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Tuesday, July 23, 2002
ROPEROS: Long way for Ople
By Godofredo M. Roperos
IT’S been a long way for Blas, since the days when he roamed the main streets of Manila in search of the best thing life could offer in those days, that is, in the ‘50s, during our salad days, so to speak. Talks in the past number of days which has him as center of national interest, is something he could never have imagined. It’s been a long and arduous climb for the young man from Hagonoy, Bulacan who came to Manila in the early ‘50s and wound up writing a column for the Daily Mirror.
The man who would be the nation’s foreign affairs secretary soon if President Arroyo makes good her “threat” to appoint him to her Cabinet, if only to decimate little by little the ranks of the opposition in the Senate. He started his personal legend way back in the early half of the century when he became a sort of mentor for the dynamic left at that time. He was among the clutch of young intellectuals who sat at the foot of nationalist guru Claro M. Recto, who, as senator, was making the Senate glow with his wit and incisive mind.
I met Blas sometime in 1953 when I joined Ramon Roces Publications as staff member of the weekly Bisaya magazine. Writing, not only in English but also in the vernacular, was becoming popular at that time.
In the pre-Second World War years, most of those who wrote in English sort of looked down on those who wrote in the vernacular. It was as if our young, educated in English, did not wish to be associated with their own tongue. But with the nationalist movement of the ‘50s, I endeavored to write in Cebuano.
As a Bulakeño, Blas was as fluent in true Tagalog as he was in English. When I joined the Manila Times Publications, as staff member and later, as associate editor of the Sunday Times Magazine—weekly supplement of the daily—I had to pass by the offices of Daily Mirror on the second floor to reach the STM, which was on the third floor. I would pass by Blas writing his column in the late afternoon. And then, sometimes after work, we would gather at Nang Posang’s La Buena Suerte coffeeshop right beneath our office along F. Torres Street. She used to own the famous La Suerte Hotel and Restaurant here.
In our group then, outside of Blas and myself, was Adrian Cristobal, who until a year ago, wrote a column with the Daily Inquirer and publisher of the Manila Times. There was Rony V. Diaz, one of the first winners of the Palanca Award for short story, and now Manila Times publisher. Then there were Andres C. Cruz and Pacifico N. Aprieto, the Tondo boys who wrote short stories and poems, in English and Tagalog, about their Tondo life.; the late Bernie de Leon, Jr., who wrote poetry and news features for a daily and manned the city desk, too. It was at La Buena where we planned our nights.
And finally, there was Clem Roxas, the Bicolano short story writer.
It was the time when we drunk a lot. Our haunts were the nightspots along the former Dewey Boulevard. We talked and drunk beer or scotch late into the night. And during the few times we run short of funds, Blas’s wristwatch had to be left behind, to be redeemed the following day. Then we would walk from Dewey to Quiapo where we would take our respective jeepney rides home. For Blas, home then was an apartment in Sta. Mesa, while to Rony, Bernie, and I, home was a cottage room in Area III in U.P. Diliman.
There are many tales about Blas which surfaced after he became labor secretary in the time of President Marcos and, later when he became senator.
One of these is his reading habit. Friends who have been to his house claim that the walls of Blas’ room are filled with books from floor to ceiling. And knowing his enormous love for books, I am not surprised about the talks. He is an avid reader of anything, anything at all.
Another tale is about his drinking. It seems when we were not together as a group, he and the late Clem would go out on their own. And during the times when they got drunk, the police would take them in for their safety. Then they would call Manila Mayor Arsenio H.Lacson, their close friend, at any time of the night. It came to such a point, so the tale goes, that Mayor Arsenio had issued a written order to the police that if they ever happened to come across two drunks named Blas and Clem, to just please take them home and not wake him up.
Blas and company helped make President Ramon Magaysay win in 1953. And when RM died in 1957, the group supported Manuel P. Manahan for the presidency, but he lost. Orphaned, his group then turned to President Garcia.
It was them who conceptualized the National Progress Movement, and came out with the Filipino First Policy, which the Americans disliked. But it did the Filipino proud. It’s really been a long way for the poor young man from Hagonoy, Bulacan.
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