Don Chino
Credit to Author: MICHAEL “XIAO” CHUA| Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2019 16:36:42 +0000
ASIDE from being a lecturer, people have found a new use for me — as a program host. Just this week, I hosted three events, the first of which was on February 3, at the unveiling of a new monument to Don Joaquin “Chino” Roces, post-war publisher of The Manila Times and owner of the Associated Broadcasting Company, or ABC 5. The statue, executed by the sculptor, Michael Cacnio, shows Don Chino, holding a newspaper and standing proud. During the gathering after the unveiling, I noted that I had hated it at first for he appears to be “mayabang,” but on second thought, it was actually apropos because he defended press freedom and democracy not letting himself appear as a “victim” but as a true fighter. I noted how Don Chino had a sense of humor, as he brought a toy tank to the rallies while they faced the real water cannons of the dictatorship. His defining moment in our history was how at an advanced age, he was up in arms, bracing against the force of the water, with another old man former senator Lorenzo Tañada, the film director Behn Cervantes and other patriots. There was a moment also on Mendiola (its bridge now bears his name) when he was left alone after a dispersal supported by a huge wooden cross of a placard. He did not have to be there, he was already the “Don,” but he was there anyway among the people. He became an inspiration to many that age doesn’t deter you from doing something for your country.
The simple unveiling ceremony was presided over by Wilcon Depot founder and chairman emeritus William Belo and Makati City Mayor Abigal Binay, whose father, human rights lawyer and subsequently Makati mayor and vice president, Jejomar Binay, was with Don Chino in the parliament of the streets in the 1980s. The Wilcon Depot IT Hub is one of the first establishments along Chino Roces Avenue (Pasong Tamo) near the junction with EDSA and was also the site of the old compound of ABC 5.
The erection of the monument was an effort led by the young entrepreneur son of William Belo, Mark Andrew Belo, president of Anstay Realty and Development Corp., the property owner of the site. He told me before the program that most young people only know Chino Roces as a street. He wanted to contribute to reminding people, especially their employees at Wilcon, about the man behind the street sign and the values that he stood for as a freedom fighter and a compassionate entrepreneur.
When his eldest son Joaqui (his namesake Joaquin) walked inside the room, it was as if I was seeing the old man Chino himself, without the moustache, although he was very humble and low-key. Yet, having worked for his father at the Manila Times, he published the free newspaper Village Voice in 1991 and continues on with the family tradition of printing with another community publication Metro Voice. Although satisfied with the depiction of his father (the face is recognizably the smiling Don), he noted that Don Chino did not use a cane as depicted because his father in an advanced age was even stronger than the son is today. He brought along his Lasallian granddaughter Sabrina Roces, who used to play for the DLSU Lady Spikers.
With them was another one of Chino’s sons, Eddie (Eduardo), who continues to carry the tradition of a responsible media by being the chairman of Anak TV, promoting child-friendly television in the time of too much violence and sex in the tube. I noted to him how in his father’s monument on Mendiola Bridge the wooden placard was interpreted and turned into a small cross making Don Chino look like a saint. Don Chino would have laughed at the prospect.
Also present were other Roces relatives: Alex Prieto, his daughter Tessa Prieto Valdes, and his wife Marixi Prieto, retired chair of the board of directors of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which, like the Manila Times today, continues to soldier on despite the challenging prospects of print media.
In his remarks on behalf of the family, Joaqui Roces told the story of his father distributing meals to reporters himself, “to make sure everyone didn’t miss eating time.” He reminded us how Don Chino, “always tried to side with what is right no matter what the cost,” even as “he faced giants.”
“My father never cowered. He lived his life guided by his principles: Dignity, the desire to do good for others and our country…. He battled for what’s good and went against the wrong no matter what he faced.”
When we pass by any monument, may we be fired up with curiosity to read about those represented and the lives they lived, so that they don’t just remain in stone and bronze, but in our hearts.
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