Manuel A. Roxas - The Fifth Prsident

The Masonic life of Manuel A. Roxas began on August 14, 1920. Barely 28 years of age, he was already Governor of his province.

Manuel was born on January 1, 1892 to Gerardo Roxas and Rosario Acuna in Capiz, Capiz, a town which has since been renamed Roxas City in his honor.

He lost his father before his birth but his maternal grandmother took charge of his education. Sent to Hongkong to study, he returned to Manila after a year and enrolled in the Manila High School. Thereafter, he studied law at the newly-opened University of the Philippines, then under the presidency of a noted Scottish Rite Mason, Murray Bartlett. As a law student, Roxas studied at the feet of another Scottish Rite Mason, George A. Malcolm. He graduated valedictorian in 1913 and topped the bar examinations given in the same year.

Roxas immediately went into law practice in partnership with his only brother, Mamerto. Shortly thereafter, however, he accepted an appointment as private secretary to Chief Justice Cayetano S. Arellano. He also taught law in the Philippine Law School and the National University. After a few years stint with Chief Justice Arellano, the political bug bit Roxas. He resigned and returned to his home province to accept an appointment as municipal councilor. In 1919, he ran for governor and won.

Shortly after the election of Roxas, the Masons of Capiz led by Senator Altavas conceived the idea of founding a Masonic lodge in their province. They received a dispensation from Grand Master Milton Earl Springer on September 11 and then, at the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge held in January 1920, they were given a charter for their lodge. It was named Makawiwili Lodge No. 55, after a beautiful mountain within the view of Capiz, Capiz.

Grand Master Rafael Palma constituted the lodge on April 9, 1920 in the spacious hall of the "palatial residence" of Altavas in the presence of the leading citizens of the province, including Governor Roxas.

Four months after the constitution of Makawiwili Lodge No. 55, Roxas was honored as one of its initiates. In a terse report to the Senior Grand Lecturer, Grand Lodge Inspector Manuel Camus stated: "Makawiwili Lodge No. 55 at Capiz was visited by me on August 14 (1920). Governor Manuel Roxas of the province was initiated. WB Jose Altavas, Master of the Lodge, used the old Spanish ritual. The ceremony was impressive xxx."

The entry of Roxas into the Fraternity came as no surprise. Even that early, he already had extensive associations with Masons who must have impressed him favorably. In his home province alone, a number of those who promoted his career and encouraged him were Masons, among whom were Senator Jose Altavas, Secretary of the Provincial Board Ramon Acuna Arnaldo, Fortunato Acuna, Felipe Fernando, Gervacio Ramirez and Rito Isla.

In 1921, Roxas attracted national attention. He was elected head of the Convention of Provincial Governors and his name appeared in the headlines of the country's newspapers. His political stock was now on the rise and he caught the attention of Senate President Manuel L. Quezon, PGM, one of the two leading political figures in the country. Another feather was added to his cap when he married Trinidad de Leon, the lovely daughter of a powerful political figure from Bulacan, a Senator and Mason, Ceferino de Leon.

In 1922 Roxas launched his candidacy for a seat in the House of Representatives to represent his district in Capiz and won with an impressive majority. In the same elections, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sergio Osmena, run for the Senate, so the Speakership was up for grabs. Roxas aspired for the position. With the backing of Senate President Quezon and Senator Osmena, he handily defeated Claro M. Recto, the candidate of the Democrata Party. In those days, the Speaker of the House of Representatives was not just a presiding officer but an official who wielded great powers and influence.

Roxas therefore, became one of the country's leading political figures. In 1923, the much written-about dispute between the unpopular Governor Leonard Wood and Senate President Quezon erupted into the open. In July, the Filipino members of Wood's cabinet resigned in mass, precipitating a cabinet crisis. Everyone in the government machinery took sides. Speaker Roxas and most of the members of the Philippine Legislature sided with Quezon. Eventually, the Philippine Legislature adopted a resolution urging United States President Calvin Coolidge to recall Wood. Roxas was chosen to head a special mission to Washington to undertake this delicate mission.

Predestinately, just before his departure for the United States, Roxas joined the Philippine Bodies and received the 320 . In the United States, both the Blue Lodge and the Scottish Rite Masons showered him with touching acts of generosity and friendship. He was treated most kindly by Senator and Brother Frank B. Willis, Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Philippines and by Congressman and Brother Louis W. Fairfield, Chairman of the House Committee on Insular Affairs. Roxas not only succeeded in presenting a Memorial on Wood to President Coolidge, but was also able to lobby for the passage of an independence bill for the Philippines.

Roxas returned home with fond memories and glowing words of praise for his brother American Masons. Thus, when he addressed the Scottish Rite Luncheon forum on July 29, 1924, he profusely lauded the Masonic spirit in the United States. An account of that speech published in the August 1924 issue of the Far Eastern Freemason reads:

Bro. Roxas gave a very interesting account of the impressions that he received on his visit to America. He was very appreciative of the kindness shown him by the American Masons and related many incidents of more than ordinary interest, illustrative of the fraternal spirit evidenced everywhere. Brother Roxas is a strong believer in a militant Masonry and holds that Masons should be practical idealists, ever mindful that one of the chief purposes of our Order is to serve our fellowmen in a practical way.

For many years, Roxas maintained a high degree of interest in the Craft and accounts of his activities aptly landed in the pages of the Cabletow. Thus when Saturnino Alegre of Makawiwili Lodge No. 55 died on August 18, 1923, Roxas delivered a funeral oration. It was published in full in the October 1923 issue of the Cabletow. The January 1925 issue of the same magazine reported that on December 4, 1924 he accompanied Grand Master Wenceslao Trinidad in the latter s official visitation of Makawiwili Lodge. The same issue reported that on December 10, he and Provincial Fiscal Francisco Zulueta were honored with a fraternal banquet held in the lodge. Judge Quirico Abeto, who later became Secretary of Justice, acted as the toastmaster.

In the November 1925 issue, we read that when Grand Maser Christian W. Rosentock visited Makawiwili Lodge No. 55, a reception was held in the beautiful home of Roxas, "where the ladies served refreshment, and thither the Brethren repaired for a few hours enjoyment of the Terpsichroean art to the music furnished by an excellent orchestra."

In 1927 Roxas was elected from the floor as Master of Makawiwili Lodge, succeeding Ramon A. Arnaldo, the Assistant Provincial Treasurer of Iloilo. His able assistants were Guillermo J. Jimenez, Senior Warden and Braulio C. Manikas, Junior Warden. Although Roxas was still the Speaker of the House of Representatives which required his presence in Manila most of the time, he unfailingly managed to take a boat to his hometown whenever his presence in the lodge was needed.

A project completed during his term as Master was the Masonic cemetery of his lodge. An imposing monumental gate was erected at the entrance with the Square and the Compasses and the legend "Masonic Cemetery" inscribed thereon, all of which manifestly gave an impression of strength, power and dignity. The well-kept graves and tombstones also showed that brotherly love does not stop with the breath of the body. The completed project, needless to say, was a pride of the entire Fraternity.

When Roxas stepped down from the Oriental Chair on January 24, 1928, his grateful lodge awarded him a solid gold past master s jewel. It was pinned on his breast by Judge Leonardo Gardunio, a past master of Sinukuan Lodge. In response, Roxas delivered a stirring address on the aims and purposes of Masonry.

Roxas remained as Speaker of the House of Representatives up to 1933. As Speaker he headed other independence missions to the United States. With the help of several of his brother Masons such as Camilo Osias and Pedro Guevarra, he successfully obtained passage of an Independence Act known as the Hare-Hawes Cutting Act.

Roxas returned to the country as a hero but Quezon found fault with the Act. Fearing that its approval would undermine his leadership, Quezon engineered its rejection by the Philippine Legislature and then himself went to the United States and secured a new Independence Law, the Tydings-McDuffy Act. In the meantime, Quezon maneuvered to have Roxas replaced as Speaker by Past Grand Master Quintin Paredes.

When an election for delegates to the Constitutional Convention was held in 1934 Roxas was elected along with Senior Grand Warden Conrado Benitez and 39 other Masons.

The Constitutional Convention presented the Masons with a golden opportunity to inject universal Masonic principles in the Constitution. To this end, they organized themselves. Thus, Delegate Conrado Benitez reported to the Grand Lodge:

At the time of the drafting of the Constitution of the Philippine Commonwealth, it was felt essential by Masons in the Constitutional Convention that those Masonic principles incorporated in the American Bill of Rights should be included therein, and that no movement to deviate from those principles should be allowed to succeed. To that end the Masons in the Convention organized themselves and saw to it that the new Constitution of the Philippines was a truly Masonic document. In this effort they succeeded x x x . Besides the principles truly Masonic in the Bills of Rights, of special interest to intellectual freedom is the guaranty of academic freedom to universities supported by the state.

Roxas played a pivotal role in bringing to fruition the objectives of the Masons. It was widely acknowledged that the overall success of the Convention owed much to his leadership and brilliance. Wrote Delegate Jose Aruego - In his work of securing the harmonious cooperation of all the members of the Convention and the orderly functioning of the body, President Recto was greatly helped by that great leader and patriot, Manuel Roxas, the leader of the minority party in the Convention.

From the beginning, Delegate Roxas cooperated with the majority party in the most effective way he could, his cooperation inspired by a conscientious conviction that the national welfare demanded the throwing overboard the narrow partisanship in the drafting of the fundamental law.

In critical moments, when the entente cordiale with which the Convention had been inaugurated was threatened, the Convention President freely consulted Delegate Roxas and they always managed to pilot together the Convention through troublous waters. In critical times, when the Convention was proving to be unruly, both Manuel Roxas and Claro M. Recto would be seen at their best, one of them at the presidential chair, the other at the session floor. And with them together at work, usually it was found easy to direct the Convention to the desired goal.

As one of the delegates to the Convention, the author had the privilege of working together with Delegate Roxas in some of the Convention committees, in the preparation of the first draft of the Constitution, on the floor of the Convention, and in the special committee on style that took charge of putting the Constitution to its final form. He was specially struck, as others were, by his great passion for service to the country through the framing of the Constitution. One of the most consistently hardworking members of the Convention, studying conscientiously and closely each and every one of the proposed provisions of the Constitution until its final completion, he was a great pillar to the Assembly, whose wealth of information, acquired from experience as a public servant and increased by diligent study and investigation during the Convention days, proved of incalculable value in the framing of the fundamental law.

After the Constitution drafted by the Convention was adopted and ratified by the people, the Grand Master of Masons circularized to all the Lodges urging them to hold appropriate ceremonies to celebrate Constitution Day. The main celebration was held at the Plaza Hotel in Manila with Roxas as one of the principal speakers. He gave a scholarly and authoritative discourse on the "Masonic Principles of the Constitution."

In due time the political differences between Roxas and Quezon were mended and Quezon again leaned heavily on the former for support. Roxas was appointed to every planning enterprise to prepare the nation for the coming independence in July 1946. He was made member of the Joint Preparatory Committee on Philippine Affairs. He was asked by Quezon to study the economic phase of Philippine American relations and was appointed chairman of many government agencies, such as the National Economic Council, the Tax Commission on the Rural Progress Administration, and as Board Director of the National Development Company. Aside from these functions he was made a member of various governmental boards such as the National Rice and Corn Corporation, the National Relief Board, the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines and the Mindanao Land Settlement Project. In 1938 Quezon appointed him, Secretary of Finance, a position that he held until August 1941, when he resigned in order to run for a seat in the Senate. Roxas won emerging as one of its topnotchers.

In the meantime, Roxas maintained his active involvement in Masonic affairs. His appointments to various government positions were dutifully reported in the pages of the Cabletow. In September 1938 issue, he was featured on the front cover and the caption under his name read: "Assemblyman from Capiz who has been appointed Chairman of the National Economic Council. Brother Roxas is a past master of Makawiwili Lodge No. 55 and continues to be active in the affairs of the Fraternity." When he was appointed Secretary of Finance, the Cabletow again published his picture in the December 1938 issue along with Bros. Rafael Alunan and Jose Abad Santos who were appointed Secretary of Interior and Secretary of Justice, respectively.

In 1941, war clouds hung ominously over Philippine skies. Roxas volunteered for military service and was made an aide to General Douglas MacArthur, with assignment to serve as liaison between the General s headquarters and the Commonwealth Government of President Manuel L. Quezon.

On December 8, 1941, Manila time, the war everybody feared finally broke out. Japan unleashed a furious attack upon the Philippines, which they pursued and sustained with an interminable series of blows that stunned both the Filipinos and the Americans. Unable to resist the Japanese invaders in the plains, the American and Filipino defenders retreated to Bataan and Corregidor, but food supply for the soldiers became a serious problem. Getting supply from Luzon was out of the question for the advancing Japanese forces sealed all routes. There was, however, still one possible source of supply and that was Capiz from where food could still be sent through a sea route. Roxas was assigned to this delicate and dangerous undertaking. Roxas did not let the troops down. Using the steamship Legaspi he had 30,000 sacks of rice, more than 300,000 eggs and other food items shipped to Corregidor and Bataan. He volunteered to go on the first trip of Legaspi but MacArthur and Quezon vetoed the idea. Nonethe less he was promoted to full colonel for his heroism.

On March 22, 1942, Col. Roxas was directed to inspect military establishments in the Visayas and Mindanao with instructions to return to Corregidor upon the completion of his mission. The situation of the defenders, however, deteriorated from bad to worse and completely foreclosed all his chances of returning. An attempt was made to rescue him and fly him out on a plane to Australia and to the United States. Pappy Gunn was entrusted with the mission but he failed to make the stopover at the designated airfield on the agreed date and time. Consequently, the Japanese captured Roxas. Brought to Camp Casisang, a concentration camp in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, he was designated commanding officer of the prisoners of war in the camp. He initiated programs to bolster the sagging moral of the prisoners, improve sanitation in the camp and increase food supply. His accomplishments impressed even the Japanese.

The Japanese had something else in mind for Roxas. Their lightning military triumphs created a vast problem of administration. Hundreds of millions of people in Asia were suddenly under Japanese flag but the Japanese had neither the technical know how nor the needed personnel to run the civil governments. Moreover, they realized that to sustain their new empire the had to transform the hostility of the vanquished people into friendship. Within seventy two hours of occupying Manila, therefore, Chief of Staff Maeda Masami and General Hayashi Yostide, director General of the Military Administration, began searching for support among the pre-war elite. Roxas logically, became one of their prime targets for support. The Imperial Japanese Forces tried all strategems to have Roxas serve actively in the Japanese- controlled government, but he adroitly parried all attempts to enlist his collaboration especially in matters directly connected with the Japanese war effort. He was, however, prevailed upon to serve as a member of the Independence Commission that was charged with the task of framing a Constitution for the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Republic, but he saw to it that the charter would include the principles of democracy. He also agreed to head the Bigasang Bayan (or BIBA) which was tasked to procure and distribute rice among the civilian population, especially in the Greater Manila area. He felt that with the BIBA he could help stave off starvation among his countrymen during those critical days.

Masami and General Hayashi Yostide, director General of the Military Administration, began searching for support among the pre-war elite. Roxas logically, became one of their prime targets for support. The Imperial Japanese Forces tried all strategems to have Roxas serve actively in the Japanese-controlled government, but he adroitly parried all attempts to enlist his collaboration especially in matters directly connected with the Japanese war effort. He was, however, prevailed upon. Although Roxas was outwardly serving the government, he surreptitiously maintained close contact and collaboration with the resistance movement. The letters he received after the Liberation from such guerilla leaders as Major Edwin F. Ramsey, Major Robert E. Lapham, Lt. Col. Bernard L. Anderson, Capt Ray C. Hunt, Jr., and Col. Wendell W. Fertig, fully attest to this. Because of his known assistance to the underground movement, selected guerillas were assigned to rescue him from the Japanese Forces when he and other important Filipino leaders were being taken to Baguio City by the retreating Japanese Forces under General Yamashita. Under cover of darkness the guerillas were able to spirit him away to the American-liberated town of Tubao in La Union. From La Union, Roxas sickly and emaciated, was brought to the headquarters of his brother Mason, General Walter Krueger, of the American Sixth Army, at San Fernando, Pampanga, and subsequently to another brother Mason, General Douglas MacArthur at his headquarters in Manila, for a happy reunion. Reporting for military duty the following day, Roxas was promoted to General by General MacArthur.

A recital of Roxas’ life during the war years would not be complete without mentioning the name of Lt. Col. Nobuhiko Jimbo of the Imperial Japanese Forces. It was Jimbo who was tasked to convince Roxas to collaborate with the Japanese. During the negotiations, the Kempetai of Col Nagahama constantly threatened Roxas' life, but Jimbo, at the risk of his own life, saw to it that Roxas got proper treatment as a prisoner of war, and that he was taken away from the custody of the Japanese military police. He was also able to convince General Homma to rescind an order for the execution of Roxas issued by General Hayashi, chief of the Japanese Military Administration in Manila. At the end of the war, when Roxas was already the President of the Philippines, he learned from Mrs. Jimbo that her husband was being held as a prisoner of war by Nationalist China in Taiwan, North China. He lost no time in sending President Chiang Kai Shek a letter of appeal in behalf of the Japanese war prisoner. In that l etter, Roxas said:

I hope you will understand, from the text of this letter, why my first communication to you since my assumption of the Presidency of the Philippines, should be of personal in nature.

I have long known of your deep interest in the Philippines, an interest which I deeply appreciate as stemming from your concern for the advancement of freedom and human dignity in this part of the world. x x x x.

The purpose of this personal letter is to place before you certain circumstances involving a Japanese army officer now in the custody of your Government, an officer of minor importance in the general scheme of things, but who played an important role in my own experience of the recent war.

This officer, a certain Lt. Col. Nobuhiko Jimbo, is being held, I am told, in a prison in Tainan, Shantung Province, China, as a suspected war criminal. I hasten to say that I know nothing of his activities in China, or of the evidence against him. x x x

I should like to submit, however, that Col. Jimbo is responsible for my being alive today. He was known in the Philippines as one of the few Japanese officers with a genuine sympathy for our plight, and as one of those who did what he could, within the limits of his official station, to alleviate the brutal savagery of his superiors and subordinates. On one occasion, he risked his life by disobeying an order issued for my execution, and made a successful appeal at a later time for the rescinding of the execution order. This action was not based especially on a personal esteem for me, although he had that too, but on repugnance for the senseless cruelty and murder madness which possessed his commanders and associates. He was, of my acquaintance, the most humane of the Japanese invaders.

If there is any proper way in which you can give countenance to these representations in his behalf, I would feel a great load taken off my mind. I know that it is, in an official sense, impolite for me to make these statements on behalf of Colonel Jimbo, but my conscience would not permit me to refrain from doing what I can do to bring these circumstance to the attention of the appropriate officials of your government.

Permit me, Your Excellency, to express sentiments of friendship and admiration for you and your country. Very sincerely yours,

(Sgd) MANUEL ROXAS

Upon receipt of the letter, the Chinese Generalissimo ordered the immediate release of Col. Jimbo. After the re-establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth at the end of the war, Roxas assumed his duties as Senator and was promptly elected President of the Senate.

General elections were scheduled for April 1946. Aiming for the presidency, Roxas organized the Liberal Party to oppose the Nacionalista Party of President Osmena. The campaign was brief but bitter with Roxas winning by a comfortable majority. Roxas became the last President of the Philippine Commonwealth. Inaugurated into office anew when Philippine Independence was proclaimed on July 4, 1946, he also became the first President of the Philippine Republic.

As President, Roxas had no time to attend Masonic functions but he did not forget the Fraternity. In one of his first official acts, he dispatched the following signed message to his brother Masons, through the Cabletow:

The grant of independence to the Filipino people is a real challenge to us all. It is not enough that we express once again our undying gratitude to America, nor is it sufficient that we, who are the recipients of her magnanimity, rejoice over the realization of our sacred aspirations.

We must be ready to shoulder our corresponding responsibilities and be willing to perform our respective duties. To merit the trust and confidence of our friends and sympathizers, every Filipino, regardless of his station, should contribute his share in the gigantic task of rebuilding the nation.

This applies with special significance to the members of the Masonic Fraternity, an institution derived from the principle of work itself. Here then is a rare opportunity for the brethren in this jurisdiction to work, and work, as they never did before, in the interest of their fellowmen and for the welfare of the Philippines.

Roxas did not serve long as President. Scarcely had he been in office for two years when he succumbed to a heart attack on April 15, 1948 after delivering a speech at Clark Air Base in Pampanga. The Cabletow editor joined his legion of bereaved sympathizers and penned the following parting words:

Our distinguished brother has finally laid down his working tools. His earthly labors have ceased, but not until his dream was realized and his goal accomplished. He contributed toward the liberation of his people from the clutches of the enemy, he helped build the national edifice and was one of the architects of Philippine liberty. As a fitting climax of his colorful career, he lived to be the first Captain of the Ship of State, which he had at long last become sovereign and free. What more could a man born of a woman desire?