“OUR objective, therefore, is a happy citizen of this country that is equally a happy and helpful citizen of the world. He lives free and secure not in national isolation but in international independence. He loyally supports his government and makes his individual voice, jointly with others, count for understanding and cooperation in the family of nations. His country and people have a way of life that fulfills their material and moral aspirations and contributes variety to the color and texture of a world pattern of cooperative living.” —Pres. Elpidio Quirino addressing his cabinet at Malacañang Palace.
Can you imagine how visionary this Philippine president was in sharing universal principles of citizenship, which are still relevant two centuries later? He was one of the drafters of the Philippine Constitution.
Refusing to become part of Jose Laurel’s administration during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, he became part of the underground. During the battle in Manila in 1945, he lost his wife, his son and two daughters.
When Pres. Manuel Roxas unexpectedly died, Vice President Elpidio Quirino became president, with two goals: to restore the trust and confidence of the Filipino people in their Philippine government and nation-building, shortly after the Philippines became independent of American colonial rule.
His brother, Judge Antonio Quirino, wrote of Elpidio’s struggles, “In retrospect, it is not correct he was misunderstood. On the contrary, his friends and foes alike understood him so well that each one of them reacted according to their own self-interests. Friends, who were never satisfied with the favors they had already extracted from him, continued to compromise and embarrass him by asking for more and more.
“In exasperation, he was wont to say: ‘Lord save me from my friends.’ Foes, who were always finding fault with everything he did, ceaselessly chased and barked after him from every side. When some well-meaning friends advised him to look back and slow down, he replied “Si e de parar cada vez que oigo el perro ladrar, nunca llegare a mi destino.” (If I keep stopping every time I hear a dog bark, I will never get to my destination.)”
Pres. Elpidio Quirino, focused on his path of presidency, nevertheless to rebuild a nation’s economy, “even when his arms and legs were already too weak and weary – until he was laid to rest.”
Why focus on Pres. Quirino’s presidency?
Much like the controversies surrounding Hillary Clinton, the mass media has given the detractors and critics more spaces in history books, and not enough of what their decades of public service have been.
Not enough historical recognition was given to Quirino, who started his public service, way before becoming president, that “he was part of the last Philippine Independence mission, resulting in the Tydings-McDuffie Act that created an independent Philippine commonwealth.”
That he was part of the group which secured independence, without spilling more blood through violence, instead, used the power of persuasion and art of negotiation.
“As an educator and public servant, he would later use these experiences to guide the Philippines out of the ruins of war to create a modern nation,” Elpidio Pineda Quirino et. al. , Editor of “Statesman and Survivor: Elpidio Quirino, 6th President of the Philippines, 1948-1953.”
He reminded Filipinos that freedom requires responsibility and “that this responsibility involves a solemn obligation to humanity.”
Out of the ruins of war, he challenged citizens, “The sleep of heroic dead is never peaceful. What are we doing in the interest of peace?”
Imagine presiding over the ceremony for the repatriation of America’s World War II dead at Pier 5, Manila on May 15, 1948, that at the end of any war, the silence of the dead bodies never buys us silence, for the trauma cascades to many generations of surviving families, families that are compelled to heal from the wounds of war.
“What our country needs today is something more of the buoyant feeling that thrills our souls, widens our horizon, and makes us flex our muscles ready to do and accomplish something. My friends, world conditions today demand that we be alive and ready to act in defense of what we now enjoy as free, democratic people in a world of confusion,” Pres. Elpidio Quirino said.
A pivot to American presidential elections
Pres. Elpidio Quirino’s quotes remain relevant to the 21st century’s turbulent world. In year 2016, we must push, and keep pushing for the active hard work of diplomacy.
We must come to a point that we can discern who is unfit for office, a male candidate who ended up disrespecting every ethnicity in America, women, disabled, Muslims and Gold Star families of the veterans who died for us in the name of freedom.
“Late Night host Seth Meyers does not think the decision between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is very close,” wrote Vox.
“That’s a problem for a lot of Americans: They just don’t love the two choices,” Meyers said. “Do you pick someone who’s under federal investigation for using a private email server?
“Or do you pick someone who called Mexicans rapists, claimed the president was born in Kenya, proposed banning an entire religion from entering the US, mocked a disabled reporter, said John McCain wasn’t a war hero because he was captured, attacked the parents of a fallen soldier, bragged about committing sexual assault, was accused by 12 women of committing sexual assault, said some of those women weren’t attractive for him to sexually assault, said more countries should get nukes, said that he would force the military to commit war crimes, said a judge was biased because his parents were Mexicans, said women should be punished for having abortions, incited violence at his rallies, called global warming a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, called for his opponent to be jailed, declared bankruptcy six times, bragged about not paying income taxes, stiffed his contractors and employees, lost a billion dollars in one year, scammed customers at his fake university, bought a six-foot-tall painting of himself with money from his fake foundation, has a trial for fraud coming up in November, insulted an opponent’s looks, insulted an opponent’s wife’s looks, and bragged about grabbing women by the pussy?”
A pivot to American elections
Free people breed happiness in others, while troubled malingering dynamics come from a very turbulent life of a male presidential U.S. candidate, whose life history includes 3,500 lawsuits.
While some media outlets expect a pure and holy Hillary Clinton, none of us can really make that claim about ourselves, that we are pure and holy; instead, we really are all imperfect.
Our choices are between a male presidential candidate with no morals and a female presidential candidate with a history of more than 30 years of public service, one who thinks of others, one who works to help others, and one who apologized for her mistakes in using a private server for her emails, rather than a government server for her emails while the Secretary of State.
Trump’s failings are of his depraved character, including stiffing vendors and suppliers. The Washington Post just reported three days ago that Trump refuses to pay his pollster $750,000. This presidential candidate stands accused of high crimes, including the felony of fraud from working families who enrolled in Trump University and the felony of rape against a 13 year old, a vulnerable member of the American society, whom society is supposed to protect.
I trust by next Tuesday, Nov. 8, you will cast your vote for the more suitable candidate for the American presidency!
Just like the Filipino people chose a noble statesman and an educator for their 6th president during their turbulent periods after WWII, I too hope that Americans will choose a unifying president, instead of the candidate who whipped up bigotry, racism, misogyny, sexism, anti-immigrant hysteria, and national divisions.
“The present troubled world situation requires that we make this high resolve, brushing aside petty differences, selfish motives, and personal ambitions, for the sake of national tranquility and security and for the progress and happiness of our people,” Pres. Elpidio Quirino exhorted us shortly after WWII.
May we, Filipino Americans, be as noble and strategic in voting for our America’s present and future, and make our ballot reflect our hopes for a brighter future, where we are all stronger together!
Happy healthy citizens vote for the welfare of their country and “contributing to the world through cooperative living.”
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Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. writes a weekly column for Asian Journal, called “Rhizomes.” She has been writing for AJ Press for 9 years now. She contributes to Balikbayan Magazine. Her training and experiences are in science, food technology, law and community volunteerism for 4 decades. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of the Philippines, a law degree from Whittier College School of Law in California and a certificate on 21st Century Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has been a participant in NVM Writing Workshops taught by Prof. Peter Bacho for 4 years and Prof. Russell Leong. She has travelled to France, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Mexico and 22 national parks in the US, in pursuit of her love for arts.