President Osmeña, model politician and statesman

Title

Creator

Paquio, Bernabe B.

Language

English

Year

1965

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

The noblest Filipino in public life the Philippines has ever produced.

Fulltext

■ The noblest Filipino in public life the Philip pines has ever produced. PRESIDENT OSMEfiA, MODEL POLITICIAN AND STATESMAN “I have not come to you to promise you the moon, the sun and the stars... It would be child ish of you to believe me if I made such false and empty promises... The people know my lifetime of public service and I hope you will give me further opportunity to serve....” That was the shortest presidential campaign speech in the annals of Philippine politics, deliver ed by the then Commonwealth President Sergio Osmena, Sr. at Plaza Miranda three days before the 1946 elections. The simple address was char acteristic of the humble and silent man that Don Sergio was. It was the only campaign speech he delivered in his re-election bid in that first postwar balloting. Yet he was an eloquent speaker, having been a journalist, provincial fiscal, governor, diplomat, speaker of the Philippine assembly and of the house of representatives, senate president protempore, vice president and president of the Commonwealth in the span of 48 years before that election. Don Sergio was a contrast to the boisterous, self-praising, and vitriolic politicians of today. He believed in the dignity of silence, showed that there is majesty in modesty, and became famous for his tranquil personality and dignified demeanor. In the early 1920’s, when he was senate Presi dent protempore and Manuel L. Quezon was the senate president, two opposition senators assailed 2 PANORAMA Osmena’s character in the session hall. Democrata Senators Emiliano Tria Tirana and Teodoro Sandiko took delight in charging that Dan Sergio, during the early days of the American occupation, came to town from his mountain hideout dressed as a woman to avoid capture 'by American soldiers. To this vilification, Osmena only smiled enig matically. He was temporarily presiding over the session and he could have easily defended himself and crushed the attackers with the magic of his Castilian oratory. It was Quezon, who rose and effectively silenced Tirona and Sandiko. The senate president bared the now commonly-known fact that Don Sergio actively served General Emilio Aguinaldo’s forces, editing revolutionary circulars and delivering vital messages across enemy lines. Quezon lauded Osmeha for courageously asserting the Filipinos’ right to independence in the El Nuevo Dia, a newspaper founded and edited by the then 24-year-old Osmena which practically became a revolutionary organ succeeding La Solidaridad. In. 1943, Don Sergio supplied contemporary world history with the noblest of character and greatest generosity ever shown by any statesman. He was then vice president of the Commonwealth government in exile in the U.S. President Quezon, whose term was to end automatically on Dec. 31, 1943, lay sick at Saranac lake and the allied forces were at the lowest ebb in war fortunes in1 the Pacific. With characteristic self-abnegation, Osmena sought to relinquish voluntarily and without fan fare his constitutional right to succeed Quezon. He silently urged the U.S. Congress, through President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Senator Millard Tydings, to pass a special legislation extending Quezon’s 9BPTKMBKR 1965 3 term for the duration of the war. Thus, Quezon remained President up to his death on Aug. 1, 1944. Then and only then did Osmena assumed the Pre sidency. Yet Quezon was Osmena’s off-times adversary for political supremacy/ Don Sergio was the Philippines’ first undisputed leader following the establishment of American rule in this country, a time when the nation was undergoing greatest trial in self-government. Rising to national prominence as chairman of the first provincial governors’ convention in 1906, Don Sergio became speaker of the first Philippine assembly in 1907 when he was only 29 years old. This was the highest position for a Filipino during that regime. He guided the nation in the exercise of political rights and paved the way for real in dependence. He nurtured Philippine-American re lations while at the same time showing intense na tionalism. His nationalistic spirit and sound instructions to Filipino resident commissioners in the U.S., Que zon being one of them, led to the enactment of the Jones Law. It1 was Don Sergio, Quezon, Rafael Palma and other statesmen who founded the Nacionalista party in 1906 with Osmena as its first president. In 1922, a rift split the N.P., resulting in Quezon’s as sumption of the N.P. presidency and political su premacy. Even in the first Philippine bar examinations of 1903, Osmena and Quezon were rivals for the top places. Osmena garnered second place with a rating of 95.66 per cent, scoring perfectly in two subjects (penal code and criminal procedure). Que zon came out fourth with an 87.83 per cent. 4 Panorama Don Sergio exercised political power with so briety, grace and decorum. He restrained him self from compromising principles for political ex pediency and preserved democratic ideals by liv ing them. That he refrained from regionalism and personal prejudice in the'government was narrated by a fellow Cebuano, the late Senator Mariano J. Cuenco. The senator said: “During those formative years of our national life, no Filipino could be appointed to the bench, to the cabinet, or to any other high office in the government, without first satisfying the high stan dard of public morality set and exemplified by Osmena himself. When he occupied the highest magistracy of the land... Osmena never abused his power or use his tremendous influence to favor members of his family, those of his wife, or fellow Cebuanos. On the contrary, to the disgust and dis appointment of many a deserving Cebuano who could be ranked among the best minds in the country, President Osmena’s high sense of propriety restrained him from appointing fellow Cebuanos to positions in the government, because of his overpowering conviction that like the wife of Cae sar, all his official acts should always be above reproach.” Friendship was one of Don Sergio’s priceless treasures in life. Yet even with his closest friends, friendship ended where the interest of the country began. As President running for re-election in the hustle and bustle of postwar days, Osmena could have taken advantage of his high office and used government facilities and resources against his po litical adversaries. The U.S. was then pouring in enormous relief goods and aids in grants and get ting ready to hand over $800 million in war damage September 1965 S payments to the Filipinos. Don Sergio could have used this tremendous loadstone in sweeping the electorate and luring oppositionists into the ruling party. But he restrained himself and refused to stoop too low in politics. He 'maintained his delicadeza and high quality of Statesmanship. He took defeat in stride, with the same humi lity, graciousness, tolerance and cooperation so dis tinctive of his character. He gladly spent a part of his private life for public welfare by serving as member of the council of state from 1948 till his death on Oct. 19, 1961. — Bernabe B. Paquio, Manila Bulletin. TO BE REMEMBERED One Sunday afternoon I fell to thinking of an elderly gentleman in failing health whom I had not seen for a long time. “Why not surprise him by calling him up?” I asked myself. “I was thinking of you and I wanted to have a little chat,” I explained to the old man when he came to the phone. He was delighted, and we had an enjoyable five-minute visit. His wife told me a few days later that my call had done more for him than a whole bottle of tonic. “You know,” she explained, “the telephone almost never rings for him any more.” — David Dunn 6 Panorama

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