New Pelaez biography provides a cinematic view of history

MANILA, Philippines - The patriotism that easily characterized generations of politicians bred in the pre-Marcos era is clearly illustrated in What’s Happening to Our Country: The Life and Times of Emmanuel Pelaez, the biography of the former vice president who served in the Macapagal administration.

Written by political commentator Nelson Navarro, the coffeetable book will be launched on April 1, Wednesday, at 6 p.m. at National Book Store in Glorietta 5, Makati, where it will be available. Touted as the heir apparent of the extremely popular President Ramon Magsaysay, Pelaez, then the youngest senator in 1954 at age 38, was considered presidential timber in the run-up to the 1957 and 1961 elections for the presidency. Nevertheless, his youth predisposed him to bide his time.

When he was ready to seek the highest post in the land prior to the 1964 race, Pelaez lost the nomination to be the Nacionalista party bet to Ferdinand Marcos in a convention marred by coercion and massive vote buying. Marcos’s assumption of power forever dashed Pelaez’s chances in fulfilling a life-long ambition. Nevertheless, he continued to serve his country in various capacities. As congressman and senator, he authored laws like the Rural Electrification Act of 1969, which brought electricity to the homes of the most humble folk and changed their lives forever.

As assemblyman in the early ’80s, he waged a fiery crusade against the coconut levy, “perhaps the biggest of all Marcosian scandals,” according to Navarro. As a result of his unrelenting pursuit of truth and justice for the coconut farmer in a period when political opposition was hardly tolerated, Pelaez was ambushed and nearly died in 1982. The coconut monopoly was dismantled soon after.

In the Aquino era, Pelaez was appointed ambassador to Washington where he gained the respect of key personalities on Capitol Hill and helped pave the way for the massive infusion of American aid to the Philippines following the devastation of the Philippine economy by Ferdinand Marcos.

The coffeetable book of over 340 pages is both a biography and compelling narrative woven around the key political figures from the Quirino up to the Aquino administrations. A skillful storyteller, Navarro adroitly puts together a wide range of primary and secondary sources to give the reader a cinematic presentation of history.

He relates, for instance, that Pelaez’s high profile as an effective ambassador to the US made him a natural lightning rod for the forces advocating for the immediate pullout of the bases. Little did they know, according to Navarro, that in the 50s and as head of the Philippine panel to revise the Military Bases Agreement of 1947, Pelaez took a hardline position against the Americans particularly in the area of crimes committed by American soldiers on Philippine soil like rape.

Navarro recalls: “For his own reasons, Magsaysay was said to have been disposed to acquiesce to the Americans. He viewed them as indispensable allies and felt it was pointless to alientate them at the height of the Cold War… Manny would not budge on the ground of principles and actually volunteered to resign as head of the panel.” Magsaysay didn’t accept Pelaez’s resignation and the talks were allowed to collapse.

In the latter part of the century, Pelaez was sidelined by fierce nationalistic rhetoric in the Senate that pushed for the immediate pullout of the bases and “more ominously, by the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, which fatally undermined the Philippine negotiating position. In the end, despite overwhelming public support for extension as reflected in all poll surveys, the anti-bases group had its way…”

Proceeds of the book are earmarked for the Emmanuel Pelaez Leadership and Campaigns Program, a four-day workshop for potential Mindanao politicians organized by the Ateneo School of Government. The program, to be launched mid-year, will inspire candidates for local positions to embrace the leadership values embodied by Pelaez. It also equips them with practical skills that will equip them to run a campaign and craft a program of government.