The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1950-03-02
THROUGH
HAZEL
EYts

Manila, Philippines
Delayed

At 81 Elpidio Quirino has
climbed to the top-al the wav
from a teaching position in an
obscure Filipino village to the
presidency of the Philippine Re-
ublic in its most crucial period.
Today the Philippine Islands
have bad case Of growing pains
and few people envy President
Quirino his tough assignment--to
take a country laid PROSTATE by
war and demoralized by indepen-
dence and put it on its feet eco
nomically and politically as well
as assume the gigantic task of
literally rebuilding its cities de-
vastated by war.
Quirino's smooth appearance
and gentle manners are q mark
ed contrast to the fire and zeal
he has displayed since assuming
the presidency after the late
Roxa's death.
This stepping into an office
from the vice presidency Is not
the only thing he shares in COM
mon with Americas Harry S.
Truman. Not only are they SINH
lar in stature but President Quiri-
no, too, is a walking advertise
ment for what the well-dressed
male is wearing. The day ! in
terview him at the Palace he
was wearing a soft, light bust
ness suit with a colorful and stun
ming hand-painted necktie. A lit
tie heavier than Mr.. Truman,
the Filipino President is the La
tin type with coal black hair,
dark brown eyes, light olive
skin and an engaging smile. He
could easily be mistaken for a
matinee idol and his appearance
was pleasant surprise, I'll adj
nit, after seeing the gangster-
looking pictures of him publish
ed in an American weekly news
magazine recently.
The thing that impressed me
most about President Quirino,
though, in my hours chat with
him, was not SO much his good
looks, but his apparent sincerity
in striving for united Philip
pine nation with stable, demo-
cratic government--his sincere
devotion TO the cause of Philip
pine independence and-his ankle
ty to have his people grow up,
or come of age, to become wor-
thy Of their destiny as a free and
independent people and assume
their place in the world. He is
a firm believer in independence
for the Islands and all his efforts
are directed to show the world
the Filipinos are worthy OF the
freedom given them by the
United States in l946.
The recent elections cut deep
and left many scars but the Pre-
sident expressed the opinion to
me they will soon be forgotten
and blow over. The Filipino is an
Oriental and is slow to concede
defeat, he said, which accounts
for most of the trouble after the
lection. He expressed his opin-
Tor that one of the principal de-
fects of his country was toe
m. ny elections--there should be
one only every three or four
years, according to his notion.
President Quirino emphasized
that post-election troubles were
not engineered by or had any
thing to do with Communists
rather they are disgruntled mino-
rity political groups wishing
their own candidates placed in Of
flee.
The remarkable progress made
in rebuilding Manila, which was
about 80 per cent demolished
when the American liberating
armies came, was temporarily
arrested by the elections but are
being resumed with all possible
speed.
Manila is on the mouth of the
Pasig river which runs east and
west dividing the city in half.
The Japs defended the south por-
ton of the city and it was viz
tually RACED to the ground.
A visitor has to be able to ina
CINE the terrific beating that Mani
la took in order to appreciate to
the fullest extent the tremendous
face lifting" it has undergone
since the war.
Everywhere you look there arc
new buildings being erected to
replace the old ones and they
are being rebuilt exactly like
they were before the war-most-
ly with American money.
President Quirino is proud of
the record of accomplishments in
the rebuilding Manila which has
been described as one of the most
beautiful cities in the world be-
fore the war.
We've already built more
homes, bridges, schools, hospitals,
opened more ports and built bet
ter roads than before the war, F"