The Case of Jose Avelino

Media

Part of National Weekly

Title: The Case of Jose Avelino
Language: English
Year: 1949
Rights
Fulltext: Page 6 NATIONAL WEEKLY October 8, 1949 The Case of JOSE AVELINO By TIMOTEO L. ROBLES Vice-President Negros Press Club, Bacolod City The case of Jose Av~lino is the study of one victimized with blind vindictiveness by two forces that grouped their strength together to achi~ve a common objective. lt JS R know::n fact that were it not for the unholy alliance bPtween the Quirino Liberals and Nacionalistas in the Senate Avelino would still be the mo~t powerful figure in the Philippines today. Wi:t.hin the councils of the Liberal Part~ he is logically the successor af its founder, the late President 'Manuel A. Roxas. A VELINO'S DOWNFALL ONLY A SETBACK To wreck Avelino poli:ticallv. six Liberal (Q.uirino) s.enators aligned with the six Nacioaalista senators. As the titular head of his own party, Pres. Quirino should not h~ve perm~tted connivance with the Oppos1tion. J.t is clear th.at, in his madness for reelec.tJon and moved by the ~lfish desire to eliminate a possible ri· val for the Liberal Pattv Convention, the President.did everything to down Avelino. Avelino is shown in this pictul"le with the late Presirlent The then Senate President. Roxas and Maj. Gen. Eugene Eubank of the US Army. ever popular within the pa1·ty ranks would defeat Quirino-' the Philippines · which came and l.}uirino knew it. Ten Li- by accident (upon the death beral senators voted for Ave-, 'of his predecessor). h~ could lino and only six were for not be the leader of the FiliQui:ino. In a Government in. pi no people not_ .unless hP which the Liberal !>arty is in could win the Presidency in power, and .ten amon~ the an election contest. sixteen Liberal senators re- QU [ fUNO AND AVELINO iterated' their confidence in AS PARTY MEN ihe then Senate PrL.sident Pres. Quirino inherib~d tbP Avelino. the. people's vote of titular leadership of the Liconfid.:nce was expregse<l beral Pa:rty when Pres. Roxas thraugh their chosen repre died. But evei' since R::>xas anrl sentatives in the Senate. A<:.. Avelino founded the Par~y in the campaign manager during- 1945 (Avelino has always the 1946 elections that made been tbe president of this parthe late Roms President. and ty. Avelino has p1·oven himQuirino just came wlth the self a true Liberal ail the Ro:icas landslide, Aveiino had Hme. On the other hand, proven himself a leader-the Quirino has shown very little maker of Presidents. If Qui- capacity of a just learlership rinu :s no\\' .the President of responsible to a political organization. On many occasions, Quirino's disloyalty to his party was clearly shown when he fraternized with the Opposition (Nacion~listas) Party.· He appointe<l Sen ator Cabi!i, then a Naciona'ista, to the Cubinet without consultinsr first his fulow Lj.. berals. (Because of some oppositions, however, Cabili did not land in the Cabinet-bu;t it is enough that Quirino. a Liberai, launched an appointment of a Nacionalista senator). Quirino sanctiuned the fusir~n of his Partv with the Nacionalistas in the Senate, which resulted · in the elevation 1).f Minori:ty (Sen. Diokno) to Acting Senat." PresMency. Jn one of his trips to Mindanao, Quirino launcheil his candidacy without thP. party co:ivention. Avelino on ~hP other hand. remained faithful a·ad loyal to the Party Even the Party Headquarters at Azcarraga, Mar.ila. used by the Roxas-Quirir.o campaign dnrin£ the 194ti Plectio:ris is what Avelino is ·usinl! now for his own headquarters - arid it seems Quirino cfoes not contest this oreuna.tion by Avelino of Liberal Party Headquarter~ chosen by the partv fo11ndi:>r. President Roxai:i. THE CASE AGAINST AVELINO On!'! of the issues agait1st the Nacionalis•a Party d'1rinR the 1946 elections was the commission of grafts and <"Orruption in the GovernmPnt, then headed by Pres. Osmeiia. There were graf.ts in the distributions of the UNRRA (Relief) J!OOds. ECA. anrl others. When Roxas becarn" President, so we hav~ seen, more grafts were commit1.e<Lthis time, in almosit all hranches of the Government : in surplus goods, in the PRATRA, in immigration. in Internal Revenue. etc. It would seem that whoever is in power there is always graft aud· corruption; this is unavoidable. When Quirino and Avelino parterl \\·ays, and the Liberal Party was split, it is implied that Avelino's faction represented graft and corruption. An injustice is done to Avelino. Unproved oharges were instituted again~t him wi:thout giving hi.m a chance to defend himself. 'rhis resulfod in his suspension as member of the Renate. Well. Avelino. being a good soldier, had to take it. But. how about the casP..s a£ainst Ac:ting Senate President Cuenco and Senate President Pro-temPOre Arranz? Charges, more £eriom~ October 8, 1949 :than those filed again,;:t Ave· lino, were filed against these gentlemen. why are they still there? Whv are not they removed from their positions? Why are they not suspended. Like Avelino? Sen· ators Cuenco and Arranz of course, happen to he Quirino men-and that makes it different. A velino's faction, Quirinistas say, represent graft; what d'o these Quiriuis· NATIONAL WEEKLY Page 7 :1ow is advertised as "·The President's Choice." tas sav about the activitiel" of their par.ty's campai~n manager, Speaker Perez, wh'}_ Nepotism is rampant in the :present Qdrino government. :His brother, Judge Antonio ·Quirino was made the n11r1chaser of an inferior quality of Russian cement for the Cebu 1 Portland Cement Co. A re· lative: a priest (Rev. Osmun. do Calip) was sent to Hawaii, at Government expense (the Gov't. spent Pl,398.00 for tliA air passag;e of the prie3t), the purpose of which was only to extend spiritual assistance to Filipino laborers in Hawaii. mos;tly Ilocanos; as if Hawaii Filipinos are short of priests :among them. An Ilocano is ;;irppointed to head the Bureau of Library. Prospero S~mid'ad, ~o is not an enS1:ineer is the everybody now knows is thP Avelino, left, and Vicente J. Francisco, Vice Presidential "Chinef:!e immigration wi- candidate of the ALP. zard ?' . Another case again:3t Avelino i~ that electoral fraurls 9uring the elections of J 946 and 1947 were committed, and Avelino, being the cam. oaign manager of t~e Liberal Party durinR" both electlom, ~o it is said, was responsible for these frauds. To 11im, as campaign manager. falls the burden of beirl!' blamed fol' whatever anomalies thm·c had been. However, commnn i;.ense tells us that Avelino, like any other man. could not have stayed in nny ono place at !the same time to direct POlling pla<'PS ar:cl cr'lnmit frawfa. If he ever rUrl in one place, then somebody has to file charges ngairs~ him. We have Courts rf .Tu-:otice. But-for the sake of :ir ,g-ument, let's say, AvP.lino llid commit fraudis durin·~ 1J11n~ electfons. then it wo11ld h' jus;t too bnd for the Liber::i.1 Party, for we woul<l lrn.y2 right now a different set of senators - all Nacionalisbs. To bla.1ne Avelino for ele~tor al frauds in the last two elections. therefore. is a challeng( t.o all the present Libe1·al Party senators in not rnsign. ing from their positions. If they don't resign, they be lieve their elections on foe level-and no fraud'; and rn we have no case against Aveiino on electoral frauus. QUIRINO A FAIL URE After more than a year in office, President Quirino has not come up to· expec·tations. Starting within his own party where rifts among thn leader:> mounted day by day, instea<l of disr:ouraged. to the chief ments of consulates and emmagistracy of the land, Quiri · bassies in places where there no resolved to continue ti1 ~ are only a handful of FilipL program . o! hi.s pr~dece~- nos res1amg is another unsot's adm1mstrabon, did Qi.a- necessclry extravaga;~ce of rino do it? For instance, this Government.. That nev..=:rthere 1s the Huk problem. R·'J- to-be.forgotten Vigan junket ·.i·. xa~ ?utlawed the Huk~; but durini~ which the Government Qmr1:i~ gave them Amnest~, shouldt!red the expenrns of ~o confident the Huks wori t tranSl)ortinll: hundreds of govbother anymore. Huk Supre- . . 1 1 ·1 mo Luis Taruc came down er_nment off1C1a s. persona from his mountain lair not. a!I t~1ends. anil. even represe~t~a captured bandit but as a hves of foreign governmen., in • hero: lie was feted in the Pres- Manila - therP. could be no ident'"1 Dewey Bouleva:rd reaso.1 for such a -;unket $ home <tnd at Malaca:iian-then even if Quirino were Preshe wa::: seated a.c; Con~rer.s- ident. Two other junkets to man to enable him to collect the Sou:th. one to Mindanao ': his salary. fl'aruc is back to ana· another to the Bicol re. : the hiJts now. Had Q1,1iri110 O"ions during which C)uirino followed Roxas policy on the " : l t k 1 n b' a,...' ' . . . as usua . oo a o g a i.e: r.· Huks-and that is, to outlaw legation. mostlv new~panerthem, there wouid bP. no men to accompanv him. were greate·r expansion of the dissi- made nnd the GovePnme1.t dent ~c:tivities to many pa:rtfl ~pent a good amount of mnof the country. because th:~se uey. becau!'e the Pr~sirlent. would be checked up bY th( had tn charter a luxm·v li11m· ' l::tw ~nforcinl!' agencie!l of the for such a big delegatiqn_ n:1Goven:ment. So neaccfut the rinO" li:ite Pres. Quezon's :time. •'.ountrv was wi.th Quirino's and during· the Pres!rlent'5 A~nestv to the Huks. th~t inspection trips to the South His Excellency never thought be n?.ver wanted so many the possibiJi.ty of the Huk's peopb with his party, ~nd he ambush of Mrs. Quez•)'1's never chartered a luxury party. liner. The Government ha<l (Continued on· next page) MAIL THIS AD with your name and address to us and F R E E ··~ot~ II AGE OF COLOR" Lat~st. ~Ost ~ ~:.";.r.!~:: . • of auchorua- ~ civC home • l\ p'°"ain1:ing • · G_l,id.den -;;,._. .color ideas. --· fof"insidc and · oi.uside )'our home. 32.pages. bt"::~ rifully illusu.ued in color. Get yuur tREE. copy at our score now! Distributor Th•~ present AdmL1istration is usrng Government funds very extravagantly, and in most cases, public money is squandered and spent on useles.~ projects. The Jlocar1os hav~ oeen reputed to he very thrifty; Pres. Quirino, how. ever, is an exception. There is that missuse of the so-called P ACSA fonds. Establishsix Coast Guarcl Cntte:rs ATKINS, KROLl & CO., IN(' aside from the Presiciential 1?.'l Myers Building Port Area, Manila yatch "Casiana''. We h:i.vP still the"e boats now. hut th0 thl·iftv llocann would 11ot have anything to do with cheap vessels. Besides. on ano- · · · · · · ·cYou0 r0 N~~~)· · · · · · · ther purpose, by chartering a luxurv liner which i~ owni~d by a frier.d in the Senate is : · · · · · . (:M:~a· Add~es~) · · · · · helpin~ this friend boost his shipping business. ThE.' liner Page 8 big boss of all dis;trict engineers in the country-he is the Secretary of Public Works aJ..ld Communications: and he iR an llooano. • I Then there is the now famous P5.000-bed, purchases of costly furnitures for his daughter and his son. JJf the President spenf his own mo. ney for his children, it's alright. But it's the people's money that he is spendin~ for his family. Our past. J>i-.3sidents never did thiR More abuses· were made when Pres. Qwirino issued diplomatic pass.ports to his friends and relatives. mostly women who allegedly smugggled dia~onds into the country, thus depriving the Government of a substantial revenue from these luxuries. So terrible was Quirino's government has been that the Congress of the Philippines was comuelled to do what thia auR"ust body_never d1d before. to the country'R tfiree ·Presidents: Quezon_ Osmeiia. RoxaR. Quirino is lthe first in the rank of Philiirnine Presidents to have been_ IMPEACHED. It took th'P. Philippines onlv 14 years what the United States of A mel'ica "accomniished" in 89 vears. Since ihe American ~enublic in 1776, only one 1mpeaehment case ai;?ainst it~ PrAsident was registered - '1nrf that. wa~ Pr~s. AndrP.w Jackson in 1865 In roth impeachment cases however. conviction 'llP.Ver materialized but i1t is enomrh that. sur.h a move was made by the country's Jaw-ma.king- bodv that f oun<l its own Presi<lent i;?UiL t:v of abusPs of all kind~ THE N ACTON ALI~ A~ MADE A MISTAKR As stated earlier in this article. President Quirino w:inted the split of his own Lihe_ •·al Partv. Without ithe split hP. could not continue in office. bec11.use he would lose to Avelino in thP. nomination. If :thev had' teamed up, sav Q11:rino for President anrl Avel:. Tio for Vir.e-Presioent. the Li beral Partv is indeed impree:. nable. Quirino would be placed in an embarrassin~ no<ition when hi' loses in the Convention. His choice was NATIONAL either fo retire from his office a~~r his term expiree, thus g1vmg wav for Avelino: or fight it out with Avelino b_u.t not through any Convention-but on some tactics. He chose the later. T'tk result now is. the split. Quirino wan1ted this split. WEEKLY October 8, 1949 The N acionaTistas, too wante.J tlrn split of IJ,e Li be· ral Party. Naturally, ·when ~t.; own housf! is intact it is a· - ways 'l pleasure to see the other house across the stre':!t divided. The seemingly im pregnable position of the Li beral Party was the Opposition's biR" problem. The spli~ of thA Liberal Faiity becam;' a blessing to the Nacionalis. tas. As a mattflr of fact the Opposition helped a grea4deal tc cause the split. Why not? If the Naciona!ista d!c'I not join with lthe Quirino Li. bera1s. Avelino would not ha"'.'e been out; and hencP, n« split. That there is a snl;~ 11ow, !the Naciorialistas hav1) better chances of winning in t.his ;::iectkn. ·The Nar~ionali-~ tas made 3 mist:l.ke in accept ing ti!e inYitation of :-: LIBF.RAL PRESIDENT to ou:>t Avelino, another Liberal. Since its defeat to Roxa's T ,i. beral Party in 1946, the> Na. ciom1listas have bee.~ tryir.g the slow hard way to rl'gai~1 DCJ\n~;·. h has made wonder· f ul vrogress, because in tl~; 1947 elections n Naci0nalist,1 Senafor :md Congressu:.cn were elected. But since the Opposition's connivance with ~- faction of the enemy 'Party Just to defeat the othe~· fac· tion, this Nacionalista Partv is also GUILTY. Howeve1· I could not blam~ the Nacio1;alistas much. It wanted power which it had missed" for 80 long, and here waidhe cliancc to ge.t that power. T~rn info .. mous ente:1te C)rdial hetwee~1 the Quirinistas and the Ha c~onalistas made some Opposi11011 men hec;imE~ chairm!'n of key Committees in tnP Sen ate, r.nd other powerful p0si. tions. It madi:> them obtain good dices of the porkbane!. It made one-of its member. f!~ alreaav m1mtioned above, acting SenH:te President. A quick rise to power indeed, rathe1· than the honorable Before the split - Av1elino, Quirino and Perez. hard way. Siri'e by side with the Oppusitiou' s gui!t in helping effectQuiri.nd's persecution of a fellow Liberal, there is the Nadonalista's candidate foi· the Fresiclency, Dr. Jose P. Laurel, who remains a controversial figure. Personally, I believe that collaboration as an i~sue is already dead when Roxas was elected in 1946. itnc1 Camilo Osias was elected Senator in 1947. As a mat:Jter of fact, I hold my op1mon that Laurd did his best to sP-rve his country during those dark days. Whoever was in Laurel's shoes durinlll: the oc, c·upation would probably have done what Laurel did. J .aurel's role to help the people durin~ the Occupaltion. however, did not do the people any good. As an Administrator LaurP.l failed. He did not p~·evcnt the Japs from killing Hnd torturin!1• innocent nersons: he did rl."'ot protest whP.n :the .Japanese confiscated Philippine Cu!"rency Notes and put into circulation th?. Jap Militl:lry Notes wiithout funds: he did not protest when the Japs commandeered trucks, hors·~::. ar:d other personal prolwrties of Filipino individuals; he nermi1tted' the Jans to monopolize all the rice sup .. ply a'vav frotK the Filipino prodiicers. -There is an argument that Laurel under those circlimstances could not have done oltherwise. Then why was he there in the Japsponaored Philippine Republic, was he to help his people? or the Japanese? I_f he truly !'".erved the best interest of the people, he should have comn!ainec and protest.ed agai:-Jst injustices done bv the Japanese. If such protest:5 wer.e r.ot heeded, 1then Laurel should- have done the next best thing· resign from his position under the Japs, anc'l went :to the mountains to jo!n the guerrillas - then, hP. woud havp better served bis people. Laurel never resign~d; ht· ne\·er even complained. As 1th\1 leader of a people, therefore, Laurel is not capable; as an administrator he is a failure. ' Furthermore, L a u r e 1 ' s name will always be synonymous Y.rith colla'Qoration; his namo always stinks with all the ills of the past. He is hate<l by tbose who fought the J aps. Those demonstraltions to him at Cebu City and in Camarine~ prove that Laurel never had the people's confidenee in him. Laurel be~ long·; to lthl' d)&st. He has had his chance atready t.nd he did not pl~y his role well. Definitel.y, he is a has-been in the Philippine politics. BP-sides. the Filipin:> people would not have anything Ito do with Lam·el's so-called "secret formula'". What the country needs today is a genuine constructive, and open (and 1not secret) formula of ~ov ernment administration. ·