Two Activities

A Symposium

On Wednesday, 23 January, I attended two activities which brought me together with old friends, whom I have not seen for a long time. The first was a symposium at the University of Asia and the Pacific featuring a lecture on "Philippine Political Economy: 1946 -1965" by Dr. Jose Romero, Jr. Joe is a friend of long standing, from the early 1970s when he was a favorite moderator in our development economics seminars at the School of Economics, U.P. He gave an enlightening analysis of the various events of those two decades (including the treaty with the US of 1946, the Bell Trade Act, the Laurel-Langley Agreement of 1965) whose effects on the Philippine economy, he argued, are still being felt today. There were two commentators: Dr. Amado A. Castro, former dean of the UP School of Economics, and Dr. Benito Legarda, Jr, former director of research and later deputy governor of the Central Bank. Both gave amplifying, sometimes disagreeing comments on Joe's arguments. Cesar Virata, former Prime Minister of the Republic and currently Vice-Chairman of the Yuchengco Group, was there. Dr. Armando Armas came late. It was a great pleasure meeting old friends after long periods of separation.

AG Uranza for National Artist

The second activity on the same afternoon was a book launch at Far Eastern University, my good old alma mater. Launched were Masks and Mirrors, by Azucena Grajo Uranza, and To the Young Writer, by F. Sionil Jose. The first book is a collection of plays by AG (the name we and her other friends call her, after the initials of her maiden name), each depicting a portion of our world, written with a deep sense of history, a worthy addition to the many works of literary art she has brought to the national consciousness. For her contributions to the development of a historically rooted literary awareness amongst us, I would like to nominate Azucena Grajo Uranza National Artist for Literature in the next round of awards. Incidentally, AG was literary editor of the FEU Advocate when I was that paper's editor. The second book consists of short essays on various issues in current Philippine writing by the National Artist Frankie Jose. As usual, Frankie has given all of us serious food for thought in these essays.