ARSENIO H. LACSON AS MANILA MAYOR (Last of Three Part Series)

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

(Nota Bene: Arsenio H. Lacson, mayor of Manila for 11 years, no relations to the creepy character named Panfilo Lacson Jr. , was a fiery and upright man, who hated corruption. Essentially a political romantic, Lacson could be likened to a Don Quijote, who never wavered to battle the political windmills.

Lacson’s politics escaped definition. A man of many sterling qualities and even contradictions, Lacson could not be defined within the context of the politics of his era. He was a party man, who adhered to the politics of the Nacionalista Party to which he belonged throughout his political life. Yet, he was fiercely independent of his party and even went to the extent of criticizing his own partymates.

The truth is Lacson was nobody’s man. Lacson was a curmudgeon, a hot-tempered maverick, who never hesitated to speak out his mind on the nagging issues of the day. He criticized the conduct of his fellow politicians. He was the political leader, who did not want to be straitjacketed by their norms and niceties. The truth was he defined the politics of his era, as he transformed himself as its keen guardian, critic, and advocate.

My three-part series were lifted from Amador Brioso Jr.’s biography book simply titled “Arsenio H. Lacson of Manila,” the paperback edition of which came out this year. Jun Brioso’s book could pass the rigorous requirements of scholarship. But the author did not include vital footnotes, endnotes, and sources of his assertions.

Jun said they were omitted on the last minute, an editorial decision that he seems to regret because other readers have the same observation. Jun could probably include them when he does an enlarged edition in which erstwhile omitted but important details would be included.

Perhaps, Jun could include the endearing nickname journalists of his time gave him. They called him “Mambo.” His book does not include this detail, which is intimate for us, journalists.

Just to inform our readers, older colleagues, whom I had interacted early in my journalistic career – they are all now dead – called him Mambo. That’s it without exception. NBC correspondent in Manila Benedicto David, Bulletin Today columnist Ben Lara, Manila Times and Manila Chronicle publisher Chino Roces, prolific freelance writer Manuel Almario, editor Tirso Rodriguez, veteran reporters Calixto “Stootz” Fernandez and Tony Gloria, among others were among whom I heard calling him Mambo.)

Last of Three Parts

ARSENIO H. Lacson was prominently mentioned as a viable running mate of Ramon Magsaysay in the 1953 presidential elections. His popularity was at its height. Although he only had four years of experience as a politician – the first two as member of the House of Representatives and the next two as Manila mayor – Lacson was perceived to represent a fresh wind of political change to typify the postwar era.

But Lacson himself felt it was not yet his time to seek a national office. He barely warmed in his seat as Manila mayor. He felt he did not have the wherewithal to go for a national office.

Nacionalista Party leaders convinced Lacson to seek the vice presidential nomination but he refused. Magsaysay personally pleaded him, but he still declined. In the party convention sometime in April, 1953, Lacson rejected the official nomination, gave way to Sen. Carlos P. Garcia, and campaigned for him. The pair of Magsaysay and Garcia won over the tandem of Elpidio Quirino and Jose Yulo.

Magsaysay believed that Lacson had better chances than Garcia. Lacson was a gifted public speaker; he could enthrall the public with his bombastic speeches. Moreover, he could reap votes from the Visayas and Mindanao. Lacson could have been elected as vice president and become the president when Magsaysay died in a plane crash in 1957.

It brief, it was not his destiny to become president.

But it did not deter him from participating in the political dynamics of his time. Why not? Lacson was doing well as Manila mayor. Moreover, he had captured the national imagination. Hence, he was always on the public limelight as mass media sought his opinion on burning issues of the day.

This was unexpected of a local official of those days. Lacson was indeed part of the processes when it came to public debates of political and policy issues. He was the darling of mass media. He exuded political verve, virtuosity, and versatility.

Lacson was the Renaissance man, who was pugnacious at times when either his personal honor or the nation’s was at stake. A vignette said Lacson, not yet a politician, overheard an American tourist berating the country in a restaurant at posh Manila Hotel. Lacson stood from his chair, confronted the American, and gave him a wicked punch that sent him to the floor.

Lacson almost figured in two gunfights shortly before the 1953 presidential elections. The first was on July 13, 1953, Oscar Castelo, who replaced Ramon Magsaysay as defense (Magsaysay resigned to run for president), sent a contingent of soldiers to arrest Lacson for crimes of sedition and rebellion. Lacson, with his bodyguards and mediamen, met the soldiers at the Luneta Park. He disarmed the commanding officer of the arresting soldiers, a certain Col. Sayson, and poked his service pistol to him, warning that he would shoot the officer if the soldiers would not lay down their arms and leave. They left.

On Oct. 4, 1953, Lacson flew to Bacolod City and stayed in sister Amparo’s house. He was to speak in the political campaign of the Magsaysay-Garcia ticket there. Since Lacson and his men did not stop at a police checkpoint set by Mayor Jose Amante, a rival, a police contingent surrounded his sister’s house to arrest him. 

His sister did not wake him up as he was asleep when they arrived. Lacson learned the incident later in the day. The rally did not push through because they did not have a permit. But when Lacson met Amante at the airport, he challenged Amante to a fight. Amante did not oblige.

Although Magsaysay and Garcia won, Lacson did not have smooth relations with Magsaysay. Although they were partymates, they differed. Lacson spoke openly of their differences. He openly criticized the president for his initiatives, although Magsaysay never stopped to hold dialogues with him. This process led to compromises and agreements.

By this time, Lacson had a radio program and a newspaper column, where he spoke out of his mind on many issues with Magsaysay. Among the issues they differed included Magsaysay’s imposition of meat importation, which Lacson felt would adversely affect local meat producers, Japan’s war reparations, the unacceptable provisions of the Bell Trade Act, and even the U.S.-Philippines bilateral relations, particularly the lack of iron-clad guarantee of U.S. protection in case of a new war.

Lacson opposed Magsaysay on other issues. When Hukbalahap Supremo Luis Taruc was about to surrender after negotiating with young journalist Benigno Aquino Jr. , Lacson immediately came to the rescue of Ninoy Aquino after Magsaysay was about to renege on the terms of Taruc’s surrender. He urged Magsaysay to help Aquino. Taruc later surrendered and the rest was history.

As mayor of the country’s premier city, Lacson had his own travails. In April, 1954, Lacson had a spat with a Manila councilor, who spread the canard that he was raising a million pesos for the 1955 local elections. The rumor reached Lacson, who confronted councilor Fausto Alberto, who owned up the rumor. Lacson punched and challenged him to a gun duel, which a perspiring Albert declined. It was later found that Alberto got angry over Lacson’s move to compel a detective agency Alberto owned to pay back taxes to the city government.

Lacson handily won in his first reelection bid as Manila mayor in the 1955 elections. He defeated Liberal Party candidate Salvador Marino. His second term enabled him to consolidate his political grip of Manila. Immediately, Lacson launched campaign against vices and jaywalking. He personally led raids of massage parlors and prostitution dens and arrested offenders.

On March 15, 19576, Magsaysay was among the visitors of Lacson, when he was convalescing after a four-hour surgery of his sinus condition, which the doctors did two days earlier at the Manila Doctors Hospital. It turned out that it was the last time he saw Magsaysay, as the latter perished with 25 others in a plane crash on March 17.

In his quiet but unguarded moments, Lacson could not help but feel eerie over the possibility that he could have been the president had he acceded to Magsaysay’s invitation to be his running mate. He felt Garcia could not continue Magsaysay’s works.

In his view, Garcia was too old school. Garcia believed in dividing the spoils of victory. He was inclined to grant favors to families and friends, who helped him in his political career. Lacson thought of running either for president or vice president in the 1957 elections.

Sometime in March, 1957, Ferdinand Marcos, an ambitious congressman, visited Lacson in his Earnshaw residence to propose what he described a “dream team,” where Lacson would leave the Nacionalista Party and join the rival Liberal Party to run as its president with Marcos as his running mate. Lacson rebuffed Marcos’s advances, saying half-jestingly he would not want to run for president with a running mate, who was a murderer because he could plot his death to replace him.

Although Lacson was bruited as a strong and viable contender for either the presidency or vice presidency, he did not figure prominently in the 1957 Nacionalista Party convention. His expose against Garcia before the national convention did not gain momentum to catapult him to prominence. It somehow backfired, as he lost the vice presidential nomination. The year 1957 proved bad for him.

Garcia won over Jose Yulo of the Liberal Party in the 1957 elections. But his running mate, Speaker Jose Laurel Jr., lost to Yulo’s mate Diosdado Macapagal, giving the country a mixed combination. Garcia lost in Manila, prompting Lacson to resign his post as mayor. But Garcia and other Nacionalista leaders prevailed on him to stay.

During this time, Lacson pursued several projects which could be regarded as his legacies for Manila. He initiated the lighting of Dewey Boulevard, later renamed Roxas Boulevard, the main thoroughfare in front of famed Manila Bay, the establishment of the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden in Harrison Park, the construction of the Quiapo Underpass, later renamed Lacson Underpass, and the modern slaughterhouse in Vitas, Tondo.

In the 1959 midterm elections, Lacson won for the third time, besting seven other mayoral candidates led by his vice mayor Jesus Marcos Roces, Rep. Augusto Franciso of Manila’s fourth district, and Liberal Party’s Rep. Salvador Marino of Manila’s first district. It was a landslide victory of Lacson over a divided opposition. But the surprise came with the election as vice mayor of Antonio Villegas of the Liberal Party.

Lacson and Villegas had acrimonious relations characterized by frequent fights that bordered on the ridiculous. For instance, Villegas insisted and, in fact, actually assumed the post of acting mayor whenever Lacson left to attend to speak in the provinces. Lacson was never happy with Villegas public display of unwarranted enthusiasm to become the acting mayor. But it was in 1960 when the colorful Manila mayor in a controversy that became the talk of the country.

On March 16, 1960, Lacson filed charges against Marcelino Calinawan Jr., whom Garcia appointed as presidential assistant to look into the alleged corruption at the Bureau of Customs. Lacson alleged Calinawan received a salary as lieutenant commander, when he was not commissioned in that military position. This provoked Calinawan, prompting him to issue pubic statements that were personal to Lacson.

Knowing that Lacson had the goods on him, Calinawan alleged that since Lacson’s father was an illegitimate child, he did not have the right to use the surname Lacson. Calinawan claimed that his father was listed as Ledesma in the Talisay Church’s baptismal registry, but somehow managed to change his surname to Lacson. Ergo, the mayor did not have the right to carry the name Lacson, making him “the biggest fake.”

In Lacson’s view, what Calinawan did was below the belt. He did not have to drag his parents’ name and honor to the controversy. This pushed him to challenge Calinawan to a gun duel, of which the latter obliged because he was younger and bigger. Lacson sent him a note specifying the place, date, and time of the gun duel. Capt. James Barbers, Lacson’s aide, personally delivered the note to him.

The ballyhooed gun duel was set to take place on the following Monday, 3 pm, in front of the Rizal Monument in Luneta Park. Many political leaders dissuaded the two protagonists to desist mainly because dueling is illegal in the country. But the two persisted in what appeared to be their final appointment with destiny.

From his suite at the Filipinas Hotel (it burned down in late 1977) along Roxas Boulevard, Lacson and his aides went the the Rizal Monument at exactly 2:50 pm, bringing with him a .357 Magnum revolver as his weapon for the duel. He felt uncomfortable to see a huge contingent of mediamen waiting to cover the duel.

Defense Secretary Alejo Santos and Brig. Gen. Antonio de Veyra rushed to the scene to stop Lacson, but the latter was adamant, telling them that Calinawan went too far by insulting his parents and ancestors. It was no-show for Calinawan. By 3:15 pm, Lacson left, hitching a ride in Santos’s car, which took him to the Manila Zoo, where the mayor later acted as guide to show the new animals.

Calinawan arrived a few minutes after Lacson left, but he stayed in an area near the Rizal Monument, as a contingent of Philippine Constabulary officers stopped him. He was unarmed. He told the PC officials he did not bring any firearm because he thought the duel would be with bare fists because gun duel was against the law. He lamented the fact that Lacson made what he described a “public show” of the supposed gun duel.

Lacson spent the rest of 1960 and 1961 feuding with Villegas, who liked to assume the post of acting mayor, whenever Lacson went out of town for speaking engagements, and barking at politicians who like to nominate him for the 1961 presidential elections. He declared he would not support Garcia in his reelection bid in 1961. But he and Villegas later had a reconciliation to work closely for Manila.

In the run-up of the 1961 presidential elections, Lacson supported Senate President Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez, who openly feuded with Garcia after the latter reneged on his earlier promise that he would not seek a reelection. But Rodriguez and Lacson were outmaneuvered by Garcia’s supporters within the Nacionalista Party.

This prompted Lacson to resign from the Nacionalista Party, an initiative which was not acted upon immediately. But Lacson, although a nominal Nacionalista, chose to assume the post of campaign manager of the Liberal Party ticket of Vice President Diosdado Macapagal and Sen. Emmanuel Pelaez.

Macapagal and Pelaez won over the tandem of Garcia and Sen. Gil Puyat. Lacson campaigned vigorously for the winning ticket, wowing the public with his oratorical skills during the political campaign. In fact, Lacson was always the last to speak in every political rally because people waited for his fire and brimstone. Lacson had gained the reputation for being a skillful orator, who could hold his audience in awe.

The Nacionalista leaders did not act on Lacson’s resignation, although it was generally conceded that his presence as campaign manager of the political campaign was a big factor for the political victory of the Macapagal-Pelaez ticket. Lacson remained with the Nacionalista Party mainly through the efforts of Rodriguez, who as party president and Lacson’s staunch ally, kept him off the political Siberia.

But his association with the Liberal Party, which became the party in power, had political dividends. Although Lacson was a nominal Nacionalista, he was able to swing concessions from the party in power, which included legislations for the construction of reclamation projects extending Manila North Harbor and Manila South Harbor,  a big part of which is now the Manila International Container Port, a modern-day hospital, now the Ospital ng Maynila, and the establishment of a Manila university, now the Pamantasan ng Maynila.

Lacson had other sterling ideas for Manila, most of which were not pursued because of his death. These included the construction of an oceanarium to be located in a lot adjacent to the Manila Zoo (this is now occupied by Harrison Plaza), terminals at the boundaries for provincial buses, the conversion of the Manila City Jail into a modern national jail, and a multi-level parking building in Plaza Binondo.

On the political front, Lacson was elected chair of the League of Provincial Governors and City Mayor with Tarlac Governor Benigno Aquino Jr. as his secretary-general. Lacson took steps to sustain the Philippine claim of sovereignty over the North Bornean state of Sabah He went publicly to urge for the settlement of the proprietary rights of the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu over the state, which was then to become part of Malaysia federation.

Although his relations with Macapagal was getting sour because the frequents raids were done in Manila without informing him, Lacson’s popularity soared, making him viable for the 1965 presidential elections. Political pundits claimed his time had indeed come. But it was not something meant to be. His political stars never came.

On April 15, 1962, an Easter Sunday, Lacson suffered a heart attack, his first, leading to his death. The circumstances of his death were quite confusing- or conflicting. One version said he was at his Earnshaw home, preparing details for his radio program. Another version said he played golf at the Wack-Wack Golf Course in Mandaluyong  and even had a talk with Rodriguez.

Lacson had lunch with his family at his home. He even cooked food for the family. By 2 pm, he left for Filipinas Hotel, where he had a suite. By 5 pm, he woke up and called up friend Nick Osmena, son of former president Sergio Osmena Sr., asking him to listen to his radio program, where he intended to discuss the claim over Sabah. By 5:40 pm, a hotel boy received a call from Lacson asking for some ice.

Pablo Olazo, the hotel staff, brought ice to him, but he saw the mayor was in pain and perspiring. He informed the mayor’s aides, who rushed to his room. Lacson asked them to summon his personal physician at the nearby Manila Doctors’ Hospital. Lacson even raised his hand, but he collapsed into the arms of one of his aides.

Dr. Godofredo Banzon, the first doctor to arrive, administered emergency medicine to the mayor, but he died anyway. A second and third doctor arrived, but they all saw him dead. News of his death jolted the entire city and the country. By almost midnight, news of his death was flashed over radio and TV.  It was the newspapers’ headline the following day.

Macapagal declared a four-day national mourning. His internment was set on April 18 at the Manila North Cemetery, The book said nearly a million attended his funeral procession. He was buried at noontime.

Postscript to Lacson’s Death

The book discussed issues of Lacson’s death that has reached the level of urban legends. One of the issues was the gossip that actress Rosario Violeta Solis Hernandez, aka Charito Solis, was beside Lacson when he died. Rumors said some people saw Charito Solis running half naked away from Filipino Hotel, when mayor was having his heart attack. In fact, it had become a sick joke when men would naughtily say that Lacson’s death was not a case of DoA, or dead on arrival, but DoT, or dead on top. Solis died in 1998.

The book said the following: “Over the years, she (Charito Solis) was subjected to some foul gossips that she was supposed with (Lacson) on that fateful April 15, 1962. There are various versions … that have refused to fade.

“At that time, Solis was already an international movie actress. She had been going in and out of the country due to her international commitments. In fact, she was being considered to a film to be produced by famed Italian producer Dino de Laurentis. It was but natural for her to catch the fancy of men, whether from the industry or beyond it.

“On April 11, 1962, Solis arrived at the Manila International Airport. She and her sister had just come from Tokyo, where she had attended to the preparation of a movie she was about to shoot with a Japanese actor, Kujiro Hongo.

“So, at the time of Lacson’s untimely death … Solis was in the Philippines. But was she there beside the mayor at the time of his death? Two people who were friends of Solis swore that they were with the actress on that day.

“When interviewed on the matter, James Barbers laughed loudly and said there was no truth to the foul story. It was unfair, Barbers said of the rumor.”

Despite all the brickbats against Lacson and charges that he enriched himself while in power, Lacson died a poor man. He did not have a fat bank account. He did not leave any piece of property except the Earnshaw residence, which was a gift to them by his rich parents-in-law. His wife and kids had to work to earn a living.

But he showed how to live a life of integrity as a public official. Although his wit and humor and courage was unparalleled, Lacson has enriched the country’s political history by becoming a model of upright living for every public official.  

ARSENIO H. LACSON AS JOURNALIST, POLITICIAN (Second of Three Parts)

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

(Nota Bene: After the first installment, some netizens commented that my three part series on Arsenio H. Lacson, former Manila mayor, was creating excitement for them. Pardon me, dear folks, just to be honest, it’s not my intention to create unnecessary excitement. On the contrary, it’s my fervent wish to create a more balanced presentation of what I could consider a unique and exceptional character named Arsenio H. Lacson.

Lacson certainly looms a bigger than life persona in our political horizon. His life has many details and colors. Netizens may not see other important details, milestones, and colors if I would write a long, single feature article about him. Netizens may just focus on three important characters: Imelda Marcos, Imee Marcos, and, of course, actress Charito Solis. Judging the initial reactions on the first installment, I could smell an inordinate interest on those three characters.

Lacson’s career spanned for almost 14 years. He was first elected as member of Congress representing the second district of Manila in 1949, and as Manila mayor in 1951, 1955, and 1959. Hence, he was undefeated as a politician. As a politician, Lacson stood tall for a number of advocacy and positions on burning issues of those days.

Incidentally, the Amador F. Brioso Jr., author of the biography book “Arsenio H. Lacson of Manila,” which happens to be the source of my posts, is my friend here in Facebook. Netizens, who wish to know some more details about Lacson’s life, could direct questions to him. His FB account is Jun Brioso. Because he is the author, he is more qualified to answer your questions.)

(Second of three parts)

DAYS after the treacherous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and Japan’s subsequent occupation of the Philippines, Arsenio H. Lacson resigned his post at the Department of Justice and went jobless to his hometown of Talisay in Negros Occidental. Soon he joined the Free Philippines, a secret guerilla organization, and did intelligence works. He also joined the Allied Intelligence Bureau, which was organized in 1942 by American, Australian, Dutch, and British military officers.

Soon, he was back in Manila doing intelligence works for the Allied forces. He was among the Filipino operatives, who did works for the American liberation forces. He was the lead scout for the 1^st Cavalry Division, which fought the Japanese forces in Manila. He was also among the scouts for the American forces which went after the retreating Japanese forces in the Naguillian Trail and Baguio City. Hence, he was among the recognized guerilla leaders.

Amador F. Brioso Jr.’s 356-page biography book, simply titled “Arsenio H. Lacson of Manila,” discusses Lacson’s intertwining, albeit, overlapping journalistic and political careers in the postwar era. From the ashes of the last world war, Lacson, always brash and irreverent but never cowardly, rebuilt his life by writing commentaries first on the shortlived Philippines Press in 1945 and next on the Philippine Liberty News in 1946. Henceforth, he gained prominence as a hard-hitting, uncompromising opinion writer, who never wavered to criticize the political gods of those days, including the likes of Manuel Roxas and Elpidio Quirino.

Brioso described his journalistic ways in the following words: “Lacson would take on anyone and anything. He launched tirades against the high and mighty. He ridicule (sic) any character, who took his fancy. His style, his language is pure Lacsonesque (sic): profanity-laced, rough, replete with ungrammatical niceties, fraught with flowery prose. And the subjects he covered ranged from the powerful to the not-so-powerful, the mundane to the inane, the filthy and the unsoiled.

“It was the start of a new Lacson – as the tough and fiery newspaperman, Lacson the fightingiest (sic) columnist, Lacson the Arsenic.”

Lacson opposed the Bell Trade Act, which the Americans rammed into the Filipinos’ collective throat to provide equal rights to U.S. entrepreneurs as Filipinos’, saying it was a “big joke” and its acceptance by the Roxas government a “sellout.” He did not spare U.S. point man Paul McNutt from his criticisms, as he took notice of his machinations to include in the U.S.-initiated Philippine Rehabilitation Act, a provision which tied U.S. postwar aid to the approval of the Bell Trade Act. In fact, American leaders mistook Lacson for being anti-American.

While he assailed Roxas, Col. Manuel dela Fuente, chief of Manila Police, and other ranking public officials his published commentaries, Lacson started his weekly radio broadcasting job in 1946. But he took less than a year in his radio job as Roxas maneuvered to have him eased out mainly because of his incessant attacks on the president. His dismissal from the job somehow revealed the dynamics inherent in radio business. Roxas also instigated the closure of Philippine Liberty News, where Lacson wrote a weekly column that contained attacks against the president.

On his Sept. 21, 1947 radio broadcast, Lacson made an expose alleging that first lady Trinidad Roxas could have misused the P500,000, which she raised for war widows and orphans.  This angered the president, who asked Col. Andres Soriano to remove Lacson from the air within 24 hours mainly to prevent him from touching the same issue in his next broadcast. This caused embarrassment to Soriano, prompting him to ask Lacson to see Judge Mamerto Roxas, the president brother. Lacson refused and he was out of job by the following week. But Roxas was publicly criticized for his controversial acts against Lacson.

For a while, Lacson was jobless. Soon, Sen. Vicente Madrigal hired him as the public relations man of his private firm, Madrigal & Co. But Lacson was not happy with the job that required him to do a lot of backslapping. Six months later, he was back in his element, when he started writing a column for The Star Reporter. That was on April 15, 1948, or two days before Roxas had a massive heart attack that led to his death and Quirino’s assumption of the presidency. By that time, Lacson did not have a Roxas, who used to his power to ease him out of his job as journalist.

Brioso did not lose track of doing a narrative about Lacson’s subsequent meeting with Quirino, who immediately clamored for a dialogue with him. In their meeting at Malacanang, Quirino did not hesitate to remind Lacson that, although he could criticize him for misdoings or underperformance, He could only do it to certain extent.

“I am still the president” Quirino told Lacson. It was the sentence that he heard a dozen times in his conversation with Quirino. In the end, Quirino offered him the job to go after the corrupt officials in his government. Unlike Roxas, who unabashedly suppressed his radio program, Quirino allowed Lacson to continue his weekly radio broadcast provided that Soriano would allow him. The owner refused.

In his weekly column, Lacson did not stop to lampoon Quirino, calling him various names and assailing the presidential decisions, which did not meet his standards and expectations. By March, 1949, Lacson quit writing for The Star Reporter, as he prepared for a political career. By November, 1949, he was elected as member of the House of Representatives. It was his first try in politics.

Lacson’s entry in politics to represent Manila’s second district composed of Binondo, San Nicolas, Quiapo, and Sta. Cruz, was not without difficulties. First, he defeated Manila councilor Joaquin Yuseco in the convention of the Nacionalista Party. Then, he won over Valeriano Fugoso, the Liberal Party candidate. During those days, the country had a two party-system dominated by the Nacionalista and Liberal parties.

Despite his election as a congressman, Lacson continued writing for The Star Reporter, becoming his forum to air his views as an elected official. In Congress, the fearless Lacson did not lose time to vent his ire on top officials, who used their positions to benefit financially.

On Dec. 30, 1949, the start of the six-day special session which Quirino called to enact pending bills, Lacson, in his first act as a lawmaker, stood on a question of collective privilege to ask if Speaker Eugenio Perez was fit to lead the House of Representatives because of the latter’s alleged involvement in immigration quotas. This was a scandal, where elected officials cornered and sold quotas for immigrants, mostly Chinese, during those days.

Lacson’s first two years of his four-year tenure as lawmaker proved his mettle as oppositionist in Congress. He opposed sending Philippine troops to Korea, worked to reduce Chinese immigration quota to 50 from 500 annually, urged for an independent foreign policy while supporting the Philippine claim of sovereignty over the North Bornean state of Sabah, and stood against corruption in government. A group of journalists representing 10 publications ranked as one of the “ten outstanding lawmakers.”

Brioso could not help but narrate two vignettes about Lacson’s separate tussles with two future presidents – Ferdinand Marcos and Diosdado Macapagal, who were first time legislators like Arturo Tolentino, Jose Roy, and Emmanuel Pelaez. While engaged in a fiery debate with Marcos on the floor, Lacson took notice how the Ilocos Norte lawmaker kept point his index finger during the interpellation. Lacson protested and asked “protection” from the chair because Marcos’s use of his index finger reminded him of the trigger finger used in Nalundasan murder. Marcos got angry and shouted an invective against Lacson.

In another instance, Lacson, irked by Macapagal’s frequent objections to the issues he raised on the floor, challenged him to a fistfight outside the plenary hall. Macapagal obliged and they went to an unoccupied committee room to settle the issue. Their colleagues were stopping them, but to no avail. As they reached the room, the two stopped momentarily and sized up each other. Then, they broke into laughter and hugged each other. They took their colleagues for a ride. Lacson and Macapagal, although they belonged to rival political parties, were classmates in the law school.

Although he was adjudged as “the most colorful lawmaker” of his time, Lacson was not happy to remain in Congress. He did not want to remain entangled to all those debates and lawmaking. In the 1951 elections, he ran and won to become the first elective mayor of Manila, besting his arch-enemy, incumbent Manuel dela Fuente of the Liberal Party. Now, Lacson had the unique chance to improve in Manila, which was badly damaged by the last world war.

In his first term as Manila mayor, Lacson sought to improve its financial position (its fiscal position was in the negative), improve police works and visibility, cracked up criminals in the underworld, and cleaned up the city of its garbage and mess. He also uncovered anomalies in City Hall, earning the enmity of the councilors, most of which belonged to the Liberal Party. Lacson openly quarreled with his vice-mayor, Bartolome Gatmaitan. His flamboyant ways did not sit well with his colleagues.

Lacson took extra efforts for the city government to pay its debts, stopped the practice of political appointees who received salaries without working, personally led raids of the underworld, undertook cleaning operations programs of the city, and broke the lines between criminal gangs and police. His efforts resulted positively. Lacson evidently captured the national imagination. Shortly before the run-up to the 1953 presidential elections, Lacson was bruited as a possible running mate of Ramon Magsaysay, who resigned as defense secretary of Quirino to run as the standard bearer of the Nacionalista Party.

Lacson rejected his possible nomination as Magsaysay’s running mate. He did not feel that he was politically ripe to go for a national position. He instead supported Senator Carlos P. Garcia as the vice presidential candidate and ran for reelection in 1955. His decision had profound effects on his political career. Based on his rising popularity, he could have won as vice president and became president after Magsaysay perished in a plane crash in 1956.

Issues with Imelda, Imee

But what seemed to be pre-ordained by fate, an incident which the author described as “apolitical” became a controversy even after his death in 1962. This incident happened on March 23, 1953. A tall lady from Leyte went to his office on what the author said was “on the strength of a previously scheduled appointment. Imelda Romualdez, who later became the wife of Ferdinand Marcos, appealed to Lacson that she should be the winner of Miss Manila, not a certain Norma Jimenez, who was earlier declared winner by the pageant’s board.

This is Brioso’s narrative: “After Romualdez’s visit, Lacson issued a strongly worded letter, which was in nature of a protest against the choice of Jimenez as the city’s representative to the beauty pageant. According to the letter, the board’s decision was contrary to the decision of the special committee (whose members had been appointed by Lacson per the authority of the board itself) which had adjudged Romualdez as the first choice for Manila with Jimenez as runner-up. The letter went on to clarify that the committee’s choice was based on the standards of individual beauty of facial expression, personality, carriage and educational attainments.

“Under these criteria, it was the committee’s decision to adjudge Miss Romualdez as the winner with 655 points, while Miss Jimenez tied with Miss Amparo Manuel with 453 points each. Lacson claimed that even before the committee could submit its official report to the board, ‘the newspapers (had) announced that the board had chosen Miss Norma Jimenez as Miss Manila of 1953 in absolute disregard of the committee’s decision and my personal judgment.’

“Since the board had committed a direct violation of the contest regulations, the decision reached by it was void, and thus, under the circumstances, so Lacson’s letter concluded, the mayor’s office ‘would like to inform you (the board) formally that it (the city of Manila) has no official candidate for Miss Philippines other than Miss Imelda Romualdez.’

“Armed with the mayor’s decision, Romualdez was able to attend the presentation of candidates for the Miss Philippines contest, an evening affair graced by no less than Finland’s Armi Kuusela, the first Miss Universe winner. It was, in fact, an oddity simply because there were two Misses Manila that represented the city, one chosen by the board directors of the Philippine International Fair, and another by the mayor of Manila.

“But the Philippine International Fair officials would eventually overrule Lacson’s decision. So aid the press release by the Fair’s Board of directors: ‘Manila, for the purposes of the beauty contest, had been considered an area like Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, so the Mayor of Manila, unlike the mayors of other chartered cities and the governor of the province, was not empowered to choose the candidate for Miss Manila. Miss Jimenez had received more votes than Miss Romualdez, and, hence, had been declared winner.”

This initial discussion on Miss Manila issue merited two pages in Brioso’s book – pages 149 and 150. But the author went to discuss the issue in full in a separate chapter in the closing pages of the book. In Chapter 14 (Arsenic: the Stories), the author went to discuss Imelda Marcos’s denial of any liaison with Lacson. The author cited Winnie Monsod’s two-part TV interview of 84-year old Imelda aired by GMA-7 on Oct. 7 and 14, 2013.

The author said: “One of the questions asked her by Winnie Monsod was about the rumor that Imee Marcos not Ferdinand’s daughter but Lacson’s. Professing ignorance of the rumor, Imelda said she saw Lacson twice in her life and this was when she joined the Miss Manila beauty contest. Pressed on by the host, Imelda said with vehemence that she never fooled around her marriage. Her answers completely denied that she ever had any affair with Lacson.”

Quoting an American author in a book about Imelda, Brioso said Luchi, Lacson’s wife, was said to have confronted her husband once about a purported affair with Imelda, to which Lacson denied. But the author quoted Luchi as saying that she would not know if Imee is indeed Lacson’s daughter. “I said I didn’t know, but, of course, the wife is always the last to know,” the American author quoted Luchi as saying.

Millie Lacson Lapira, Lacson’s eldest daughter and wife of TV newscaster Bong Lapira, told the author that since she was the mayor’s daughter, people gravitated to her. Imelda was among her acquaintance. But mother Luchi admonished her to stop seeing Imelda, an admonition which she responded positively. Somehow, the author speculated that Imelda’s friendship with Millie was one of the reason she was able to get an appointment with the mayor.

Former senator Jose Diokno and former Manila vice mayor James Barbers were two persons, who were closely associated with Lacson, but they too answered in the negative whenever the issue of Lacson’s affair with Imelda was raised. He speculated that since Lacson had made many enemies when he was Manila mayor, certain people would exploit any rumor about him. But the author confirmed that Lacson indeed played around, although he did not reach the point of leaving his family or losing his love for Luchi and his children.

In brief, the issue of Lacson’s alleged liaison with Imelda Marcos and Imee’s fatherhood did not have any confirmation. Everything that has been said so far has been largely circumstantial that did not have any probative value to make a conclusion. (to be continued)

Next and Last Part: Lacson’s political career and death