I remember Winnie

Title

I remember Winnie

Creator

Rodriguez, Ernesto Jr.

Language

English

Year

1950

Subject

Vinzons, Wenceslao Q., 1910 – 1942.

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Page 8 THE MANILA GUARDIAN November, 1950:_ I Remember Winnie - By' Ernesto Rodriguez, Jr. A SUGGESTION was made that because I had•been known other. . . , ~· as Wenceslao Q. Vinzons's No. 1 rival in 'the youth move- When the country was tom in two in 1933-1934 ov.!r meat what I would say here might provf' . .interesting. Vinzons the issue of tlie Hai:e-Hawes-Cutthig law, we found ourselves was. a man among men. There wa& no ueed for _thit excuse fighting each other. I think the· whole thing &ta1ted eadier. · really/ Vinzons. would have been just as great il he had no h seems that during that historic. demonstration he organized enemies. It is true he died in the hands of enemies and his to protest· aga;,;st the F~stin rider in the House appropriations martydom has become one of the most important highlights fu m~asure, I did n.ot give him the full ·support that he hacl.the glorious epic of our resistance and .in the labor pains of asked of me. It seems I had a different conception of h~ oui- eventual 'redemption. The death of WeJ,lceslao Q. VinzonS the protest. could have been made more effective. As it waerwas in keeping w:ith the promise: it was ·the· death of a rebel that demonstration put him in. the. limelight and from then and a h_ero. Indeed with the passing of the year~ his great- on, Vinzons had become .a young man's hero. Well," late ness will be more pronounced and his selfless sacrifice for our in 1933, I organized the Real Youth Party and became its country and our people will be better appreciated. president. Wenceslao organized the Young Philippines ·aitd· I first met Wini:iie, ·as I was later to call him fondly, in became its president. He supported the leadership of Osmena the momlllg of July 25, 19.31. 'I remember the date distinct- and. Roxas; I supported the leadership of Quezon.' It was ly because it was my birthday and it was the foundation day really an unequal figh~. Quezon won because he was Quezon; pf the Ccrllege Editors' Guild of the Philippines. I had called Wenceslao favored admitting old people of kn.own liberal terifor that. day a meeting of the editors of the University of the dencies into the folds of his· youth organization; I opposed the Philipp'mes, tlie University of s~nto Tomas, National Univer·· idea and maintained ··that a youth moveme.D.t to he properly sity and the Ateneo de Manila. Winnie' came with Salvador P. a. youth' movement mU:st not have anything to do -with old Lopez. Jl:e impressed me as a very modest and genial young people. Not that I had aJl'>' ax to grind against oldsters; I man. I was younger than he was, but that did not seem to only believed that the old politicos were chiefly responsible for<!' be a barrier to the facility and felicity w:ith whioh he we!- the nation's ills. , · r coqied me to his circle of frien,ds. I found in him en enthus- • all this issue, Mr. Vinzons and ~ -went to the people; On - iasti.c supporter of my manj" ideas on college j~lism and the HHC issue he was wiJ:h the pros, and in the natural the youth movement. It was in the CEG where he met Li- course of events I was linked w:ith the antis. W eliceslao wayway Gonzales, later to become· his wife. Since J}tat day - was ably supported by enthusiastic yOung men, among tha& in 1931· until late in 1941, when I met him for the last time, Arturo Tolentino, Diosdado Macapagal; Mariano Laure!o8, through the space of of de~adet.. Wenceslao Q. Vinzons and I 'Ben Brillantes, Donato Joaquin, Vicente Correa, Aurelio Mseldom agreed on anything. For while he agreed w:ith my vero and the-behind-the-scelies cooperation of Jose P. Laurel, ideas and sometimes mY convictions, we never agreed on the' Rafael -Pabna and 1¥anuel Roxas. Our youth party, which, .proper execution of ~these· ideas. later became the Filipino Youth, had amo!11f otbl't'S the driV~! We fought consistently, but I do not remember of any ing force of stalwarts like Teodoro Evangelista,: Lorenzo Susingle inStance when pei:sonalities entered- into our polem:cs. mulong, Felixberto Serrano, Emmanuel Pela.eZ, Macario Z~· It was probably because I was nattirally attracted to him and muco, Edmundo (#a, Sofronio Quimson and Fred Ruiz Cashe Was fond of me personally. It was not unusual therefore, tro. . - ,{ that after very exchange of sirong words on the platform, In the 1935 elections for the presidency Of the Commo11;; on the radio, or in the press, we would break brelld together wealth, Wenceslao supported General Aguinaldo and I sup~' in some downtown restaurant or at his room at the YMCA. ported Manuel Quezon. It was no fight ag8in. But it· must We would fight often and hard and passionately for what we be said to the eternal credit of Vinzons, that he made Agtiithought .was right and still remain friends, bosom friends. naldo win in his home pro$ce, Cama~es· Norte. Htire ·He. was obsessed, as I '\_'Vas, about organizing the youth was a clear instance of the strength of Vinzons as a politfual as a militant group to fight for reforms in the government. leader. - During the first days, nay.the first years, we dedica.ted our ef- Wenceslao Q. Vinzons had also been elected a delegate forts to the unification of the students. When we fleeted our to the Constitutional Convention; as a matter of fact he was first set of officers in the College Editors' Guild, I, .who as the youngest delegate elected to draft the charter of our com: founder· should have had the fo:st crack at the presidency, w:ith- monwealth and our republic. Much later he was electc~ drew and asked for the honor of nominating him to the pre- provincial gove:inor and then congressman from Camarines s.idency of the College Editors' Guild. He won naturally and Norte. In all these elections he had wrecked the political· he was grateful for my support. To this day I am keepjng a machine of old guard politicians in. his province, by' his sh~':' l~tter he had sent me thr.nking- me for my gesture of with- eloquence and ullusual gifts of -leadership. ~ _-_-. ,drawing in his favor. As editor of the Philippine Collegian, he They say Wenceslao Q. Vinzons was a suckel: for. loo\ fought ,.,1ways for the things he believed in and' was resentful causes. In life he always supported causes that could Dl!I .._ of any attempt to muzzle ~im. or influence him one way or the have won at the time he fought for them. Here was his most . - . . . . ' admirable character: t!'•t ~ could !ight even if ·he knew all t:J;i~ odds were agamst ·him. I did not realiU: thell: th~ ~'handicaps he had to s~unt. _After the ocCupat1on, I ':as fto taste from the same bitter cup that he had drank dunng _/'ijte pre-war years. I like to remember ~enc~slao Q. V~nzons as the _young man wh9 always kept faith with the youth. He.was _one who would easily and enthusiastically pick up a. fig~~ whenever h? knew that there was something worth fighting for. He did not care what the rest of the world thbUght. about his ideas. And_ a great many did idolize him. He. probably. thought that the only causes worth fighting for are lost causes. As an. opposition~st, I know how it feels to fight .. We!lceslao Q. Yinzons was the idol of the youth: he was courag~ous, because he was young; he' was~ uncomproming because he w~s young; he was ambitious· because he w8s y01U1g. He died young, because he was to remajn ~_-.Iways the model for the voung. ·But he would have al.ways ni;nained young; because be W(!-S ~f the Stuff that patriots.' and ; .heroes are made of. It is a tragedy that·.we do not have a · Vinzons now - in the face of the current situation. Sometimes I wonder if. Vinzon• had not ilied in vain. '

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