Evening star., 1961-07-02
BY A. L. VALENCIA
Contributing Writer

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Mr.. NeIeneio is press counsellor to
the Philippine Mission to the United
Motions.
My heart was full and this is
what I wrote:
They lowered the American
flag today. A friend has said
goodbye. A part of me is gone.
"The Filipino flag stands alone.
1t is one Of the proudeSt moments
of my life. But I cannot help feel
ing sadness. I was born
under the American flag; so were
millions Of my fellow countrymen,
those alive today and those who
died in the thousands on Bataan
and Corregidor. What does the
future hold? What does the lower
ing Of the American flag mean?
Il saw the American flag come
done once before. That was a
black day in January, 1912. saw
the flag of the Japanese invader
fluttering in the bright sunshine
in almost the same spot where we
FilipinoS and Americans assem-
bled today. There followed three
grim and CHASTITY years.
Then the American flag came
back, only to be lowered once
more.
ITO me and my fellow country
men, the American flag has meant
SO many good things. And now, as
it goes down, this jubilation
the gun salute. the applause
-. and High Commissioner Paul
v. McNutt saying, "A nation is
born! Long live the Republic of
the Philippines. May God bless
and prosper the Filipino people
and keep them safe and free!'
"f I could speak for all my
countrymen, I would say to you
good people across the Pacific,
God bless you; we will never for
get.'"
The Message Today
Why do recall this day so long
ago? Why do I go back to a faded
newspaper clipping to see what I
wrote?
I do so because I believe it has a
message for the American people
in what President Kennedy de-
scribeS as this Decade of Danger"
Wherever the young President
of the United States looks today,
he sees the ruins of past American
policieS-and host of new prob
lens in the making. There is trou.
BILE in Laos, Wet Nam, the Congo,
Cuba and In NATO. The cry Of
Yankee Go Home" even echoes
from Holy Loeb in Scotland, a
peaceful little holiday resort never
associated with the international
scene.
President Kennedy and his fell
low citizens might be excused for
asking: HAS America ever done
anything right?" as they face the
barrage Of world doubt and criti-
ciSm.
Yet there is one direction in
which Americans can look and see
an inspiring success story-a iv-
ing, positive, and enduring proof
that there are people in the world
who love and admire the United
States and the American way of
life and who are ready to die to
defend it. Because it's their way
Of life, too.
III fact these people have done
so once before and are willing to
do so again should the chips ever
go down.
Same independence Doy
1t is no accident that the Phil
ippines and the United States
celebrate their independence on
the same day. It was planned that
way, to emphasize their common
devotion to democracy.
Philippine national life is mod
eled entirely on that Of the United
States. It has the same political
structure, with the same system
Of checks and balances elected
legislature, elected executive and
established judiciary and the
same burning determination to
preserve that structure.
On the rim of the Orient, 5000
miles from California, % million
people Of many races and many
tongues, living on more than 1000
islands have found unity and are
providing proof that the American
way of life can be transplanted
and appreciated with glowing
fervor.
And this strange flower, mix
ture Of the exotic East and the
bustling West, has come to sturdy
bloom in little more than half a
century.
Communist clamor about the
evils of colonialism find little or
no response in Filipino ears.
For after centuries of colonial
ism, the Philippines found their
way to freedom through that form
of government exercised with SUI
perb skill and sympathy by the
United States. itself a former
colony.
1t was in 1921 that Spain set it's
mailed foot on the neck of the
Filipino people and kept it there
for nearly four centuries. Then
came the Spanish-American War
of 1898, and Admiral Dewey's VIC
tory over the Spanish fleet in
Manila Bay.
Colonial Policy
No one was more surprised at
this sudden acquisition of a new
territory than President Mckinley
but in moment of inspiration he
announced the basis of the policy
that was to govern relations be-