THE SHIFT TO

BANKING &
EDUCATION

Carandang
Lopez
Ylagan
BANKING
 Dissatisfaction with Carlos P. Garcia as the
successor in 1957 of the late President
Magsaysay developed in the same year, as it did
with Vice President Quirino soon after the death
of President Roxas.

 Some Nacionalistas approached Laurel if he

would again be a candidate despite Recto’s earlier
announcement of his candidacy.

 Laurel’s term as Senator was about to end, and he

flirted with the idea of being embroiled in the
politics, although he kept saying “I am tired, too
sickly and too old,” but added “I will not run away
from a challenge.”
 The former President referred the matter to
his family at their Peñafrancia home in July of
that year.
 Mrs. Laurel did not favor her husband’s
candidacy because of his poor health, and the
rest of the family backed her up.
 Instead, they supported Kuya Pepito’s
candidacy for vice-presidency.
 Despite Dr. Laurel’s help, the Speaker (Pepito)
lost to Diosdado Macapagal of the Liberals.
 Women voters turned against Pepito because
of the Liberal’s party harping falsely that “he
was violent, a hard drinker, a womanizer,
and that he was anti-Catholic.”
 “The Church was hitting him on the Noli Me
Tangere – El Filibusterismo bill which, as
Speaker, he had pushed in the House of
Representatives,” recounted his brother Doy.

 “When he lost, it was a blow. We all had

worked so hard for him.” But that was politics.

 Now that Dr. Laurel had more time, he followed

closely the transfer of the mutual savings
and loan association in Tanawan that he
had helped found way back in 1935 at the time
the Commonwealth was inaugurated.
 As the Senator from Batangas he had the welfare
of its inhabitants at heart.

 In the 1930’s the Philippines was in the grip of an

economic depression, in the same way as in the
United States and the rest of the world.

 To check the evils of usury then prevalent in

Batangas and Luzon, the school principal named
Dr. Juan V. Pagaspas, teachers Aurelio Valencia,
Josefa G. Poblete, businessman Apolonio S.
Magsino and a dozen others from the town
decided to establish a mutual savings and loan
association, the first of its kind outside Manila.
8
 Usury is the lending of money with an
interest charge for its use; especially :
the lending of money at exorbitant
(exceeding the appropriate limits)
interest rates

6
 Should provincianos want to deposit their
earnings they had to go to the capital where
the Monte de Piedad (The Philippines’
First Savings Bank) started by the church
was located.
 The entity was named the Square Deal
Association.

 The two words “square deal” is of American origin

meaning that it was an honest and fair
business transaction, coming from some early
American teacher in Tanawan, or it might have
come from Dr. Laurel himself after studying at
Yale where he had picked up American idioms.

 The name was indeed a magic phrase hitherto

unknown in the islands, and farmers who had
money kept in bamboo tubes journeyed to
Tanawan to invest their savings.
 Any time a town resident or those from neighboring
places like Santo Tomas, Malvar or Lipa needed
sizeable sums of money for expanding their
agricultural production or building a home, they had
to borrow from certain rich provincial people who
charged usurious interests.

 But now they had the Square Deal Association to help

them. Teachers flocked to the new business entity for
they knew that their savings would be safe and give
them an income in return.

 “The entity started as savings and loan

association because it was easier and faster to
organize,” stated Agapito M. Leus who had worked
for the association longer than any individual.
 He became a janitor in 1935 when he was still a
teenage high school student, and some five decades
later was named Assistant Vice President in charge
of the auditing department.
 No paid- up capital was needed as the deposit of the
members were considered as the bank’s working
capital.
 According to Leus, “It was exempted from all taxes
and was not subject to the strict supervision of the
Bureau of Finance, the Bureau of Internal
Revenue, and other government agencies,” he said.
 It was therefore no wonder that the association thrived.
 The SQDA has its offices in the premises of the Tanawan
Institute, a private school which Dr. Laurel was then
board chairman.
 Here the association stayed until 1945 when the
Japanese were kicked out of Luzon after they had
murdered so many people in Tanawan and elsewhere.

 The association’s premises were destroyed to the

ground, while Dr. Pagaspas, Mrs. Josefa Poblete
and Nemesio Equivel of the bank were among those
who perished.

 Fortunately, Leus had brought the books of the

organization to his residence in the barrio the day
before the massacre, and with the help of Eduardo
Romualdez who was then working in Malacañang
Palace after the war, he was able to reconstitute
its records, such that the renovated association was
able to pay back the bank’s depositors.
 The New Tanawan Square Deal entity had Atty.
Pable T. Tapia as president and manager, Atty.
Basilisa G. Carandang as vice president and
secretary, Alfredo V. Valmonte as treasurer,
Felix A. Rivera and Andres Collantes as
members.

 The revitalized association prospered, such that its

clientele spread to the whole province, to Manila,
and even to Baguio, La Union, the Bicol provinces,
Cebu, Davao and Bacolod in Negros Occidental.

 On January 1, 1949, the Central Bank was

created to examine and supervise all financial
institutions in the Philippines.
 The SQDA was audited the following year, and the
Central Bank ruled that the savings and loan
association be converted into a commercial bank.

 Capital contributions were needed, and Dr. Laurel went

round to his friends to join him in the expanded Tanawan
venture.

 His two elder sisters had deposited their savings in the

first SQDA in 1935, and when it became a bank that
needed more capital, Dr. Laurel took from his pocket P
10, 000 and handed it to Manager Tapia with the
Tagalog words “narito ang aking sampung libo; ingatan
lang ninyo, kahit walang tubo, huwag lang
mababawasan ang prinsipal ko.” (Here’s my ten
thousand, take care of it, though without increase don’t
let my principal decrease)
 Friends like Ernesto Lagdameo, Dindo Gonzales,
Tomas Aguirre of the Banco Filipino, Magsino, Paquito
Ortigas of Quezon City, and Jose Sanvictores
contributed heavily to his plea for financial assistance.
 President Laurel’s words became the guiding principle
that bank officials followed. All outstanding loans were
collected, and no loss was ever incurred from bad
accounts.
 Cash dividends were declared periodically to stockholders
of the corporation. The number of stockholders increased
from 42 in 1951 to 600 six years later, and to more
than 1,500 in the 1980’s.
 Nicanor Tomas, formerly of the Central Bank, became
the first president of the Philippine Bank of
Commerce, and when he left, the fourth youngest son of
Dr. Laurel, Mariano, known as Maning, became
president.
 Like all the Laurel boys he was a lawyer, took his
doctorate and worked for the government-owned
Philippine National Bank.
 He was so well versed in banking procedures that
his father publicly expressed satisfaction on the way his
son was managing the PBC.
 When Maning died on August 2, 1979, the board
chairman, Dominador R. Aytona, dedicated the bank’s
hall on the fourth floor of their building in his
memory for having served for 22 years “with
missionary zeal, dedication and vision.”
 He was suffering from hypertension and a heart
seizure proved fatal. Analecto Buenaventura
succeeded him, and a few years later, another Laurel,
the son of Speaker Pepito, who was called “Cario” by
his family, became the head of the bank.
 In 1957 the Central Bank approved the change in name
from Square Deal Banking Corporation to the
Philippine Banking Corporation; the authorized capital
was raised from P400,000 to P5,000,000, and the head
office transferred from Tanawan to Manila.
 The Tanawan office became the main branch of the
new bank.
 The SQDA had opened its first Manila branch in Paco,
followed by more branches mostly in the provinces.
 The Central Bank had required the dispersal of
ownership in banks.
 Closely owned by a family or a few moneyed-class
encouraged unscrupulous (not showing a concern for what
is right) operations that tended to benefit only a select few
at the expense of the general public.
 That is why the Laurel family, although original stockholders
in the PBC have never been its majority owners.
 The first office in Manila was at Calle Dasmariñas back of
the Escolta. Then the Port Area Building was constructed
just outside of Intramuros; but when most of the head
offices of other banks moved to Makati about two decades
ago, the PBC trustees lost no time in purchasing the
present buildings located on Ayala Avenue corner of
Herrera Street after selling the Port Area Building.
 At the entrance of the Square Deal Association in Tanawan,
a large square was built over its entrance. This was the
logo or trademark of the entity.
 After it had become the Square Deal Banking Corporation,
a second square was added to the logo, and;
 A third one superimposed at the top when it became the
Philippine Banking Corporation, to denote that it had not
changed, in the words of VP Leus, “from its original
objective of being a people’s bank, conservative in
its roots, comprehensive in its reach, and
consistently relevant to our times.”
EDUCATION
 Ever since he took his doctorate degree from Yale
University, Laurel became interested in education as a
branch of learning.

 What should be taught to children? For many years he

thought about it until after he had been absolved of
collaboration with the enemy.

 He concretized his views in a series of articles for the

Manila Times, the large-circulation English newspaper of
the late Don Alejandro Roces, titled “Education for
Filipinos.”

 He had been thinking of the poor level of higher

education in the islands where “diploma mills”
proliferated because of the tuition fees that students
could pay.
 So on July 15, 1950, when the burden of collaboration
had been removed, he invited some of his friends to a
luncheon to discuss his plans of starting a university.

 Even before that first meeting, he had decided to call

the new school the Lyceum of the Philippines after
the famous Lykeion of the Athens at the time that the
philosopher Aristotle was a lecturer.

 The original lyceum he named in honor of Apollo

Lyceus, the Greek god of healing, prophesy, light, music
and poetry. There had been an earlier Lyceum in Manila,
the Liceo de Manila, during the late years of the Spanish
regime, but it offered only law courses.
 “I have dreamed of seeing established in the Philippines
a people’s Lyceum, a people’s university dedicated
exclusively to the search and propagation of knowledge,
a center of the future not only in the Philippines but also
this sector of the globe, where everybody would come,
discuss anything and make his contribution to the
cultural and spiritual knowledge of the world, “Laurel
told his guests.

 He then revealed his decision to retire from politics

and devote his remaining years to education.
“Much has to be done in this field,” he added, “as much
has to be done to rebuild our country from the ashes of
war.”

 “Without casting any reflection on existing institutions of

learning,” he said, “I believe there is much emphasis on
the money-making side of the operation.
 I think we can be of some service if we had a school
founded principally for the purpose of giving our
students a grasp of the fundamentals without losing
sight of the fact that we cannot live on ideals alone.”
 His book on “Moral and Education Orientations for
Filipinos” embodied his philosophy of education.
He believed that the school he planned to establish
would be God-fearing and patriotic, useful and adjusted
to the problems of modern society.
 Such students, he believed, should be liberty-loving and
alert to both their duties and rights in the body politic of
a democratic nation, friendly to all other peoples of the
world under the time-honored principle that all men are
brothers under the skin; honest, dependable, self-
respecting and dignified, eager always to give of
his heart to himself, to his family, his nation, and
for what is good for mankind.”
 Among his listeners were Claro M. Recto, the
nationalist who had refused the portfolio of Foreign
Affairs under President Quirino, and who subsequently
became the first Dean of the law school to be
started by Laurel.

 One of the cornerstones in his philosophy of education

was his belief in the need for character education
in the Philippine schools as envisioned in our
Constitution.

 He considered it imperative to renovate our educational

system to give more emphasis to inculcating ethical and
basic principles that would imbue the citizenry with
sterling moral qualities.

 He pointed out that the rise and fall of nations

 He believed in formulating a set of principles which
would draw inspiration from the history, culture,
traditions of the Philippines, and the ideals of Filipino
heroes.
 He did not favor exaggerated nationalism, or
glorify narrow and blind patriotism.
 He pointed out that, as one of the framers of the 1935
Constitution, he advocated the education of the
masses as a recognized formula for the prosperity
of any government.
 He contended that there would be a consolidation of
overlapping educational agencies and the elimination of
useless and outworn dogmas from the curriculum of our
schools.
 He favored the recasting of teaching methods to
make them conform to modern trends.
 He stressed the need of readjustment of the whole
educational system to the current political status,
because “we have to cut loose from the moorings of a
system of instruction conceived under a political
dependency, and formulate a new system calculated to
carry into effect the more vigorous nationalistic policy
ordained by our Constitution.”
 He reminded the public that the 1935 Constitution
provided that “all schools shall aim to develop
moral character, personal discipline, civic
conscience and vocational efficiency, and to teach
the duties of citizenship.”
 He asked, “without a consciousness of the citizen’s
duties to the State, how can we expect them to
respect and obey the authorities they themselves
have constituted in their fundamental law?”
 A search for a suitable location began. They looked over
the Perez Samanillo building on the Escolta, the
compound of the Episcopal church on Isaac Peral (now
United Nations Avenue) the former Ateneo grounds on
Padre Faura street, and that land on which the present
Government Service Insurance System is located on
Concepcion street, northeast of the City Hall.

 However, none of them met the specifications of their

founder. The search finally ended in the historical walled
city of Intramuros on the original site of the San Juan de
Dios Hospital which had been razed in the last war, and
on which the Laurels had built their law firm. The chosen
site occupied a whole block of 9,101 square meters.
The corporation paid P400,000 for the place.
 A second meeting of the group was held at the old
Selecta restaurant on Azcarraga street (renamed after
Don Claro) in September, 1950, and the members
present decided to incorporate the school at the
Securities and Exchange Commission. More than a year
later after the site had been chosen, the stockholders
elected the members of the board of directors.
 Pres. Laurel was unanimously chosen as Chairman
and President.
 His son Sotero was designated Executive Secretary
and simultaneously Secretary of the Board.
 Trustees were Recto, Chief Justice Avanceña,
Ambassador Jorge Vargas, Mayor Leon Guinto, Sr.
Senator Pedro B. Sabido and Senator Ambrosio
Padilla.
 Sabido was elected treasurer.
 Construction of the L-shaped first unit on Muralla and
Real streets started immediately after the election of
Trustees. Santa Clara Construction Co. built the edifice
based on the architectural plans of Architect
Antonio V. Banas.
 But the area had to be cleared first of squatters before
the first concrete slab had been put. “The relocation
expenses of the squatters were defrayed by the
directors, not out of duty but out of charity,” related
Executive Secretary Sotero Laurel.
 The first unit was finished in time for the opening of
classes on July of 1952, and was named the Mabini
Hall in honor of the Sublime Paralytic, who hailed from
Tanawan like the Laurels.
 The building had 45 classrooms which had to be
equipped with 2,000 chairs to accommodate the
students who began to enroll in increasing numbers.
 The building’s inauguration, however, did not take
place until about two months later with Mons. Vicente
Reyes, auxiliary bishop of Manila, officiating. A
happy promise of a great tomorrow, confident in the
spirit of service and dedication to the youth of the land.”
 The next unit to be built three years later was a three-
story structure along San Francisco Street. This,
was the administration building to house the school
libraries, laboratories, offices and additional classrooms.
 The old Laurel residence on Peñafrancia street was
turned in 1959 into a high school, a branch of the
Lyceum for younger students.
 The Laurel family, however, did not like to convert
their ancestral home into a school, so this branch
was closed in 1964. Construction of the fourth wing
took place in 1965 and was finished nearly two years
later. This fourth wing was named the Rizal Hall after the
national hero. The present quadrangle was thus
completed.
 Initially in the schoolyear of 1952-53, the Lyceum
offered only three courses: law, liberal arts, and
high school.
 The fact that Claro M. Recto was the first law Dean
attracted many students to enroll in that branch.
 Vice Dean was Ambrosio Padilla, then a Senator and
later Solicitor General of the Department of
Justice.
 Dr. Jose A. Adeva, a former diplomat and Dean of
Arts of the University of Manila, was the first Dean
of the College of Liberal Arts of the Lyceum.
 The first graduating class of 108 students took place in
April of 1953. Of this number 79 came from the law
school, seven from arts and sciences, and the
remaining 22 from the secondary department.
 The Board of Trustees then decided to add five
courses in 1953-54;
 These were graduate studies, education,
commerce, secretarial and short vocational
courses.
 Dr. Laurel was designated Director of the Graduate
School.
 Senator Gil Puyat was named acting Dean of
Commerce, after his stint as Dean of the U.P College of
Commerce.
 During the 1953-54 schoolyear, the Lyceum acquired its
first school bus for its students living in the city’s
suburbs.
 Schools had sprouted throughout the city, and provincial
students traveled to Manila’s transport system consisted
of slow-moving Ford and Chevrolet buses, while
converted jeepneys plied all over the metropolis.
 The trustees laid the groundwork for the school’s
university status. Two more courses were added:
preparatory medicine and dentistry, although later
 At this time, the Lyceum began upgrading its standard
of instruction by recruiting highly qualified faculty
members.
 This move so impressed the Bureau of Private
Schools that a member highly commended the
Lyceum’s standard of “teaching the youth regardless of
religion, politics, economics, beliefs and affiliations
without discrimination.”
 Upon completion of the administration building, the
trustees named it the Laurel Hall after its founder.
 The enrollment continued increasing, such that over
2,000 students were studying there.
 In 1957, one of its law graduates placed third in
the annual bar examinations. The law school
continued to have largest enrollment until in 1956-57
the school of Arts and Sciences replaced it.
 Meanwhile, Dr. Laurel pursued more intently his
philosophy of education.
 Once again he emphasized the need for Filipinism,
economics and other social sciences including the
humanities relevant to the unending tasks of the
Filipino.
 Towards the end of October 1959, Dr. Laurel seemed to
have a premonition of his death, for he assigned the
incumbent acting president the task of studying the
problems of the university, the reforms and
improvements for the trustees’ consideration.
 While at the Lourdes Hospital, as he lay dying, he said
that he had accomplished his educational mission, and
“it was time” for him to rest.
 As his son Teroy bent over him, among Dr. Laurel’s
last words were: “Do all you can for the Lyceum.”
 The trustees unanimously elected young Sotero Laurel
as president, for he was highly qualified by learning,
training and experience for the post.
 Senator Sabido was named chairman of the board.
 “The Presidency of the Lyceum,” said the new president,
“means a lot of sacrifice on my part, but I accept the
challenge and I intend to do my best to meet the
challenge.”
 He adhered to the educational philosophy of his father.
 To fill the full-time wife, Lorna Perez-Laurel, became
his special assistant to help lighten his load as
president.
 One and a half months after his assumption of the
presidency, Teroy made the following recommendations
to the trustees:
 1. Creation of an Academic Council to take charge of
updating curricular offerings; the proper distribution of
teaching assignments; the screening of applicants for
teaching positions; the classification of faculty
members; and the maintenance of a high standard
instruction;
 2. Establishment of the School of Foreign Service
 3. Research work for faculty members with annual
reports of deans and department heads on their
respective operations, plus an assessment of their
progress and problems.
 The new president and his wife went in 1961 on an
educational tour of leading universities in Asia, the
United States and Europe.
 They visited such universities as Harvard, Yale,
Oxford and Cambridge.
 In their absence, Pepe, a trustee and treasurer, acted
as president.
 Five years later, they journeyed to Communist China
to observe the educational system for engineering and
vocational courses.
 Red China had then quietly advanced among Asia’s
leaders in industrialization.
 Sotero H. Laurel discharged his duties as president of
the Lyceum for three decades, or up to 1987 when he
ran for the Senate and was elected Senate President
pro-tempore, while his former law partner Jovito
Salonga was Senate President.
 The year before, hid younger brother Doy was elected
Vice-President of the Philippines in the snap elections
that catapulted his running mate, Corazon C. Aquino, to
the presidency.
 Seeing that the province of Batangas needed an
educational institution of higher learning, Teroy founded
the Lyceum of Batangas in 1966 as an affiliate but
separatic institution from the Lyceum of the Philippines.
 Knowing the strain of administering the two growing
schools, Teroy enlisted the best talents he could get but
ultimately had to depend heavily on his children all of
whom had shown promise of academic proficiency.
 Before running for the Senate, in 1987, he passed on to
a number of them the responsibility of school
management for which he had prepared them.
 He left the direction of the Lyceum in Manila to his
youngest son. Peter, a graduate of the London
School of Economics, and a master of arts degree
holder from the Asian Institute of Management.
 On All-Saints Day of 1959 President Laurel went to
Tanawan to visit the graves of his parents.
 The provincial leaders of the Nacionalista party came to
the cemetery to ask whom they should vote for the
following week, when senatorial elections were
scheduled.
 “Should we vote for a straight Nacionalist ticket?” they
asked. “I have nine candidates-including Ferdinand
Marcos,” he replied. “Who of the eight nacionalistas
should we drop?” they insisted. “I don’t care which of
the eight you omit,” he said, “but include Marcos.”
 Thus, on election day, November 12, a liberal
partyman came out in Batangas for the first time.
Marcos had topped the seven successful
senatorial candidates.
 The Laurel family did not know that their father was
ailing. All they knew was that he had dizzy spells, but
did not want to consult a doctor because, as he claimed,
“I know my body better than they do.”
 One morning after his return from Tanawan, some days
later, he had dizzy spell after playing golf at Wack-
Wack.
 He had played so well that he did not pay for his
breakfast.
 Afterwards he went at about 12 o’clock noon to
Squires-Bingham at the northern foot of Santa Cruz
bridge behind the Escolta to buy dome T-shirts, when he
suddenly collapsed.
 Upon regaining consciousness, he told his driver to take
 After they reached Mandaluyong, a doctor was
summoned to hear him complain of pain at the back
of his neck.
 His last words at home were not addressed to any
member of his family but to his long-dead mother.
“Inay”, he murmured audibly, “hindi na ako
makakita.” (mother, I can’t see anymore.)
 He was immediately rushed by ambulance to the
Lourdes Hospital in Mandaluyong. He would no
longer talk, but his children noticed that he kept
gesturing towards the nape of his neck.
 Then he signaled as if he wanted his head to be lifted
up, and Doy held up his head. “Is this high enough,”
asked Doy. The sick man merely nodded. Then he lost
consciousness.
 But the elder Laurel was not yet dead. His heart
continued to beat. He had a massive cerebral
hemorrhage.
 The attending surgeon cut open his throat for a
trachectomy, so he could breathe.
 He lasted for the next 10 hours.
 All the children arrived at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. He
did not die until one o’clock in the morning.
 All the family members took turns at his bedside in what
was popularly known as “the death watch”, keeping
vigilant for an hour each.
 Dña. Pacencia’s turn was from midnight to 1 a.m. “It
was as if papa only waited out that last hour with her,”
remarked Doy who had followed her and then the
President died a few minutes later.
 Mrs. Laurel had gone home, but rushed back when the
news was telephoned to her.
 “Si Jose naman,” she said softly in Tagalog, “Why did
you go when I wasn’t here?”
 The children noticed that Little Joe who had attempted
to kill their father during the war, was outside the room
and weeping like a child.
 That day was November 6, 1959, when Jose P. Laurel
was 68 years old and eight months old.
 After the necrological services in Malacañang and the
Senate, a long funeral cortege motored to the cemetery
in Tanawan.
 The administration had suggested that the burial take
place in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (burial place of
heroes) at the outskirts of Fort Bonifacio, but he
preferred to be interred beside the remains of his
parents in Tanawan, Batangas in accordance with his
express wish. He would not have rested peaceably
otherwise.
TRUE OR FALSE
1. Mrs. Laurel favored her husband’s candidacy
and the rest of the family as well.
2. They supported Kuya Pepito’s candidacy for
vice-presidency.
3. The entity was named the Square Deal
Organization.
4. Nicanor Tomas, formerly of the Central Bank,
became the first president of the Philippine
Bank of Commerce.
5. Dominador R. Aytona, dedicated the bank’s
hall on the third floor of their building in
Maning’s memory for having served for 28
years “with missionary zeal, dedication and
vision.”
TRUE OR FALSE
6. There had been an earlier Lyceum in Manila, the
Liceo de Manila, during the late years of the
Spanish regime, but it offered only law courses.
7. The chosen site occupied a whole block of 9,108
square meters. The corporation paid P500,000 for
the place.
8. Santa Clara Construction Co. built the edifice
based on the architectural plans of Architect
Antonio V. Banas.
9. The building had 45 classrooms which had to be
equipped with 3,000 chairs to accommodate the
students who began to enroll in increasing
numbers.
10. The Laurel family, however, did not like to convert
their ancestral home into a school, so this branch
was closed in 1964.