Initial Law Practice and Governor Jose Zulueta

From a personal account of the late Raul M. Gonzalez:

As a budding member of the Bar, I continued to refine my knowledge especially about the procedures and rules of court.  My time spent in the academe as a lecturer of law subjects gave me the opportunity to hone my knowledge of the craft, the many intricacies of Philippine jurisprudence, and the application and interpretation of various edicts.  As much as I loved teaching, there came a time when I had much less luxury to attend to its rudimentary demands.  The call for me to give priority to the practice of law had become clear in my mind. 

I first signed up with the law firm Syquia and Francisco, and after a few years, I had the confidence to go on my own.  My circle of friends in Manila comprised Ilonggos who encouraged me to go solo, and I tapped their enthusiastic support now and then.  My uncle, Feliciano Gonzalez, was chairman of the Board of Censors, a precursor of today’s Movie and Television Ratings and Classification Board (MTRCB), and he invited me to join him as his secretary.          

I also worked with Dr. Manuel Buenafe of the Bureau of Census who recruited me for an advisory position.  It was merely an honorary post but it looked good on my resume, a welcome break for a neophyte.  It was a door that opened other doors of opportunity, and before my Census job was finished, I received another offer, taking me to the next level.

Gov. Jose C. Zulueta (1889-1972) of Iloilo was already in his twilight years as a political leader.  An astute politician respected by his opponents, he was a pillar of strength and a guiding light for the Liberal Party.  During the Pacific War, he was a member of the Executive Committee under the supervision of the Japanese, and he was accused of collaboration with the enemy.  After being cleared of the stigma, he was elected again as Congressman of the 1^st district of Iloilo, and was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1945.  He had served as a member of the national legislature since 1928.

At the invitation of President Manuel Roxas, Zulueta assumed in 1946 his former post as Secretary of the Department of the Interior, and promptly clashed with rebel groups known as the HUKBALAHAP.  Afterwards, he was elected to the Senate in 1951, and became Senate President in 1953.  After the end of his Senate term in 1957, he ran and won as governor of the province of Iloilo in 1959.

His name resounded in the halls of power since his youthful days not only in Iloilo but on a national level.  Zulueta was a political force to reckon with, and as governor he recruited me as his protégé.  It was a learning opportunity and a productive relationship.  Zulueta used to give me valuable tips and advice that helped me steer out of troublesome waters in the world of political intrigues.  Best of all, he drilled me in the art of statesmanship.  Our collaboration was short but well-spent, memorable and fulfilling. 

Brutality of War

This is a personal account of the late Raul M. Gonzalez on the brutality of members of the Japanese Imperial Army during their occupation of Panay island in 1942-1944.

“I remember an old sea captain who was captured during a lightning raid of Japanese Imperial Army forces on our village.  An evacuee, he was hopeful that the soldiers would spare him because of his age.  But they somehow got wind of his son who was an ROTC cadet at the Colegio de San Agustin in Iloilo City and who was one of the guerillas who broke the Japanese blockade in the Corregidor Strait as they brought rice supplies to Bataan aboard the SS Regulus.  The ship was later sunk by the Japanese but they blamed the aging seaman for the involvement of his son and turned to him for revenge.

“At 12 years of age, I witnessed with my own eyes the indescribable abuses and atrocities of the Imperial Army which lingered in my memory.  I saw how the invaders, young and vicious, would tie a prisoner to a post and beat him with whatever was at hand until he died.  The methods of torture used by them were so barbaric that it defied description.  Suspected guerillas were kidnapped never to be seen gain.  Women were raped and food supplies were sequestered with force.  It was the height of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man.  I developed a hatred for violence and abhorred the thought of bloody confrontation.  But if the situation presented itself, I would fight back with all the survival instincts I had learned during those dangerous years.

“In the course of the war, heavy fighting broke out in Barangay Buntatala, the last barrio of Jaro across the river from the town of Leganes and a village away from the place where the family evacuated.  The guerillas controlled the bridge effectively stopping the Imperial Army from marching north towards the towns of Leganes and Zarraga.  Although possessing much superior firepower, the invaders were stymied by the guerillas, and fighting raged on for days. 

“The deafening roars of bazookas and the staccato sound of machine guns and rifle fire filled the air with terror, and forced the people to flee to safer grounds.  The enemy was everywhere while their reinforcements were already tramping the rice fields towards the battle site, killing every one they encountered with their bayonets and samurais.  The soldiers were on a murderous rampage, angered by the resistance of an inferior force.

“The whole family fled into the rice fields, merging with the terrain with only the tall stalks of rice as cover.  It was raining hard when suddenly I spotted a group of soldiers coming our way.  There was no time to hide, and communicating with hand signals, we burrowed into the mud and prayed to God to save us.  We held our breath for a long time as the soldiers, afraid to lose their footing in the paddies, passed our group who were just a few meters away buried in the mud like mudfish.  

"Breathless seconds passed before we lifted our heads from the mud and gulped for air.  By this time the soldiers were already hurrying away unaware of our presence due to the noise from the rain and the wind.  Our faces were full of mud but we were triumphant for evading the enemy yet another time.  We were thankful to God for saving us for the umpteenth time.  We crawled along the rice paddies and slipped away to safety.”

Delfin Gonzalez, Last Mayor of Jaro

From the manuscript of Ken Ishikawa:

“During the Commonwealth period, Delfin Gonzalez, the father of RMG, became a leader of the local branch of the Nacionalista Party.  It was the largest, political party in the country.  Its membership included Sergio Osmeña, Manuel A. Roxas and Manuel L. Quezon, an illustrious group which had managed to negotiate with the U.S. Senate the terms of Philippine Independence…

“The year 1940 was a divisive one for the Iloilo Nacionalista branch, as the brothers Eugenio and Fernando Lopez engaged in a bitter feud with Governor Tomas Confesor.  Three years prior, in the election of 1937, the Lopezes supported Confesor's governorship bid.  During his term proper, however, Confesor refused to provide the brothers concessions like the lifting of the bridge toll, which was hurting the Lopez-owned Panay Autobus.

“It was in this political atmosphere that Delfin's bid for the vice-mayoralty of Jaro found itself.  Using their political clout, the Lopezes sought help from Manuel L. Quezon against Confesor.  Quezon schemed to remove Confesor's political support from local party mates.  To this end, he sent Manuel A. Roxas to meet with local Nacionalistas.  Roxas came to Jaro and stayed over at Don Maximiano Jalandoni's mansion.  From there, he sent for Pablo Bion and Delfin Gonzalez, who were running mates.  Roxas relayed instructions from Quezon, who was their party's national chairman, to drop Confesor and instead opt for Dr. Timoteo Consing for the governorship of Iloilo.

“Delfin was faced with a difficult choice.  If he did not do as Quezon ordered, he was given the warning that they would not be able to sit as mayor and vice-mayor.  Should they support Dr. Timoteo Consing, they would only be ensuring that Iloilo's economy would fall to the clutches of the Lopezes.  Despite the conditions they were threatened with, Gonzalez and Bion, chose to side with Confesor, and made good their earlier promise to support him.

“Riding on a populist platform, the two charged into the campaign for Mayor and Vice-Mayor of Jaro. They raised their hands and charged with the battlecry “Gugma kontra Kwalta” (Love vs. Money).  The common people of Jaro believed in the changes Bion and Gonzalez promised and gave them the mandate.

“A few months into their administration, Pablo Bion left his political seat, making Delfin Gonzalez mayor of Jaro.  Quezon made true his threat and expanded the territory of Iloilo City to cover Molo and Jaro in 1941.  Jaro lost its status as a town with Delfin Gonzalez as its last sitting mayor.  Delfin would tell RMG to shun the fate of the reed swayed by the wind, and thus

a signature virtue of RMG is loyalty, which perhaps he sometimes bears to a fault.

“Delfin was promised by the incumbents a position as a councilor in the expanded Iloilo city but that never materialized.  Although it was a major blow to Delfin's career as a politician, he did not allow it to bring his family down.  The Gonzalezes would need to stick together as they were going to face a bigger storm; one which brought a rain of bullets, the thundering of artillery bombardment, and the lightning flash of bayonets.”