Two different men, one dream- to create a better nation. (Part II)

BENIGNO SIMEON AQUINO JR.

A Memory that Lives Forever

PERSONAL
Benigno Simeon Aquino, Jr. is know as a Filipino Hero and Martyr
Born on November 27, 1932
Birthplace is Concepcion , Tarlac, Philippines
Parents are Benigno S. Aquino, Sr. (Nationalist Speaker, Philippine Senator) and Aurora A. Aquino
Paternal grandfather is General Servillano Aquino, famed revolutionary who first fought the Spaniard and then the Americans at the turn of the century.
His brothers and sisters include: Mila Aquino Albert, Linda Aquino Martinez, Maur Aquino Lichauco, Ditas Aquino Valdez, Lupita Aquino Kashiwahara, Agapito (Butz) Aquino, Paul Aquino, Tessie Aquino Oreta.

He married Corazon Cojuanco on October 11, 1954
Ninoy and Cory have five, children, they are: Maria Elena (Ballsy) who became the wife of Eldon Cruz, Aurora Corazon (Pinky) who is married to Manuel Abellada, Benigno III (Nonoy),Victoria Elisa (Viel) who is married to Richard Joseph Dee and Kristina Bernadette (Kris) who is married to James Yap.

EDUCATION

San Beda High School, 1948

Ateneo de Manila University
College of Liberal Arts (Pre-law), 1950

University of the Philippines
College of Law (4th Year) 

Harvard University
Center for International Law – Fellow

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Center for International Studies – Fellow

EARLY JOURNALISM YEARS

1950
Manila Times Newspaper Reported (at age 17) Manila Times War correspondent in Korea.

1952
Manila Times Foreign Correspondent in Southeast Asia (assigned to Indo-China, covered the last moment of French colonialism in Asia, at Dien Bien Phu.  He was later posted to Malaya to cover the British counter-insurgency efforts under General Templar.

(Journalism remained his particular vocation in spite of his entry into politics and from time to time he wrote “perspective articles” for such publications as “Foreign Affairs Quarterly” and the “Pacific Community”.)

1952
He agreed (while already a Senator and in the name of Journalism) to conduct a weekly television news analysis, entitled “Insight” for Channel 5, upon the urging of his former publisher of the Manila Times, Mr. Chino Roces.  He kept this up until his arrest in 1972 by the people responsible for the Martial Law regime.

GOVERNMENT SERVICE

1954
Special Assistant to President Ramon Magsaysay.  He negotiated the surrender of HUK Supremo Luis Tarux (May 16, 1954).
 
1955
Elected as youngest mayor of his hometown, Concepcion, Tarlac at the age of 22.

1956
Press Officer, Philippine-American Military Bases Agreement negotiations.

1957
Special Assistant to President Carlos P. Garcia.

1959
Elected as the youngest Vice-Governor of Tarlac Province at 26 years old.  He was elected Secretary General of the League of Provincial Governors and City Mayors.

1961
Became Governor in 1961 after the Governor’s resignation.

1963
Elected Governor of Tarlac Province at age 31.  He won in all 17 towns of the province, posting the highest majority ever garnered by a gubernatorial candidate in the province.  He was dubbed as the “Wonder Boy of Philippine Politics.”

1964
Philippine Delegate, Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA) Conference held in Korea.

1965
Special Assistant to President Diosdado Macapagal.  He accompanied President Macapagal in State visits to Cambodia and Indonesia.  Spokesperson of Philippine Delegation – Afro-Asian conference in Algiers, Africa.

1966
Project Director of Tarlac “Project Spread”.  A joint understanding of the National Economic Council (Philippine Government) and the U.S.A.I.D., which was designed to increase rural income.

1967
Elected as the youngest Senator of the Philippines at 35 years old as the lone opposition (Liberal Party) candidate to survive the election sweep made by President Marcos Nacionalista Party.  He was also elected as Secretary-General of the Liberal Party.

1968
Author of several speeches, and many articles while serving as a public servant.  These are contained in the book “A Garrison State in the Make and other Speeches” by Senator Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino, Jr. (BSAF Publication).  Senator Aquilino also authored / co-authored several bills filed in approved congress to benefit the masses.  He also authored several privilege speeches printed in the “Ninoy Aquino – Speech Series,” 1968 – 1970s.

1970
Resource person for the Philippines in the International Institute of Strategic Studies, London.

1971
Member of the Philippine Delegation of the Asian Conference on the Cambodian Question, Jakarta, Indonesia.

1972
Philippine Delegate to the International Conference on Japan and the Evolving world, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies of London, at Mount Fuji, Japan.  He was also the July 4^th guest speaker of Filipino communities in Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco U.S.A.

MAJOR AWARDS

1950
Philippine Legion of Honor, Officer Degree, awarded by President Elpidio Quirino for “Meritorious Service” to the Philippines for his coverage of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to the Korean War.

1954
Philippine Legion of Honor, Commander degree, awarded by President Ramon Magsaysay for “exemplary meritorious service” to the Filipino people negotiating the coverage of HUK Supremo Luis Tarux.

1957
First Bronze Anahaw Leaf, Philippine Legion of Honor, conferred by President Ramon Magsaysay, for services in the peace and order compaign.

1960
Voted one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) in the field of public service.

1968-1971
Outstanding Senator, voted yearly by the Philippine Free Press, the Philippine leading political weekly magazine.

1971
Man of the Year, voted by the Philippine Free Press, citing him for the leadership he showed when his party’s leadership was bombed in Plaza Miranda, the Philippines’ equivalent to Hyde Park.  He led his party’s campaign “with courage, with distinction” despite threats to arrest him, made by then President Marcos.  He led the Liberal Party to a 6-2 victory in the Philippine Senate elections, which catapulted him to become the No. 1 presidential contender in the 1973 elections.

MARTIAL LAW YEARS

September 22, 1972
Ninoy was arrested, detained and imprisoned at FortBonifacio and in Laur, Nueva Ecija for 7 years and 7 months, mostly in solitary confinement.

April 4, 1975 – May 13, 1975
He went on a protest hunger strike while in prison.

May 8, 1980
Released from FortBonifacio to undergo a triple heart bypass at BaylorMedicalCenter, Dallas, Texas, USA.

May 13, 1980
Operated and successfully given a triple bypass in Dallas, Texas.

1980-1982
Fellow at HarvardUniversity’s Center for International Affairs.

1982-1983
Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies.
 
August 21, 1983
Assassinated at the airport seconds after disembarking in China Airlines jet from Taipei.

August 31, 1983
Ninoy’s funeral march from Sto. Domingo Church, Quezon City to ManilaMemorial Park, Paranaque, was the “longest funeral march in world’s history.” Around two million people joined the funeral.

Two different men, one dream- to create a better nation. (Part I)

FERDINAND EDRALIN MARCOS

Ferdinand E. Marcos, born September 11, 1917, was the eldest of the four children of Mariano Marcos and Josefa Edralin.

Mariano Marcos was a self-disciplined and ambitious man who graduated young from a Manila teaching school who later became a schoolmaster in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. He plunged into politics and was twice elected as Congressman. Josefa Edralin was a landowner’s daughter and a onetime town beauty who herself, chose to teach. While Mariano immersed himself in politics, Josefa took care of their children, Ferdinand, Pacifico, Elizabeth and Fortuna.

Fructuoso Edralin, Ferdinand’s maternal grandfather, was a strong influence. The old man regaled him with stories of the 1896 Revolution, of the Ilocano heroes he could only read about in schoolbooks. These tales were to instill into him a passionate concern for his country and an ambition to write history himself in his own time.

Marcos attended college at the University of the Philippines. His record of excellence went beyond the classroom. He won honors in the University boxing, swimming and wrestling teams. He joined the newly-formed ROTC and rose to the rank of cadet major. He won the first gold medal offered by General MacArthur for proficiency in military science. His baritone oratory enlivened the school debating team. He became the most bemedaled debater, winning the President Quezon Medal and was awarded the University President’s medal for obtaining the highest scholastic average over the full course of his college work.

The demands on the student’s time of leadership and sports took their toll. He lost his scholarship. Ferdinand went home to the province to ask money for tuition from his grandmother.

At that time, his father lost the Congressional seat twice to Julio Nalundasan. The new elections pitted them against each other once more and Mariano Marcos lost. Three nights after the elections, Nalundasan was killed by a sniper. The Marcoses were the main suspects.

A few days before the Christmas of 1938, Marcos sat at his evening review classes. In a few months he was to graduate and the honor of being awarded magna cum laude awaited him. Constabulary soldiers broke into his room and arrested him on the charge of killing Nalundasan. The coming trial was a national sensation. In the dark cell of the Laoag jail, Marcos mustered enough courage and energy to study for his coming bar exams. Outside the jail, he organized his own defense in the courts.

Defeated in the lower courts, he appealed to the Supreme Court. Though technically still not a lawyer, he obtained permission to argue his own defense. As he contradicted the testimony of the state witness, newspaper headlines announced his topping the examinations—with the highest marks ever achieved in the history of the Philippine bar. A short while later, the Supreme Court acquitted him.

During World War II

Marcos was called to arms three weeks before Pearl Harbor and spent the first days of the war as combat intelligence officer of the 21^st Infantry Division. He was among the last troops to cross into Bataan.

There, the Fil-American troops braced for a last stand against an invasion force of 85,000 men. Though all around them the last outposts of Western power in Southeast Asia were falling one by one, the defenders of Bataan and the nearby island-fortress of Corregidor held on through the summer of 1942, denying the Japanese easy access to the strategic South Pacific, from where the massive Allied counterattack was eventually to come.

In mid-January, Lieutenant Macros, accompanied by three eighteen-year-old recruits, penetrated behind the Japanese lines, killed more than 50 of the enemy and destroyed the deadly mortars that pinned down General Mateo Capinpin’s 21^st Division. He was later captured and tortured yet escaped to rally elements of various divisions in a six-day running battle on the banks of two Bataan rivers that threw the enemy back. For this he was promoted captain and recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The last days of Bataan, Captain Marcos spent guiding the American and Filipino officers chosen to lead guerrilla resistance through the Japanese lines. Ironically captured when he himself tried to escape the fallen fortress, he walked the Death March to the prison camp in Capas, Tarlac. He spent four months there overcome with jaundice, dysentery and malaria. His spirit never broke.

Released in early August 1942, he was soon imprisoned again, this time at Fort Santiago, the notorious Manila prison chamber. He was tortured for eight days to tell where the guerrilla leaders he had escorted through the Bataan lines had burrowed but he refused to say a word. Finally he led his captors to an ambush in Mt. Banahaw and escaped to join the guerrillas.

He spent the next two year fighting in the hills, trying to unite the divided guerrilla bands into one disciplined force against the Japanese. His name became renowned as on of the finest guerrilla leaders of Luzon.

Though only 27, Marcos had set records for courage and earned himself 28 medals at the end of the war. He spent the last days of the war as civil affairs officer of Northern Luzon. He was in command of the entire Ilocos region, which was to be his political base as freedom was restored to his country, and the work of rebuilding began.

The Political Career

It was his job to set up civilian administration in the provinces Volckmann’s guerrillas controlled. His leadership was as excellent as always, and he dealt out justice to outlaws and established unimpeachable personalities in positions of command. His ambition, however was to enter Harvard and earn a doctorate in corporate law. He declined President Manuel Roxas’ offer of a seat in Congress and went to practice law in Manila in March 1946. He was preparing to go to the American university the following spring.

Marcos was later persuaded to become a professional politician. He chose his father’s old domain and went into his new career with spirit. He told the crowds in Ilocos Norte that if he were elected Congressman, "I pledge you an Ilocano President in 20 years." (He made it into presidency in 16 years.)

With a 70% vote, he was sent off to Congress and thrice became Ilocos Norte’s representative to the legislature. Congressman Marcos was an activist presence—but he was a scholarly and introverted activist, unlike the boisterous, gladhanding politician typical of that time. He was unafraid to champion an unpopular cause if he thought it just. The Manila Times wrote, "He played a large part in developing a new conscience in the lower house," which was a comment in regards to his integrity during the time of carpetbaggers. Economic policy, agricultural modernization, the protection and extension of civil rights, the enhancement of professional ethics in politics and civil service were Congressman Marcos’ interests. He was the one who wrote the original land-reform code in 1952, as well as other seminal bills on government incentives to commerce and industry.

In 1954, he met Imelda Romualdez in the Congress cafeteria. Despite the simplicity of her appearance—she was in casual houseclothes and slippers—she impressed him. He knew at that moment she would have to be his wife.

Though they seemed an unlikely match, Marcos being a Liberal and an Ilocano and Imelda being a Nacionalista by family tradition and a Visayan, he pursued her. They married at a civil ceremony in Baguio after 11 days of courtship. Two weeks later, on May 1, 1954, they were married at the Pro Cathedral of San Miguel in Manila. President Ramon Magsaysay, the principal sponsor, held the breakfast reception in Malacañang Palace, where 3,000 of Manila’s official and social elite were invited.

They were celebrated by the media, their wedding publicized as the "Wedding of the Year." The groom was among the most outstanding young politicians in the country, whose public image as a reputable trial lawyer and legislative figure was magnified by his dashing, charismatic personality. The bride carried a name which was respected in both political circles and social register, and whose beauty and fine voice could charm gatherings.

After the marriage, Marcos had his house in San Juan renovated and added a wing for his law office so that he could spend as much time as he could with his family.

The First Couple decided on a small family and spaced the birth of their children accordingly. Their first child, Imelda (Imee), was born in 1955, followed by Ferdinand Jr. (Bongbong, Marcos’ war-name as a guerrilla leader) in 1958, then Irene in 1960, as Marcos was beginning his first term in the Senate. (He was elected into the senate in 1959.)

All through this time, he was moving inevitably up the political ladder. At this time his party was a tiny minority in national politics, yet he came first in the winners’ column to the upper house—and became what the Times called "the young elder statesman."

At this point, he was still barely over 40. He was acknowledged leader of the North. His following in eight Luzon provinces, especially among the Ilocanos, was unequaled. The laws he drew up resulted in material prosperity for large parts of the country. He was a Congressional watchdog against corruption, waste and ineptitude, and he had earned a reputation as an honest politician.

It was on December 30, 1965, that Marcos took up the leadership of a nation in crisis. Self-reliance and hard work to uplift the economic and social condition of all the people, nationalism at home and greater independence in foreign policy became the goals of Marcos’ life.

His first term was innovative and inspirational. He invigorated both populace and bureaucracy. Marcos embarked on a huge infrastructure program, unifying the scattered islands through a network of roads, bridges, rails and ports, committing all the available resources to development. He carefully steered the Republic’s diplomacy during a period of transition in international relations, which saw the confrontation of the Cold War give way to peaceful negotiations. He was host to the Vietnam allies at the Manila Summit of 1966, and embarked on intense personal diplomacy throughout the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

Marcos and Imelda’s partnership had an almost similar charm as that of Juan Peron and Eva Duarte. Imelda proved her worth in their marriage by working side by side with her husband. As First Lady, she busied herself with social welfare and cultural projects that complemented Marcos’ work in economics and foreign affairs.

Imelda began restoring Intramuros as a tourist attraction, and started filling in waterfront on Manila Bay on which to build a sprawling Cultural Center. This was followed by a film center where she could stage film festivals, Miss Universe contests and professional boxing matches between such reigning champions as Joe Frazier and Mohammed Ali. She sponsored tree planting and beautification and cleanliness drives at Luneta Park and around historic cemeteries.

Her social welfare program included Christmas bags, home gardens, disaster relief and a project called Save-a-Life-in-Every-Barrio. Funding came from various sources, both local and foreign.

Marcos’ four years of presidency earned him a record that surpassed that of any of the five presidents before him. In 1969, he was returned to a second term—the first Filipino President to be so re-elected—and with the highest majority ever recorded in Philippine electoral history.

The national problems, however, were much graver than could be solved in any single term of office. Combining into an explosive force were poverty, social inequity and rural stagnation, the burden of centuries coupled with rising expectations, a bounding birthrate and mass-education. Marcos was trapped between the entrenched oligarchy, which controlled the Congress and the firebrands from the Manila student movement in the peasant regions of Luzon.

As a result of this, Marcos sent out the Army to face the resurgence of armed Communist activity and the emergence of Maoist urban guerrillas. In August 1971, the write of habeas corpus was suspended.

This worked in the short term, but as soon as it was lifted, radical agitation started again. By the middle of 1972, nearly the entire media turned dead set against the Administration and government was beginning to be slowed down by the intense rivalry between the political parties.

The economic effects of this paralysis of government were made worse by great floods which in the Luzon plain ruined much of agriculture, infrastructure and industry. The people wallowed deeper in cynicism and despair. In Manila, crime, pornography and violence drove citizens from the streets. Invoking the last constitutional defense of the state, President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972.

People Power Revolution

FOR THE PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACY.

The People Power Revolution (also known as the EDSA Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of 1986) was a series of popular nonviolent revolutions and prayerful mass street demonstrations in the Philippines that occurred in 1986, which marked the restoration of the country's democracy. It became a subsequent inspiration for the Revolutions of 1989 that ended communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe. It is sometimes referred to as the Yellow Revolution due to the presence of yellow ribbons during the arrival of Benigno Aquino, Jr.. These protests were the culmination of a long campaign of civil resistance by the people against the 20-year running authoritarian, repressive regime of then president Ferdinand Marcos and made news headlines as "the revolution that surprised the world".



The majority of the demonstrations took place at Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, known more commonly by its acronym EDSA, in Quezon City, Metropolitan Manila and involved over 2,000,000 Filipino civilians as well as several political, military, and religious figures, such as Cardinal Jaime Sin. The protests, fueled by a resistance and opposition of years of corrupt governance by Marcos, occurred from February 22–25, 1986, when Marcos fled Malacañang Palace to the Hawaii and conceded to Corazon Aquino as the legitimate President of the Philippines.

For three days, men, women and children filled the streets of EDSA holding on frail hope. For those brief moments, they feared for their security, their lives, their future. 

Rumors were spreading all over  that the forces from the loyalists were coming in from the north to silence the cry of the people through bullets and shells. The prayers grew louder; anxiety filled the air.

From above, the citizens of Manila resembled ants swarming on the entire stretch of EDSA. Most of the streets were blockaded and trees were cut down to serve as makeshift anti-tank barricades. Curious civilians climbed the 25-ft. light posts to have a glimpse over the crowd. Along the curbs, women attended to the thirsty, hungry and the weary.  Men stood vigilant and served as perimeter guards just in case loyalist troops decided to attack. Priests and nuns prayed and comforted people as they made their way through the population with rosaries at hand..

Tanks were on the other edge of EDSA, and the people had no hesitation to meet them with bare hands and prayers.  Soldiers aboard the vehicles climbed out and were ordered to shoot. Most either shot in the air or were simply shocked at the amount of sacrifice ordinary people are willing to gamble. Tears rolled down their eyes as they were greeted with food and comfort from the rebels.  
As Marcos proclaimed his presidency atop the balcony of the Malacañang, little did the remaining supporters realize that their would-be president was already arranging his plans for Hawaii.

* * *

All these events happened 14 years ago and are still alive in the hearts of many Filipinos who were there to experience it first hand.
This is the EDSA revolution – the peaceful cry for freedom.

Epifanio de los Santos Avenue

Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), formerly known as Highway 54, is the main circumferential road and highway of Metro Manila in the Philippines. It is an important commuting artery between the northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area. EDSA is a partially-controlled access, mostly 10-lane divided highway (expressway) with interchanges along its length that eliminate the need for traffic lights, though traffic lights exist where there is insufficient space or funds for a complete interchange. EDSA handles around 225,000 cars per section on average every day.

EDSA forms a major portion of one of the circumferential roads in Metro Manila, C-4. It runs in a rough semicircle around Metropolitan Manila and, from the south, passes through the cities of Pasay, Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, and Caloocan. Its southern endpoint is at a roundabout near the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay and its northern terminus is at Monumento, a monument to Andrés Bonifacio, in Caloocan. When the avenue was constructed during the presidency of Manuel L. Quezon, it was named Junio 19 (June 19), after the birthday of national hero José Rizal. It was later renamed Highway 54, and under Republic Act in 1959 was further renamed in honor of Epifanio de los Santos, a noted Filipino historian.

The Metro Rail Transit (MRT), Line 3 of the metropolis' railway system, runs along most of EDSA, from Taft Avenue in the south to North Avenue near the SM City North Edsa Mall in northern EDSA. Future expansion of the MRT will extend it all the way to Monumento.

EDSA also figures prominently in the recent history of the Philippines for being the site of two peaceful demonstrations that toppled the administration of two Filipino presidents—the People Power Revolution of 1986 against Ferdinand Marcos and the EDSA Revolution of 2001 against Joseph Estrada.

Traffic management

Being the most important artery of the metropolis, EDSA handles a significant volume of the traffic that flows through the cities of Metro Manila. An average of 2.34 million vehicles go through EDSA every day.

The lead agency that manages the flow of traffic along EDSA is the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), an agency that is under the Office of the President and is advised by the Metro Manila Mayors League. One of the MMDA's traffic management schemes that is in effect on EDSA, among other major thoroughfares, is the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program, commonly known as the Number Coding Scheme. Many people observe that the cause of traffic jams on EDSA are erring bus and jeepney drivers especially as a multitude of the public utility vehicles they drive are unlicensed or "colorum". Subsequently, buses have been the target of other traffic management programs, like the MMDA's Organized Bus Route Program.

Exits and major intersections

A list of exits, flyovers, underpasses, and major intersections along EDSA. There are no exit numbers along EDSA, as it is not an expressway.

Epifanio de los Santos (April 7,1871- April 18,1928)

Great among the great Filipino scholars, Epifanio Cristobal de los
Santos, generally known as Don Panyong, was born on the 7th of
April 1871 in Malabon, Rizal. He was the solitary son of Don
Escolastico de los Santos, a prominent haciendero, and Doña
Antonina Cristobal, an educated musician.

At the age of seven, he was tutored by Sr. Jose A. Flores in
Manila. He later enrolled in his father’s Alma Mater, the Ateneo
Municipal. On March 16, 1890, he received the Bachelor of Arts
degree from Ateneo with the highest honors of summa cum laude.
In 1891, he took jurisprudence at the Santo Tomas Law School
where he obtained his Licentiate in Law 1898.

He also studied music and painting. Don Panyong was a gifted
musician. He was a fine pianist and a superb guitarist. During his
time, he was one of the three outstanding guitarists of the
Philippines, the other two being General Fernando Canon, a
revolutionary hero, and Guillermo Tolentino, a distinguished
sculptor. He also possessed a talent for painting, which he,
unfortunately, did not choose to pursue or develop.

Don Panyong married Ursula Paez on April 1899. Her early demise
cut short their marriage but not until she bore him four children.
Their eldest, Jose P. Santos, became a well known historian and
writer in his own right. In 1908, Don Panyong remarried. His
second wife, Margarita Torralba, gave him eight children.

When the 1898 revolution broke out, Don Panyong together with
Jose Zulueta published in Malabon a patriotic newspaper named La
Libertad. The publication was short lived having been censored by
the revolutionary government. He then joined the editorial staff
of Gen. Antonio Luna’s revolutionary paper, La Independencia,
using the pseudonym G. Solon in his articles.

It was early 1900 when he became a District Attorney of San Isidro,
Nueva Ecija, his father’s hometown, and later on became
Provincial Secretary. He was elected Governor of Nueva Ecija in
1902 and was reelected in 1904. That same year, he was appointed
member of the Philippine Commission, representing the country in
the St. Louis Exposition. He became Prosecuting Attorney (Fiscal)
for the provinces of Bulacan and Bataan on March 30, 1906, and
was reappointed as Fiscal for Bulacan only on October 1, 1907.
Governor – General Francis Burton Harrison designated him
Assistant Director of the Philippine Census in 1918.

Don Panyong toured through Europe, visiting the libraries and
museums of England, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Austria
in search of rare valuable works and relics about the Philippines.
The articles gathered from his researches abroad became the
nucleus of the Filipiniana collection in the Philippines. His passion
for acquiring rare books, manuscripts, paintings, opera records,
and antiques as well as old books, historical documents, and other
relics virtually converted his home into a combined art gallery,
museum, and archives. He was a discriminating collector of
uncommon and antique objects that are true landmarks of
Philippine culture. Through his analyses of these, he greatly
enriched the history and literature of our people. He was among
the few who could determine whether a Tagalog word is an
original or an adapted one. He knew the etymology of Tagalog as
well as other dialects like Tingian, Ibilao and Ita.  

Don Panyong’s fame as a man of letters was acknowledged,
honored and respected not only in the Philippines but also in
foreign countries. In Europe, he was recognized as a premier
philologist and writer of biographical and historical matters about
the Philippines. He was the first Filipino, of native parentage, to
join and become a member of the Royal Academy of Madrid.
Cecilio Apostol portrayed him as one of the country’s two best
Filipino writers in Spanish prose of all times, the other being
Marcelo H. Del Pilar.

Indisputably, Don Panyong was the best critic, writer and
biographer that the Golden Age of Literature of the Philippines
ever produced. An artist by disposition, he was a scholar in the
truest sense, fascinated and well versed in all branches of human
learning. He was also known as the most authoritative historian
and interpreter of fruitful and transcendental events of the epoch.

He accepted the position of Director of the Philippine Library and
Museum, upon the death of Dr. Pardo H. Tavera on May 16, 1925,
not for the relatively low stipends but because of the honor
attached to the chair. The office was by tradition only for men of
learning and erudition. He held the position until his untimely
death on the 18th of April 1928. In the prime of manhood, Don
Panyong died of cerebral attack at the age of fifty-seven. Scholars
of the Hispanic world, particularly in the Philippines and Spain,
lamented the loss of the country’s foremost erudite, a literary
genius, and a connoisseur of the Castilian language. The Philippine
government wasted no time in acquiring his reputed collection
when he passed away.

Epifanio de los Santos left an abyss tremendously difficult to fill in
the realm of Philippine Arts and Letters.