Feisty at 90

RALPH Gonzales is one of our passing generation. I missed the exultation of this nonagenarian at the Manila Polo Club last Tuesday, September 5. (I had marked it on my calendar; but I could not find my datebook on that day.)

If available, Ralph could give the unexpurgated version of the peaks and valleys of our Foreign Office – from Padre Faura to the Philippine Convention Center and to our present HQ at the hand-me-down former Asian Development Bank Roxas Boulevard.

Ralph was vintage Marcos camp. He was loyal to Undersecretary Manuel Collantes, the longest serving deputy minister of DFA; and he served Kokoy and, through Kokoy, Imelda and the First Family.

Ralph was not one of the Thinkers and Whiz Kids of DFA. But he whisked through many of the challenges and do-ables; he was a tinker who made things happen.

Johnny Ona, who knows him well and closely and owes him a gift of the heart, recalls that Ralph arrived at Manila Polo Club in a wheelchair (reminiscent of our Apolinario Mabini, but uncustomary for someone we remember as a judo instructor and man of action). President Ramos spoke, remembering Ralph fondly. Ralph’s children took turns with their account of their father as role model and his multifarious activities (to the amazement of many who did not know so many things other things about him).

Johnny recalled his own first brush with Ralph: As a freshman foreign service officer, Johnny’s memo of the Camelot years of Secretary of Foreign Affairs Emmanuel Pelaez resulted in Ralph as special assistant to the Undersecretary for Administration, charged to oversee the cleaning of toilets. (“Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”) A clean start between “Sir Galahad of the Toilets” and the neophyte FSO.

Ralph loved to tease ex-seminarian Johnny with the DFA single ladies. He would say, “Johnny, si Beth...” Johnny would blush, knowing that Miss Elizabeth Tolentino was spoken for.

But he (Ralph) persisted: As consul general in Hong Kong, Ralph brought Beth with him. By destiny or Divine Providence (but, more likely, design), Johnny would be posted to Hong Kong on a quasi emergency basis.

(In Hong Kong Johnny got to know Ralph as a boss who percolated with “ideas, initiatives, and above all, resourcefulness in trade and investments promotion, cultural relations and the welfare of the Filipino community.” Ralph infected the staff with sense of duty so that, even in his absence (he was borrowed for protocol tasks for the First Family), our Hong Kong Consulate General hummed.

(Back to the story and the continuing chase): In 1971, Elizabeth was cross-posted to London. Now the plot thickens: The same unseen hand pulled Johnny Ona out of Hong Kong (where he was just a little more than a year) and to our London Embassy… to follow through the quest. To make a long story short, Cupid succeeded, and Beth became Mrs. Johnny Ona.

WHITHER DFA? Johnny posits that the defining moment of our careers occurred post EDSA. On Tuesday, 25 February 1986, we had two presidents: President Ferdinand Marcos took his oath at Malacañang and Mrs. Corazon Aquino took her oath at Club Filipino. Which of the two was elected by the Filipino people and merits the recognition of foreign governments?

Where do we stand? There was soul searching and in-depth discussion among men (and women) of DFA with differing personal persuasions. The resolution: “The Foreign Service under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs represents the Philippines abroad. As much as possible, we had to preserve the unity of our Embassies, Missions, and Consulates which had the continuing duty of attending to the interests of our country, especially assistance to overseas Filipinos. Furthermore, the Foreign Service should not be a factor of division among the Filipino communities abroad by supporting this or that faction. We, therefore, decided to wait for the inevitable outcome of the political conflict.”

Johnny drafted a the statement which would be approved and signed by Ralph and other Assistant Ministers: “The assistant ministers and other Heads of Offices have requested Assistant Minister Rafael A. Gonzales to seek instructions from President Corazon C. Aquino, for the guidance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” MFA circulated this statement to the Foreign Service with the instruction to inform foreign governments accordingly.

Johnny says that Ralph’s steady hand at the tiller should be credited with minimizing the rancor and recriminations within the Foreign Ministry after EDSA. He recalls Ralph’s words, “You know, Johnny, I do not fear for myself. I can take care of myself; but I am apprehensive about my protocol officers like Jerril Santos. They have been identified with Malacañang because of their visible presence in local functions and foreign trips. I recruited them because of their intelligence, reliability, and personal appearance. They only did what I told them to do. Now they might lose their careers and livelihood.”

*** Ralph has reinvented himself.

A man of few words, he has taken to painting; and when he still had the vim and vigor, he would join weekly sessions with Manny Baldemor and other artists. I arranged a small exhibit of Ralph’s works at our Berlin embassy; and I have a couple of his oils. No great oeuvre; but they speak eloquently of the man. FEEDBACK: