“So long as our
economic policies remain dependent primarily on foreign “aid” and investments,
and our policy-makers remain habitual yes-men of foreign advisors, this “aid,”
investment and advice, will be directed toward the retention of the economic
status quo.”
- Claro M. Recto (1890-1960)
Claro M. Recto is a great Filipino, a statesman rather than
a politician. Known for his patriotism, the never-ending love for his
country. He studied law in Ateneo de
Manila where he excelled and graduated with Maxima Cum Laude (the highest
honors).
Although Claro M. Recto is not a bar topnotcher, he is
considered a legend in the legal world. In fact he failed his first exam which
the stories say that humbled and opened his eyes. But legend says that Claro M.
Recto did not fail the exam because he was unable to answer the questions
correctly but rather he did not answer it at all by choice. Rumor says that
instead of answering the questions, he corrected it by writing “The question
should go this way . . . .”. He had been making corrections to the questions
formulated by the bar examiners.
In his second try he passed the bar but did not got a place
at the top however it did not prevent him from being one of the best. Recto was
known as an abogado milagroso (lawyer of miracles), a tribute to his many
victories in the judicial court. He wrote a two-volume book on civil procedures
which in the days before World War II was standard textbook for law students.
His prominence as a lawyer parallels his fame as a writer:
he was known for his flawless logic and lucidity of mind in both undertakings.
He served the wartime cabinet of President José P. Laurel during the Japanese
occupation. Together with Laurel, Camilo Osías, and Quintín Paredes, he was
taken into custody by the American colonial government and tried for treason.
In his defense, he wrote a treatise entitled "Three Years of Enemy
Occupation" (1946) wherein he convincingly presented the case of patriotic
conduct of Filipinos during World War II. He fought his legal battles and was
acquitted.
He was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme
Court in 1935 by President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt. As a jurist he held his own in famous debates even
against the U.S. Attorney General with whom he waged a war of words on the
question of ownership of military bases in the Philippines.
He strongly opposed the interference of the United States in
the affairs of our country. He was very vocal on it and condemned many politicians
as a “yes-man” who always agrees with the US. This is the reason on why he had
lost his bid for the presidency because the US government through the CIA had
used black propaganda against him.
Claro M. Recto died of a heart attack in Rome, Italy, on
October 2, 1960, while on a cultural mission, and en route to Spain, where he
was to fulfill a series of speaking engagements.
The US Central Intelligence Agency is
suspected of involvement in his death. Recto, who had no known heart disease,
met with two mysterious "Caucasians"
wearing business suits before he died. United States government documents later
showed that a plan to murder Recto with a vial of poison was
discussed by CIA Chief
of Station Ralph Lovett and the US Ambassador to the Philippines Admiral Raymond
Spruance years earlier.
CLARO M. RECTO, a Legend.