Laurel: Crisis leadership and humanity

ON November 6 we will be commemorating the 62nd death anniversary of President José Paciano Laurel who died in 1959. He became president in a time of crisis, and although the Covid-19 pandemic may not be comparable in scope with World War 2, we are also fighting a war with an unseen enemy and there can be lessons and reflections that can be drawn from his leadership.

When approached by the Laurel family and the José P. Laurel Memorial Foundation through the granddaughter of the former president Inday Arcenas, to help them organize an event to show the 2019 docu-film “Laurel,” I suggested to them that they do it on Oct. 14, 2021, the 78th anniversary of his inauguration as president of the Second Philippine Republic in 1943. Even if that republic was under the Japanese occupiers, most historians now concede that it was not a “mere” puppet government, but Laurel did his level best for the nation to survive.

Organized with the Lyceum of the Philippines Cavite College of Fine Arts and Design under the young and vibrant Dean Javier Laurel, the event “Laurel Film X Historians Commentary” assembled historians who made research work on Laurel such as Dr. Ricardo Trota José and Dr. Ma. Florina Orillos Juan. I played the role of moderator and co-panelist.

On his very first meeting with his enlarged cabinet, Laurel announced he would pursue three policies during his administration: national survival, political ideology and moral philosophy.

National survival — this was top priority, Laurel said: “The foundation stone of all governmental structures is law and order.” But, according to Dr. Orillos-Juan, these cannot be maintained if the people were hungry. He imposed price controls on selected goods. Before Laurel assumed the presidency, the National Rice and Corn Corp. (Naric), tasked with food security and distribution, was riddled with corruption. On the way to the city, a good percentage of the thousands of sacks of rice were pilfered already and the officials in charge, including Japanese supervisors, made money from them. Dr. José said that food was lacking because the Japanese Army was getting the food. So, upon assuming office, Laurel dissolved the Naric and replaced it with the Bigasang Bayan, to ensure food distribution went only to Filipinos. In a crisis, corruption can kill, and Laurel showed he would not tolerate it.

As president, Laurel did not foster a message of us against them to divide Filipinos and maintain power. He knew that in a time of crisis, Filipinos hating and being toxic with fellow Filipinos would not help. Although there were some pro-Japanese in government and some private groups which encouraged Japanese atrocities against Filipinos, Laurel went on personally saving lives, stopping executions and political arrests. He even had a dialogue with a guerrilla leader, Maning de Ocampo of the Hunter’s ROTC guerrillas, who sneaked into his room in Malacañang. He would have been arrested then and there had Laurel really been pro-Japanese. It was then that the Hunter’s ROTC realized that Laurel was not a puppet.

Most importantly, when Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo personally ordered him in Tokyo and told him to conscript Filipinos to fight for the Japanese, he refused. This would have pitted most Filipinos against the Filipino guerrillas, not just the Americans. And when the time came that he had to declare a “state of war,” he only recognized that there was already a state of war that “exists” between the Philippines and the US and did not do anything. Dr. José said Laurel announced very publicly that no Filipino would be forced to go to war against their will. This ensured that less Filipinos would die in the war and because our grandparents survived, ensured that most of us are all here today.

He said in that cabinet meeting, “We must unite, love one another, stop killing one another, because only the Filipinos can love Filipinos.”

Political ideology — Even under the influence of a foreign power, he did not sell us to them. He knew that for the nation to survive, Filipinos should be able to defend their interest. He had a philosophy of inspiring love of country through the examples of Filipino heroes. His actions proved he was not just mouthing words. Yet, he also encouraged appreciation of other countries, especially our neighbors. “A nation will not long endure if it’s wrought in the midst of foreign and exotic ideals…. This does not mean that we should reject everything that is not Filipino,” he said.

Moral philosophy — “Service to the people must be on the basis of righteousness,” which he believed is common to all religions. He showed leadership by example. In Malacañang, they used the grounds to plant their own food. In the midst of people’s suffering, Laurel ate the same food as the others. He was a “pinunong bagani” who lived like his people.

Dr. José summarized in one Filipino word Laurel’s actions: “Malasakit.”