On the 15th of April I visited Roxas City in the province of Capiz. From time to time I’m visiting different provinces, but this visit was special. The 15th was the 60th anniversary of the death of President Manuel Roxas, who made an historical decision that help the creation of the state of Israel, only few know about.
Sixty years ago the area that is now Israel was under British mandate. The conflict between Jews and Arabs was already a regional issue and the UN convened to discuses a proposal to divide the territory between Jews and Arabs. It was called ‘Partition Plan’ and the Jewish leadership was willing to accept it. It was not all we hoped for, but it was a beginning. The Arab side refused to accept the plan, not recognizing the legitimacy of a Jewish state.
The actual discussion was held on the 29th of November 1949. Many countries represented were against it and many were for it. People in Israel were following a radio broadcast of the voting. Representative after representative were asked to state if they are for or against the proposal and the people in Israel were counting the votes for the ‘Partition Plan’ as they accumulated. When the reading of country names reached the letter P, Senator Lorenzo Sumulong, representing the Philippines and under the instructions from President Roxas, said yes and Israeli cheered because they knew we have a majority.
The same evening spontaneous dancing and celebration went on in the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. We got our own independent state after close to two thousand years of exile. The day after, the celebration was abruptly over because we were attacked by six Arab countries. This was the beginning of our War of Independence.
We know that President Roxas was under some pressure not to support the proposal and we know that he did not yield. Being the leader he was, he made the right and moral decision to support the creation of a Jewish state. The Philippines was the only country in Asia to take that decision that day and for that we are grateful.
On the 14 of May the following year (1948) the British left the area and the state of Israel officially declared its independence. Unfortunately, President Roxas was not alive to witness this amazing moment, because he passed away a month earlier on the 15th of April 1948, after delivering a speech.
During my day in Roxas City I met Mrs. Judy Roxas, who was my generous host, and Governor Tanco, visited an exhibition of the local cut foliage industry, met with people in the Gerry Roxas foundation, answer question at an open forum and even participated in the provincial celebration at the local stadium. The main purpose of the day though was to pay respect to a man who for selfless reasons made a decision that impacted the history of my country.
