11
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June 22-Feb
22 Philippine Showbiz Today
. 7 , - 2015 July 7 , 2017
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Feature Story
The enduring and dependable Roque Ablan , Jr .
henever the name
Wof Roque Ablan Jr . is mentioned , one image immediately comes to mind , especially among martial-law babies : a lion-hearted , battlehardened political boss crying like a little boy as he accompanies the remains of Ferdinand Marcos in coming home from exile in Hawaii . Ablan ’ s image as a hardcore loyalist to the man most Filipinos consider a dictator and tyrant was cemented there and then
Ṗerhaps he is that . Perhaps he will even be the first one to admit it . But to dismiss him as nothing more fails to understand not only his character but his time . Those who witnessed the early days of martial law will remember that Marcos had Ablan thrown in jail for supplying arms to Benigno Aquino Jr ., leader of the political opposition and chief critic of Marcos .
Veterans of Philcag , the Philippine military ’ s support mission to the Vietnam War , shared the same foxhole with Ablan . An avid reservist , he was a Sunday soldier at the height of the war . For three years , Ablan spent weekends fighting alongside US and Filipino soldiers in Vietnam and the rest of the week worked in Congress as Ilocos Norte representative .
Ablan loved combat and saw action in the defense of Hoc Man Bridge , for which he earned a medal for bravery . He was also a known parachuting aficionado . Luis Singson loved hunting big game . Roquito Ablan loved jumping from airplanes .
Tourism insiders know about his legendary road shows around Western capitals , featuring indigenous weaves and moves , modelled and performed by class acts : beauty titlists and the Bayanihan dance troupe . Most Filipinos in the 1970s know Jose Aspiras , the tourism secretary of Marcos , and Richard Gordon , head of the Arroyo administration ’ s tourism development program . But before Aspiras and Gordon , tourists from Europe and the United States knew only one name in the Philippines and it was Roque Ablan , the father of Fiesta Filipina .
Ablan makes no secret of his being a lothario who sired more than a dozen children — then follows that up with a demonstration of his cooking prowess , a lesson from raising his children from an earlier marriage on his own . We are dealing with a far from one-dimensional character , a man who truly knows how to live , and pursues living to the hilt — and in technicolor , as they say in those good old days .
Ablan ’ s political career began in 1967 , during the first term of Marcos as president . The lives and careers of Marcos and the Ablan family are inextricably woven together — and into the lore of Ilocos politics . Ablan became devoted to Marcos as he became indebted to with the people of Ilocos Norte — as a family inheritance . He would pay the people for protecting them
by Jose K . Lirios PST Manila Correspondent
like this : I know we owe you a lot , my life and the life of my mother . We would not be alive today if not for the sacrifices of the people . But I am too young and I cannot serve you . So here is a man , his name is Maj . Ferdinand Marcos . Here is a man who can do something for the province of Ilocos Norte . He can deliver to you all the services you want .”
Then the young Ablan had an idea , albeit a mischievous one ,
Ablan followed in the footsteps of his late father Ilocos Norte Governor Roque Ablan , Sr . during the Second World War that would turn his candidate ’ s by being their representative in political fortunes around . “ I Congress . But before Ablan could decided to get the keys to the be old enough to do that , his warehouse of the Philippine family turned to a trusted friend to Relief and Trade Rehabilitation do the job in the meantime . The Administration ( the post war relief trusted friend was Marcos . agency of which his father was the
Ablan senior was the manager for Northern Luzon at provincial governor of Ilocos the time ), and managed to get two Norte when Ferdinand Marcos trucks fully loaded with galvanized was jailed on a murder charge . iron sheets , one truck loaded with He converted the dark , damp sacks of rice and another filled cell where Marcos was held into with canned goods , like corned ore habitable quarters complete beef . I turned them over to Mr . with law books so that he could Marcos , who in turn gave them to concentrate on reviewing for the the people of the district where he bar and personally defending was campaigning .” his case before the Supreme Court where it had been raised on appeal . Marcos succeeded in both
Ȧblan junior recalls his father ’ s devotion to the brilliant prisoner , whom he knew as a small boy . “ I was around three years old . When my father and I would be on our way home , we would first pass by the jail so he could pay Marcos a visit .”
Years later , in 1949 , when Marcos ran for Ilocos Norte ’ s seat in the House of Representatives , Ablan ’ s mother , grandfather , former mayor Leon Verano , and the mayor of Batac , Mariano Nalupta Sr ., campaigned for him . So did Ablan junior , who was barely in his teens .
Ablan vividly recalls the times when Marcos brought him along in his campaign . He would make Ablan deliver a speech while standing on top of a table . “ My speech to the Ilocano people went
Had Marcos lost the election , Ablan ’ s parents would have been jailed for what their son did , because both they and Marcos had no money to pay for the good taken from the warehouse . Luckily for them , Marcos won in the election and paid for the goods that were stolen .
Fourteen years would pass before Ablan would join Marcos and friends in the political arena . By then , Marcos had become a senator and a serious contender for the presidency . In 1963 , President Diosdado Macapagal and Marcos , both leaders of the Liberal Party , proclaimed Ablan as a candidate for the Ilocos Norte provincial board . In his first election , he beat the veterans and garnered the most votes among elected board members .
During his first term ( 1963 to 1967 ), Ablan was elected chairman of the National League of Provincial Board Members . The league became the nucleus of Marcos ’ s presidential campaign . As chief campaigner , Ablan always went with Marcos and served as leader of the advance party , vetting a place before the candidate went in . Marcos would not go to a place if Ablan hadn ’ t gone there first . He also trusted Ablan with the sensitive task of telling him everything perceived about him , good and bad .
The bond between the two men grew . It persists to this day — this time inherited by the family Marcos left behind . And it explains , Ablan says , “ why I was very close to Marcos and up to now , I am the only one of the few loyalists who always stands beside his wife and children .” ●
Ablan receiving the University of the Philippines Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2016