

,;: * * The Philippines last month plunged once more into its national pastime: electioneering. The last-minute frantic efforts of oldline N acionaHsta bigwigs to patch up the Osmefia-Roxas differences failed , an d the two wings promptly held their respective conventions. Nominated running..mate for Osmena was Rizal's favori te son, hef ty, smiling Eulogio Rodriguez who accepted the nomination as a welcome gift on h is 63rd birthday. EIpid io Quirina, lively, wise-cracking president pr o-tern of the Senate was, as expeoted, unanimously nominated running-mate of General Roxas. There was conf usion in both camps on the selection of official candidates f or senator as several aspirants f rom the fledgling minorit ies j ockeyed f or plums f rom bot h wings. It was a busy season for politicos.

The strike epidemic leaped ocean barriers and struck Manila with deadly efFirst to strike were fect last month. r ailway workers, f ollowed by employes of Manila's Metropolitan Water District. Demand: higher wages. The Commonwealth government conveniently took over the railways and granted pay raises ranging from four pesos up, and Manila relaxed when the water workers returned to work. But the strike reached fever beat the first of this month when an estimated 30,000 longshor emen belonging to the Union de Obreros Estivadores de FiIipinas left cargoes in ship holds, demanded 100 per cent raises, tu rned thumbs down on AFWESPAC's 20 per cent boost offer on a 40-hour-per-week basis. At presstime, the strike wave was

spreading to other labor fronts in Manila as prices of commodities rose sharply due to hoarding in anticipation of a prolonged walkout.

As Silent As The Night. .. e

When we conduct our departed to his final resting plac o , any uncalled for interruption mars all the beauty of the service.

We are proud to announce that a fleet of brand new Dodge care have been converted in to funeral cars thus aSBuring our clientele of a smooth and uninterrupted service.

• T ogether with the luxurious Packard and Cadillac funeral cars we have ordere d f r om America, we hope to give our clientele a service as silent as the n ight. s ince 1880 Azcal'raga. cor. Benavides

MARI,ANO V. DEL ROSARIO

Chat with Our Readers

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AN a rooster lay an egg ? We don't remember how the question came up-but it did, at the intimate little party that we gave the othe week at a downtown nightclub for our editors, Eric Raymond and Chris Edwards, who mu st be in midPacific by now, homeward bound. In the middle of a boogie-woogie piece we suddenly heard Eric raise his voice to demand of the entire company whether it's true that roosters lay eggs.

One after another the answers came: Yes, l'oosters do lay eggs, rather smaller than hens' eggs, but eggs nevertheless. To Eric, who comes f rom Phil adelphia and has hair on his chest, the idea was preposterous, inconceivable. Clutching at a straw he asked again: Has anyone of you ever seen a rooster lay an egg? He meant, of course, in flag"an le delicto. Wen.. . It waS Chris, who hails from Missouri, where he is practically a next-dool' neighbor to the Harry Trumans, who finally assured Eric that roosters sometimes do commit t hat most unmasculine folly. I come from the Middle West, he said, and I shoule! know. They will have something to argue about, those two, as their ship plows the waves of the Pacific on the long voyage home. In a world that liv'es in constant fear of the atomic bomb and in nameless dread of the bare-bosom gown, t here will be one more bewildered man in search of some measure of certitude

and peace. We invite our readers to send u s their testimony on this vital question of natural history. We'll keep every hit of information we receive on the subject f or Eric when he returns, come April or May.

For we cannot forget how Eric looked beneath the blow of that shattering fact. Although his world wasn't exactly in ruins, we thought we saw him go out m'estfallen into the night.

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FROM this you will gather that Eric and Chris are on a brief leave of absence in the States. They've earned it too, after nearly two years with an al,tillery outfit that saw action on Bougainville and Luzon. But having decided that they like this 'country and its people, and that Raymond House, of which they are stockholders, is sufficiently stable and promising to embrace their hopes of the future, they're coming back-to stay.

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CHAT W,TH OUR READERS While in the States, it is their intention to enhance the already sizable circulation of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN there, believing that the magazine is in a happy position to become a mighty link in the intellectual and cultural chain that must continue to bind the American and the Filipino peoples in the years to come. They have been commissioned to acquire the necessary printing equipment and supplies for a bigger and better PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN and its future sister-publications, and to secure materials for a PHILIPPINE· AMERICAN YEARBOOK that we hope to issue next July on Philippine Independence Day. They have also asked us to announce to our readers that they will make necessary arrangements with re· putabIe literary agents in the U.S. for Filipino authors who want their stories, articles, and books published there. Those interested are invited to write Q ... to come and see us for further information.

·W ITH this issue of the magazine we mark our first half-year of pubThat's not a long time, but lication. how good it feels to realize that we have definitely left behind us the worst pains of growing! Though each issue will continue to be a fresh and exhilarating adventure, it's gratifying to know that we've passed the rougher obstacles on the way. We're confident that, having gone down the road together thus far, we'll continue to en joy and to profit from e&ch other's company. It's specially gratifying to recall that we have satisfactorily, we think, performed certain functions that would more logically devolve upon the Philippine and the United States governments. We like to think that our objectivesthe promotion of Philippine-American under standing, the clarification of certain tangled issues in Philippin~. American relations, the frank discus~ sion of important controversial issues-

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axe, in a sense, the objectives also of both gov.,rnments. We are inclined to believe-not vainly, we hope-that we shall soon receive some mark of official regard in recognition of our efforts.

rates that we do, we feel we have at last won the first crucial rounds in the battle against the prewar exploitation of writers. Though there are other rounds to come, we wish to assure our writers that, so far as we can help it, the vicious racket of short-changing literary talent shaU not return.

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ALSO pleasant to !'ecaU that the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN has turned out to have been well-advised in its policy of paying writers decent compensation for their work. From the very beginning, we have paid our contributors from four to five times what they used to receive before the war and at least double what almost every other publication was paying at the time we first came out. The policy has borne rich dividends-just as we thought it would-in loyal support from contributors, old and new, and in better quality contributions and a better magazine. And now, with most of the other publications paying more or less the same

FOR

QUALITY

•

I NCIDENTALLY,

some people persist in asking us: Who is your backer? TheS<! doubting Thomases simply can't believe that a magazine like the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN would continue to stand up without some potent, mysterious sugar-daddy in the background with unlimited funds to throw around in a car.,fully disguised gesture of selfinterest or personal propaganda. Well, incredible as it may seem in a deceptive world of :fiacades and interiors, fronts and backers, WIe have no such angel. This magazine continues to be owned,

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CHAT WITH OUR READERS

edited, and managed by writers, and as far as we can see or have any choice in the matter, it will so remain. We like the magazine this way, and we have no reason to believe that our readers will like it better any other way. Okay? In a recent issue of Newsweek "?Ie

read that there is a new publishing venture in the States of which all the stockholders are writers. The organiZ€r of the company had found out that most of the leading popular magazines were paying their contributors no more than ten per cent of their net profits. That, he .said, is a "paltry cut," so he proceeded to call on 300 writers to chip in by ,b uying shares worth at least $500 but no more than $5,000 each. Ullder the plan, 15 per cent of the profits before taxes would go to a management selected by the contributor-board 01 directors, one-third on a royalty basis til the contributors themselves, and the re mainder to the stockholders. lt's a very good idea, and we wish the

• mOD£~n

organizers all possible success. we thought of it first.

Only,

E HAVE received so many requests for back copies of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN that we are considering reprinting the first and second issues (September and October 1945), provided we receive sufficient orders to justify the expense. Since our last two numbers each came out in an issue of 10,000 copies (as compared to 2,000 and 3,000 copies for the first and second numbers, respectively) , we estimate that there should at least be 5,000 among our readers who would like to have their sets of the magazine complete from the first number. Copies of the first two numbers are now totally unavailable and cannot be had for love or money. We are therefore asking our distributors, subscribers and readers to send iil their reprint orders, specifying the issue desired. If We receive sufficient orders, we'll go ahead. Send no money in the meantime.

(j~APHY

Day and Night Service 1052 Rizal Ave.

Manila

THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN

HOUGH the postal service improved somewhat III the last month, it still leaves much to he desired. We regret that many of our subscribers have had to come to our office to secure their cop,es, even thoug h we had mailed all subscribers' copies as early as the middle of January. We ask our subscribers to write us if they have faHed to reoeive the magazine or to come to the office for it when they can. W e would rather run the risk of giving them a n extra copy than none at all. (We were pleasantly surprised the other day, however, when a gU bscriber, who had com'e to the office to get his copy, returned two days later to say that h e had subsequently received the copy we sent him by mail. He returned the extra copy, and said he was. sorry. We said t he pleasure was entirely ours.)

ALFONSO R. TORRES, staff writer on the prewar Philippines F,·ee p,·ess, reports that PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN has establish ed a bridgehead in some English classes at the Institute of Arts and Sciences, Far Eastern University. "As a general rule," he declares, "only classical works and works by the

really important authors are used in thiese classes as models of literary comThen somebody read M. N. position. Quero!'s 'If Quezon Were Alive.' The classes spent considerablle time analyzing it."

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LAST month an old man in rags came to our office to apply as distributor for the magazine. He didn't speak English, had no magazine stand, and looked too old and frail for the job. Or 50 we thought, and told him ~o though not unkindly. He pleaded for a day's trial, however, which was granted. Now he comes to the office in a clean shirt and a new pair of pants. He looks younger and more elllergetic, and is definitely happier. Our records show that he cleared 1'150 in commissions ;n two weeks, and hopes in time to equal the record of our star distributor, Venerado Albaran, whose profits per issue have gone up to 1'600. You, too, wiII find it lucrative to introduce the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN in your community. It's a sure-fire proposition, and you'll not regret it.

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CHAT WITH OUR READERS TO OUR desk has come this simple, unsolicited tribute from Sophy Natalie Morgin, of Manila: THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN Today I made a discovery Curiosity was the caUSe I went; to town in a hurry With never a libfV,e pause. I was rewarded with a friend, PHILIPPIN&AMERICAN 'if. caUed.

Admirers a1'e on the upwarrd trend, So fast I'm almost appalled. And yet as I peruse each page, I think I know ·, he ,·eason why To read it has become a rage: No mistak~t's a good buy.

does not complain about the service he gets, knowing the bottleneck is at the Manila Post Office. But somebody disappeared with his January PHlLIPPlNEAMERICAN, and this irks Joe. That sort of thing has happened since he subscribed. Always, Joe says, some other guy gets the jump on his copy. "With the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN," he wails, "it's one darn thing after another."

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AMERICA TAKES NOTICE (From TIME mago z inf>, Feb. 4, 1946)

Foxhole Baby IN THEIR foxholes on Bougainvi lle and Luzon, two Gis hatched a postwar plan. Neither had much of a job to go home to. Corporal Raymond Utin , 24, had worked as a cub on Phi lade lphia papers. Corporal Fred Schutz, 22, had tri ed free- lancing , never had a story published. Their Skeezix-&-Wi lmer idea: a magazine for Manilans. They got $625 from a Filipino lawyer , put up $825 between themselves. The editors took pen names: Utin, whose name is a dirty word in Taga log, became Eric Raymond. His partner, wanting something fancier than Schutz, became Chri s Edwards . The first issue of the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN was pedd led in horse-drawn jitney carts, was a 2,000-copy se llout. It made no money . But Manilans took a shine to its brash love of controversy. One article stated the case for Filipinos who contended that they had had to collaborate or else. Another sailed into GI Joe, told him to quit criticizing the Filipinos, give them a break. Last week customers were snapping up the 8,000 copies of their fifth issue, and the two Gis had $5,000 in the bank. Inside the magazine 's chaste blue cover were plenty of ads, dashes of fiction and poetry, an article by Saturday Even ing Post Associate Editor Edgar Snow, predicting no big war in the next ten years. Ed itors Utin and Schutz, who by Army permission have put out their PHILIPPINE-AM ERICAN in spare time, soon will return to the U. S. to be discharged. Then, unlike 99'7'0 of t heir buddies, they wi ll turn around, return to the Phi lippines. Fu ll of plans for two more magazines, they have already achieved something that is still ahead for the Philippines: a measure of respectable independence.

'-::"IPINAS HERITAGE LIBRARY

at our pre-war premises at 35 Plaza Sta. ,C ruz • • •

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We take this occasion to thank our customers all over the h lands and 0"1' suppliers abroad for their confidence a nd cooperation in t he past. For the future, we offer our fulI fac ilities on all our pr e-war lines "f activities and many new ones -

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The Philippine-American_February 1946

Articles inside

THE _ PROOF OF THE PIE . . .. ... . .. .. Sofia Bona de Santos

SNAKE IN THE GRASS (Story) ..... Daisy Hontiveros-Avellana

Manuel L. Morales

Samuel S. Holmes

Pedro T. Orata

Fidel de Castro

M. N. Querol

Renato D. Tayag

Anatolio Litoniua

Narciso G. Reyes

Gerson Mallillin

Francisco Sionil Jose

Amador T. Daguio