Ever since I was a young boy I
have always admired individuals who became known and successful despite the
obstacles that they have to endure to achieve their goals. During my high
school days, I love to go to the library to have an updated knowledge on the
Philippine Bar Exam topnotchers, top graduates of the Philippine Military
Academy and top examinees of other professional fields. Most importantly, I find myself astounded by
the achievements of those who were born poor and had to persevere and struggle
to reach the top and fulfill their dreams.
Common to a Filipino, I have always
sided and rooted for the “underdogs”
especially in education, sports and other competitions. I likewise have
veneration for those who adhered to their principles and took opposition stands
against the “powerful” and the “mighty” at the expense of their own
personal interests. As a young college
student, I have idolized the likes of King
Leonidas of Sparta, Robin Hood of
Sherwood Forest, Knights of the Round Table, The
Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte
Cristo, Pres. Ramon Magsaysay,
Senators Raul Manglapus, Ambrosio Padilla, Jose W. Diokno, Jovito
Salonga, Benigno Aquino Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile
and Sec. Carlos P. Romulo, among others. Although the administration of
Pres. Ferdinand Marcos was marred with massive corruption, political repression
and human rights violations, nobody can “turn
a blind eye” to his astonishing academic achievements and exceptional
brilliance in the field of governance by implementing wide ranging
infrastructure development and socio-economic
programs that saw unprecedented economic progress of the country during
his regime.
One who stood out among the many
political figures I had admired was the late Rafael M. Salas, a fellow
Negrense and the pride of Western Visayas. Although he remained unheralded in
his own country until his untimely death in 1987, Sec. Salas exhibited a remarkable
intellect and brilliancy in management reinforced by a highest sense of respectability
and incomparable humility in public service, a trait uncommon among our public
luminaries, both of yesterday and today.
Who was Rafael M. Salas? (Excerpts taken from the
Biography of Rafael M. Salas by Wikipedia)) 
Rafael M. Salas was born in Bago City, Negros Occidental on August
7, 1928, one of three children of Ernesto Araneta Salas and Isabel Neri
Montinola.
After World War II, Salas went to Manila to continue his
education and obtained his B.A. (magna
cum laude) from the University of the Philippines in 1950.
Three years later, he completed his law degree (cum laude) from the U.P.
College of Law. He then attended Harvard University, where he finished his master's degree in public administration
in 1955. He returned to the Philippines and joined the University of the
Philippines as a lecturer in Economics
until 1959 when he transferred to the Far
Eastern University as
professorial lecturer until 1961. He was rehired by the University of the Philippines as assistant vice president from
1962-63 and then as professorial lecturer of Law and member of the Board of
Regents from 1963-1966.
By 1966, Salas, also known
affectionately as "Paeng,"
was recruited to a Cabinet position as Executive
Secretary of President Ferdinand E. Marcos as a reward for running the
Marcos 1965 campaign. Salas
became a formidable cabinet member of Marcos and was at the forefront of the
administration.
While Executive Secretary, Salas was named by Marcos as Chief Action Officer
of the National Rice Sufficiency Program
and was credited for the dramatic increase in rice production whose shortfall
persistently plagued the country.
But due to irreconcilable
differences with President Ferdinand E.
Marcos, he resigned and accepted a position to become the first Executive Director
of UNFPA in 1969. The international agency is now known as the United Nations
Fund. Salas served in this position with
efficiency and distinction.
Salas headed the United
Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), now known as the UN Population
Fund with the same acronym, as its executive director from the time he
established the organization in 1969 until his death in 1987, when he was
already a UN Undersecretary-General.
Salas developed the UNFPA
office in Manhattan, New York, from a small staff of 5 people and a budget of
US$2.5 million into one of the most stable UN agencies and the world’s largest
multilateral provider of population assistance, reaching a budget of $142
million in 1985, long-term commitments of $1.4 billion, and funding for 4,800
projects in 149 countries and territories.
As a UN official, he was well
respected as a morally upright leader and for his dedication to the advancement
of the UN population programs. He was best remembered for his trailblazing
work, earning him the title “Mr.
Population” from the international community.
An article entitled "Knowing the Man and the Award" and
published by the Commission on Population of the Philippines (POPCOM) cited Salas
as "widely known as 'Mr. Population' in the
international population community. He brought together more developed and less
developed countries, helping them to become aware of the extent to which they
share an interest in population and development." For his contributions to
the global understanding of population, Salas received 30 honorary degrees,
honorary professorships, and academic awards from higher academic institutions
in 25 countries.
Besides his role as international
public servant, Salas was also a poet and author. He contributed articles to
international magazines and newspapers drawing on his writing skills as past
editor of the Philippine Law Journal.
Rafael M. Salas died at
age 59 on March 4, 1987 in Washington, DC from an apparent heart attack as he
prepared to return to the Philippines shortly after the restoration of
democracy in the People Power Revolution of 1986 that swept Marcos out of power. It was speculated at the time of his death that Salas was seriously
considering to run for the Presidency of the Philippines.
In his honor, POPCOM created in
1990 what has evolved into a yearly prestigious award : The Rafael M. Salas Population and Development Award (RMSPDA). It aims to
perpetuate his legacy by recognizing local government units, individuals and
institutions for their outstanding achievements and contributions in population
management programs. It also seeks to
recognize individuals and institutions who continuously pursue the ideals and
visions of Salas to "achieve a
better world for the present and future generations."
Also instituted in his honor is
the annual Rafael M. Salas Memorial Lecture at the UN headquarters in New
York. The lecture series began as a memorial and tribute to Salas under whose
"leadership, the UNFPA grew from a small trust fund to the world’s largest
multilateral provider of population assistance." Past speakers include former World Bank
president Robert McNamara, former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem
Brundtland, former Philippine President Fidel Ramos, Baroness Chalker of
Wallasey, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, and famed marine biologist Jacques-Yves
Cousteau.
While the debate over the
Reproductive Health (RH) bill has taken on different standpoints, narrowed down
to sex, contraception, and abortion, many Filipinos today are unaware that a
fellow Filipino, Salas, started it all in
the international arena.
Rafael M. Salas began a
population management program that did not even mention sex, contraception, or
abortion, but provided a broad perspective of people and development, and urged
countries to adopt a population policy that centers on people and quality of
life regardless of faiths and beliefs.
He continuously called for urgent
government action among countries. “A
population policy is a long-range strategic weapon,” he said in one of his
messages in 1980. ”Its effects are felt
not immediately but a generation hence. To be effective, it must be launched
now.”
Salas Crossing His “Rubicon”
The parting of ways of Salas and Marcos was elaborated in “A Memoir” written by now Senate Pres.
Juan Ponce Enrile published on September 2012 with the following abstract:
“In the middle of 1969, the
partisan struggle between the two major political parties in the country, the
and ,was getting heated up. During a national convention, the Nacionalista party
anointed Pres. Marcos and Vice Pres. Fernando Lopez to run for their second
term together with 8 senatorial candidates.
Paeng Salas was a shoo-in for a senatorial berth of the Nacionalista
party. The only kink in Paeng’s candidacy was Senate President Gil Puyat who
wanted NP Senator Roding Ganzon of Western Visayas , an arch critic of Pres.
Marcos, to be in the NP senatorial line
up. However, Vice Pres. Fernando Lopez and the influential “sugar block” wanted Paeng Salas instead to
represent Western Visayas. The conflict was resolved when Senator Ganzon bolted
the NP shortly after its national convention on June 20.”
“In the morning of July 24, 1969,
Paeng
called me up. He said over the telephone that he wanted to see me on a
confidential and personal matter. From the tone of his voice, I sensed that his
request was urgent. When Paeng met me
at seven o’clock that morning, he said, “Juancho, I am leaving with Menchu (Salas wife) for New York this
afternoon. Please do one last favor for me. Hand over to the President
personally my letter of resignation from the Cabinet. Do it after my plane has
taken off for New York. Do not mention about this to anyone until I am out of
the country.”
“I was not prepared for what Paeng said. I thought Paeng was the most eager and the
likeliest winner among all the potential candidates for Senator of the
Nacionalista party at that time. He had been meticulously preparing his
campaign and has already his headquarters, staff and national organization.
Paeng never gave me the inkling that he was quitting the senatorial race. We,
the members of the technocratic group in the Cabinet treated him as our central
pillar and leader. We looked upon him as the one best prepared and the most
promising material amongst us for a major role in politics.”
“ Brod, I am sorry if you are
disappointed with me”, Paeng finally said. “ I am tired and fed up with the
intrigues and the jealousies in the Palace. I cannot take anymore the monkey
business going on in the government. Menchu is about to give birth. I have no
savings. A good job is waiting for me at the UN and I can no longer afford to
miss that” he explained. “But what about your plan to run for the Senate?, I
asked him. “ I will give that up. I will give up everything!” he said
emphatically. “ I am disappointed with the present system and with the way
things are. I do not have my own money to run for the Senate. I do not want to
sign receipts for campaign funds. I do not want to owe favor to anyone!” he
added. “ Who asked you to sign receipts for campaign funds?” I inquired. “Tio
Peding and Bobby”, he replied. “ Tio Peding” was Alfredo Montelibano Sr. and
“Bobby” was Paeng’s own first cousin, Roberto S. Benedicto.”
“Although everyone including me,
supposed Paeng and Bobby to be very close to each other because they were first
cousins, I realized for the first time at that moment that they had a personal
problem all along between them, contrary to my earlier impression. And I was
able to confirm this later that indeed there was a secret rivalry jealousy
between the two cousins.”
“Paeng was an idealist who tried to live according to the straight
line of public conduct. Although he liked to enjoy the good things in life, Paeng was nonetheless a simple, frugal
and non-acquisitive person. Bobby, on the other hand, was pragmatic and a materialistic
individual. He enjoyed luxury and fame as well as power and wealth. Bobby did
not relish the rising power and influence of Paeng. For his part, Paeng looked with disfavor at the undue and rapidly
rising affluence of Bobby.”
“The decision of Paeng to leave
the Cabinet did not affect our friendship. Our contacts continued even in the
days of Martial Law. I never failed to see him whenever I was in New York. Our
contact ended on his death. I often wondered what would have been the outcome
for this country had Paeng run in
1969 as planned and won a seat in the Senate. Perhaps this country would have
had a different history. Paeng was
gifted and well prepared to handle the demands of statecraft. He had the
experience and intellectual acumen for it. But he chose to ride into the sunset
contented with what the poet said, “ Sans
Wine, sans Song, sans Singer ….sans End.
I truly feel that it is a pity and a misfortune that God did not bestow upon
one of the country’s most able sons the destiny to occupy the highest position
in the Land.”
During the 1986 People Power
Revolution, Enrile called Salas by
phone in New York and entrusted his family to him should the uprising against
Marcos fail and if anything could happen to him. Enrile and Salas were 1953 UP Law classmates and
Sigma Rho Fraternity brothers.
In his message about Rafael
M. Salas, Enrile said: “He was, indeed, a true Filipino. He had the
depth and the brilliance to transform his country and his people. He is
the best president of this country; the best president we never had and will
never have.”
What is most admirable in Rafael
M. Salas was his strong resolve to repel the enticement of a corrupt
bureaucracy and resist the lure of immense wealth that comes with corruption in
the government. Salas, an honest and
incorruptible person, defied the odds
of drawing the fury of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, then the most powerful man in
the country, by not permitting himself to be a part of a fraudulent and
iniquitous leadership.
The legacy of Rafael
M. Salas will forever remain etched in the history of the Philippines.
Being recognized and honored more significantly in the international world than
in his own country, it is high time for every Filipino to learn and distinguish
the unselfish efforts and sheer determination of Salas to make the
Philippines a better place to live in particular and the world in general.
April 5, 2013
Fresno, California, USA
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