First ladies

THERE is a small but interesting little exhibit that opened recently in the National Historical Institute building on T.M. Kalaw Street in Manila. The exhibit is on the First Ladies of the Philippines.

Individually, these women, during their time, were referred to as the "power behind the throne." One cannot underestimate their quiet, almost invisible, role in shaping our nation's history. It is this idea that made the organizers entitle the show "HERstory," a word that some rabid feminists insist should replace the male-concocted "History." There has been an unsuccessful move in historical circles to implement this or at least to change "history" to a more neutral or politically correct term.

At the outset, I have to state that my only regret is that the curators or the person who cooked up this exhibition stopped short of including the lone first gentleman in the program. The controversial husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is doubly a first gentleman because Corazon Aquino was a widow when she became president and had no first gentleman. Surely, one of Mr. Arroyo's tuxedos would have complemented all the formal gowns now standing in the middle of the exhibition and made it look like an ongoing cocktail party.

Then we have Aurora Aragon Quezon (1888-1949), who complemented the administration of Commonwealth President Manuel Luis Quezon with social and civic work. She actively campaigned for women's suffrage. Mrs. Quezon also kept home for her family, especially during their exile in the United States during the war. She outlived her husband, who died in New York in 1944, and returned to the Philippines in 1946 to resume her socio-civic work, particularly with the Philippine Tuberculosis Society because this was the disease that felled her husband. It is ironic that she devoted her attention to the restive peasants in Central Luzon but was eventually killed in an ambush by Huks in 1949. Her remains were recently moved from Cementerio del Norte and now rest in the Quezon Memorial Shrine with those of her husband.

While Quezon established a government-in-exile in the United States during the war, he left Jose P. Laurel to mind the fort and fend for himself and the nation during the Japanese occupation when the latter served as president. It is thus rather unfair that history books and historians often refer to Laurel as a "puppet president." While the issue of collaboration still manages to elicit debate, one can only imagine how Paciencia Hidalgo Laurel (1889-1960) held out both as first lady and mother to the nation during the dark days of the war. Mrs. Laurel refused to live in Malacañang and opted for their family home in Paco, Manila. Like Mrs. Quezon, she involved herself in socio-civic and charitable activities. The best compliment paid her can be found in the dedication of her husband's book "Bread and Freedom" (1952) which states: "To my beloved and understanding wife, who shared uncomplainingly, all the hardships that are the lot of one who tries to serve the fatherland."

Esperanza Limjap Osmeña (1896-1978) married Sergio Osmeña, a widower with 10 children. She became first lady upon the death of Quezon, which made her husband the president of the Philippine government-in-exile. She was first lady for two years, and could have stayed longer if her husband had not lost to Manuel Roxas, whose first lady was Trinidad de Leon Roxas (1900-1995).

Mrs. Roxas was first lady at a time when the country had to rebuild itself and gather what was left after the destruction of the war. She got involved in various charitable organizations like the White Cross and the Girl Scouts of the Philippines and organized the annual Malacañang Christmas gift-giving that has become a tradition to this day.

Victoria Syquia Quirino (b. 1931) was actually a "first daughter," but since her father, President Elpidio Qurino, was a widower, she took on the role of first lady. Following tradition, she also got involved in socio-civic activities and made history as the first daughter of a president to get married in Malacañang.

Luz Banzon-Magsaysay (1915-2004), wife of Ramon Magsaysay, kept house for the President who is credited with opening Malacañang to the people. She displayed a quiet dignity and courage in the face of a personal tragedy when her husband died in a plane crash in 1957.

Then we have Leonila Dimataga-Garcia (1906-1994), wife of President Carlos P. Garcia, followed by Evangelina Macaraeg-Macapagal (1915-1999), wife of Diosdado Macapagal of which we are reminded by her daughter Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The rest of the first ladies are still alive and we won't comment on them yet.

Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu.

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