Jose Castillo Laurel V: Kilalanin natin ang ating Philippine Ambassador sa Japan
Ipinanganak si Jose Castillo Laurel V noong Setyembre 17, 1944. Ang kanyang butihing maybahay ay si Milagros Ereñeta Laurel. Ang mga Laurel ay kilala hindi lamang sa mundo ng pulitika kundi sa mundo rin ng sining at negosyo. Si Jose P. Laurel na kanyang lolo ay ang pangalawang Pangulo ng Pilipinas noong panahon ng Hapon (1943-1945). Ang kanyang ama, si Jose Sotero Laurel III, ay dating embahador sa Japan (1965-1971). Si Raymund Joseph “Rajo” Teves Laurel ay isa sa kanyang mga anak at sikat na fashion designer. Sina Cocoy at Denise Laurel ay mga kilalang TV personalities.
Hindi matatawaran ang paglilingkod sa bayan na inialay ng mga Laurel. Sila ay naglingkod sa bayan ng 184 na taon simula pa noong panahon ng Kastila. Mayroon din silang magandang relasyon sa Japan sa loob ng 85 taon.
Noong bata pa lamang siya, naranasan na niya ang tumira sa Japan. Pagkatapos ng giyera ay dinala sila ng mga sundalong Hapon sa Nara-ken kung saan sila nanirahan at dito na rin ginanap ang unang kaarawan ni Ambassador. Hindi na siya estranghero dito sa Japan dahil nanirahan siya ulit noong siya ay nasa mid 40’s hanggang 60’s at nagkaroon ng negosyo sa loob ng 42 taon. Business partner niya ang YKK (Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha) at mayroon rin siyang car business.
Para mas lalo pa nating makilala ang ating kagalang-galang na Ambassador, ang Philippine Digest ay nagsagawa ng panayam:
Philippine Digest: Ano po ang ala-ala ninyo sa Japan noong kabataan ninyo?
Ambassador Laurel: Noong matapos ang giyera 1945 ng nag-surrender si Hirohito. The war did not end for me and my family during that time, kinulong at hinabla pa kami, we were tried for reasonable collaboration in the Philippines and jailed 22 months in Sugamo. So how do you teach a young boy then? And say where you eat, what do you eat, we don’t have food, my father is in jail, he cannot work, all our properties were confiscated and the only time we were able to go back to our life was in 1948. Four years after the war, nahuli pa kami. May nagsasabi, “mayayaman ang mga Laurel!” No, because we are known, we earned our money in the old fashion way, we don’t graft! Maraming nagsasabi madaling kausapin si Ambassador, tao kami ang sinasabi ko sa iyo ay iyong nalalasahan is what you feel.
Philippine Digest: Usapang pamilya naman po tayo. Sa marriage po ninyo, ilan po ang naging supling ninyo?
Ambassador Laurel: I was married once and all my four kids came from her. We got an annulment both church and state and married again 31 years ago with my second wife. My eldest is a fashion designer. The second is Computer Science business graduate. My third is an industrial and interior designer. My fourth is a graduate of international studies which is foreign service but he’s a beautician better known as make-up artist.
Philippine Digest: Wala po ba sa mga anak ninyo ang sumunod sa yapak ninyo as a politician?
Ambassador Laurel: Wala. Hindi ko sila ini-encourage. Yung pangalawa kong anak has a tendency, sabi ko nga “don’t enter public officer unless you’re economically stable matutukso ka lang”. Hindi lahat ng Laurel ay pulitiko, may nasa negosyo, edukasyon, fashion designing, culinary. Because we are people in ordinary means, hindi naman lahat ay kagaya ni Lolo. Kaya ina-idolize namin siya, ako siguro ay kalahati lang ng lolo or baka wala pa sa kalingkingan.
Philippine Digest: Taong 1980-1988, kayo po ay naging gobernador sa lalawigan ng Batangas, after po ng term ninyo bilang gobernador, anu-ano po ang inyong pinagkaabalahan?
Ambassador Laurel: Una sa lahat hindi por que apo ako ng dating presidente at anak ng ambassador ng Japan noon ay mayaman na kami. Hindi naman ho mayaman ang Laurel. Kami po ay mayaman sa pangalan at edukasyon, we are not loaded, so after being a public official for a period of almost 10 years, I have to look for a job, nobody believed that I didn’t have money so I had to get a contract in Indonesia to work, to establish a rattan factory and do management audit so I became an OFW, and I went to work and lived in Surabaya.
Philippine Digest: Bakit po ninyo naisip na doon (sa Indonesia) kayo maging isang OFW, bakit hindi dito sa Japan since mas kilala ninyo ang bansang Hapon?
Ambassador Laurel: Iyon kasi ang unang nagbigay sa akin ng pagkakataon. Two years after I left the government, I was looking for work, but nobody offered me a job, because they thought I was rich in Manila. The Japanese said I’m a highly named person but you know, circumstances do not always follow the way you want things to be done. There are times in life that you become desperate needful, so that’s what happened.
Philippine Digest: Naging successful po ba ang hinawakan ninyong business sa Surabaya, Indonesia?
Ambassador Laurel: I was under contract to put up the rattan factory. Unfortunately, it was successful for about 10 years. But the biggest constraint of the world, particularly on handy crafts like this, is China, they can produce things cheaply and their labor is very, very cheap and the raw materials (rattan) are always available. China has become a world power because of discipline, education and home of Chinese after 70 years of communism and this is life’s reality.
Why do you think the Japanese moved on well? Because their culture says you had to follow the rules. Sa Pilipinas pag umuwi ka, nasubukan mo ba ang traffic, nasubukan mo ba ang ugali ng tsuper natin, ang tawag ko doon ay nginunguso (hahaha!), kung nagsisikipan, isinisingit ang kotse, bakit dito hindi nangyayari? Kasi nagbibigayan. This is a matter of discipline. Sa atin, kapag binigyan mo ng disiplina, galit pa sayo, these things are bad that is precisely why, it is essential for the present administration to take care of these issues. Leadership is not inherited, it is earned. This is essentially necessary that the leader should be the role model.
Philippine Digest: Nang ma-appoint po kayo ni Presidente Duterte para maging Ambassador ng Japan, nagdalawang isip po ba kayo? If yes, bakit po? And If no, ano ang unang naisip ninyo para sa mga Pinoy dito sa Japan?
Ambassador Laurel: Naisip ko na mahirap kasi matanda na ako kasi I’m already 73 years old. Noong nakaraang Septyembre, nang naka-sumpa na si Digong, nagkita kami. Bigla niyang sinabi “pirmahan mo ito.” Papaano ang gagawin mo eh, presidente na. You don’t refuse the President. It’s like a lady, I was cornered, ‘di ba (hahaha!)
Tinanong ko kung ano ang mga programa niya, ano ba talaga ang gustong mong gawin, sabi niya ang responsibilidad ng gobyerno ay aapat lamang; ang education, health, equal opportunity which is economic and job creations and social justice which is he is trying to do now. Sa madaling salita tinanggap ko dahil humingi naman ng tulong.
Philippine Digest: Sa isang interview po dati nasabi po ninyo na ang role ninyo ay ipagpatuloy ang magandang relasyon ng Japan at Philippines.
Ambassador Laurel: That is true, alam mo natutuwa nga ang Hapon dahil nakalimutan na natin ang giyera, kaya may mga anak ng Hapon at Filipina. So, in other words the relationship has moved on, it is more amiable, and being with two cultures, it is a great advantage of the Fil-Jap. Ang ating relasyon dapat sa kapwa ay magmumula sa pagmamahal. Sabi nga, “God is Love.” Love one another and if you love someone do not hurt him and if you have misunderstanding upuan ninyo at pag-usapan para maayos ang problema.
Mensahe ni Ambassador Laurel para sa mga Pilipino sa Japan