The Legacy of Alex Esclamado

Telltale Signs 
By Rodel Rodis

(Alex Esclamado passed away on November 4, 2012 in Maasin, Leyte at the age of 83 years old)

(Reprint of my December 25, 2008 article)

A week ago, when former Philippine News publisher Alex Esclamado was too ill to travel all the way to San Francisco from his home in Raleigh, North Carolina to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Philippine American Press Club (PAPC), I was asked to accept the award on his behalf because of my association with Alex for more than 28 years including 21 years as a weekly columnist of the Philippine News.

In my acceptance remarks, I noted the delicious irony of the award.

When the PAPC was founded more than two decades ago and I was elected its first vice president, Alex questioned my decision to join the group. It was composed mostly of pro-Marcos “propagandists,” he said, and I shouldn’t associate with them. But martial law was over already, I told Alex; it was time to bring our community together and the Filipino American press was key to uniting our community.

Alex was particularly critical of the founder and first president of the PAPC, Willie Jurado, best known as the airport manager of Ferdinand Marcos who led the assault on the Beatles at the Manila International Airport on July 4, 1966. It was thought by many that Willie did this to curry favor with his bosses in Malacañang who were offended when the Beatles “snubbed the First Lady”. In truth, Willie later confided to me, he instigated the assault because Manila Times columnist Doroy Valencia bet him 1000 pesos that he didn’t have the guts to do it.

Willie also confided that even he suffered under martial law as he and his family had to sell newspapers to survive in Manila at one point after incurring the ire of Marcos. He decided then that it was best for him and his family to immigrate to the US where he then published a tabloid called The Eye, which supported Marcos.

Alex didn’t care to associate with all the pro-Marcos media in the US that had proliferated during the martial law years. I could understand his sentiment as he had paid a heavy price for his principled opposition to Marcos and martial law. After all, before Marcos declared martial law on September 22, 1972,

Alex Esclamado was publisher of the largest, most influential Filipino community newspaper in the US, the Philippine News, which he and his wife, Lourdes, founded in 1961.

The success of his newspaper allowed him the opportunity to buy a beautiful home in San Francisco’s Sunset District (just a decade before he bought it, it had racial covenants incorporated in the deeds prohibiting sale to non-whites).

Alex and Lourdes were so successful in their newspaper business that they were also able to send their seven kids to some of the best private Catholic schools in San Francisco and to invest in a building in the South of Market (SOMA) area for his newspaper, which employed more than 20 people.

But Alex’s life and fortune changed dramatically when martial law was declared on September 22, 1972. Because of his opposition to martial law, Marcos’ Secretary of Tourism Joe Aspiras sent a letter to all the travel agencies in San Francisco, which advertised in the Philippines, warning them that they would not receive support from the Philippine government if they continued to advertise in the Philippine News.

Overnight, more than half of the PN’s revenues dried up. Alex had to borrow money from friends to keep his newspaper alive (Lourdes even had to sell some of her precious jewelry). Eventually, Alex lost the mortgages on his homes and on his SOMA building.

After the Esclamados’ fortunes dramatically declined, an emissary of Marcos approached Alex with a generous offer to purchase his newspaper and his silence for $10-M. It was a very attractive offer that would have allowed Alex and Lourdes the opportunity to regain their lost fortune, repay all their debtors, and set them up for a very comfortable retirement.

Alex and Lourdes convened all the members of their family over dinner to discuss the Marcos offer. As the kids each expressed their opinions, the overwhelming sentiment was clearly to reject the offer. Thanks, but no thanks. The Esclamados were not for sale.

How many of us in the media would have turned down such an offer?

Alex and Lourdes had to be financially creative to keep their newspaper alive. They increased their circulation to 120,000 throughout the US, which included virtually every Fil-Am physician as a subscriber. They set up regional bureaus throughout the US to publish regional editions with regional advertisers and they sold shares of their newspaper corporation, which were really investments in the restoration of Democracy in the Philippines.

When People Power overthrew the Marcos Dictatorship in 1986, Alex did not return to the Philippines to claim a financial reward for his pivotal role in ousting Marcos. He had the opportunity to do so as he had been personally close to President Corazon Aquino while she was exiled in the US and he was the brother in law of House Speaker Ramon Mitra.

But the only “reward” Alex accepted was the Philippine Legion of Honor Award given to him by Pres. Aquino and the only “opportunity” Alex took advantage of was that the end of martial law meant the end of a divided Filipino community in America and the opportunity to unite the community.

While he was upset that I had joined the PAPC, he eventually came around to understanding the point that joining the PAPC was the right thing to do. He even invited PAPC members to join his “impossible dream” of uniting the community. Many among them accepted his invitation and attended the founding of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) in 1997.

Giving the Lifetime Achievement Award to Alex not only honors the recipient, it honors the Philippine American Press Club itself.

(Send comments to Rodel50@aol.com or send them to 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127 or call 415.334.7800).