Perusing Lmg: The Leon Maria Guerrero Anthology, it is noted, would tell us the story of what has made what we are as a country through the life of one man. It is, to say the least, a bold claim, but upon learning that it comes from no less than the son of the “brain” of the book, David Guerrero, who heads the ad agency BBDO-Guerrero and publishes Manila Envelope, our interest to explore the tome was certainly heightened.
A book that took about 10 years to finish, David said he considers it “obviously important” to him. “Quite simply, I feel his contributions were too great to be ignored or forgotten. He gave a lot to this country and I feel it’s worth remembering it,” the son said during a recent interview.
Spanning over 450 pages, the book is printed in full color that shows never-before-seen images collected from the family archives and hundreds of articles, stories and speeches from Leon himself and his contemporaries.
It took the team of David a year to get the pictures scanned and matched with the entries in the book. Additional research that included trips to the National Library helped the team to complete the process. They felt it necessary to include pictures to supplement the accounts in the book.
David made it clear that the intention of the book was neither to make a commentary nor a family memoir, but to highlight his father’s life and the era in which he lived.
The book underwent two design processes where the original concept was a “visually driven layout” but the team ultimately felt it sacrificed the text. The final format of the book is not that of a coffee-table book, but one which will feel familiar to readers.
According to David, another important point that was adhered to by everyone involved in making the anthology was to keep the data as factual as possible, and let people make their own conclusions about its subject.
Leon Maria Guerrero, as told by his son, grew up in the immediate postcolonial era, speaking Spanish at home and learning English at school. David said his father was not the typical nerd in class by “finding his own entertainment,” graduating summa cum laude at the Ateneo de Manila University.
The cover image itself speaks volumes in support of the son’s claim. The image, which was discovered late in putting the book together, perhaps best captures the personality of Leon Maria Guerrero: smart, confident and stylish.
When asked to share a glaring difference or similarity between him and his father, David offered that they are different in many ways. One notable difference was decidedly sartorial. Leon was always impeccably dressed, whereas his son dresses more casually.
LMG had a style that was thoroughly cool, as described by the son. According to David, his father loved to dress up and leave a good impression on everyone. “The cover [of the book] says it all—him being so stylish in suit, the cigarette punctuating his style,” he said, adding that his father consumed one to two packs of cigarettes a day.
“He was extremely organized. I’m messier. He could write long books. I write 30-second TV commercials,” he said.
A joy that father and son shared was reading and travel. “In fact, he had a special sticker made for the inside cover of his books which quoted the following from Don Quijote: ‘El que lee mucho y anda mucho, ve mucho y sabe mucho [He who reads a lot and travels a lot, sees a lot and knows a lot].’”
While studying law at the Philippine Law School, LMG was also working as the “de facto” editor of the Philippines Free Press. “He was the highest-paid journalist of his time,” David said. He described his father as a perfectionist, especially when it came to writing. His father had a balance of strong thinking and good writing.
Leon became a leading lawyer and then joined the army at the outbreak of the Pacific War. His war experience began in Corregidor and ended as the bombs fell on Hiroshima.
Later, he joined the Ramon Magsaysay government as an early advocate of economic nationalism “Asia for the Asian,” and then became the youngest and first Filipino ambassador to the United Kingdom at 39.
“Half of the book underscores his seven-year stay in London,” David said.
His diplomatic career spanned three continents and he represented the country at the highest levels, from the United Nations to trade and sovereignty disputes.
To top all that, he made the first and, according to many, the most readable modern translations of José Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, the novels that sparked a revolution.
According to David, these two pieces of literature greatly defined the Philippines as a nation, and he maintained that his father was the ideal person to translate the books because he grew up speaking Spanish and he knew the culture.
LMG followed that up with what remains to be the leading biography of the National Hero in The First Filipino. “Ultimately, that is my father’s greatest legacy and the story of the man behind that work is, I believe, a story worth reading,” David stressed.
As the head of the family, Leon, through his achievements and the top positions he assumed, commanded respect from not only his family but also among his friends and those who knew him. The respect came naturally, as he never had “throw his weight around.”
David said his father was the quiet and relaxed type, and he recalled the time his father rescued him from a car crash when he was 13. “In fact, my fondest memories have him telling jokes and making us laugh,” David said.
As the son of one of the most prolific writers and important figures in recorded history, David said the most enduring advice he got from his father was to stand up for what he believes in and never apologize or explain for it.
“If your cause is right, you’ll be proved right in the end. I think that was true for him, and I feel it’s been true for me,” he said.
His father actively engaged in debate and did not shy away from an intellectual discussion in defending the country’s image.
David writes in the introduction that “it’s not easy for sons to write about their fathers.” However, with this handsome retelling of his father’s great years of service to the country, the son has succeeded in giving a most insightful and, fittingly, most stylish commemoration.
Given the Filipinos’ notoriously short memories, it is only prudent to be reminded of the contributions of one Leon Maria Guerrero. As his son writes: “Now, almost three decades after his death, the time seems right to restore him to his rightful place in our national consciousness.”
In Photo: The faultlessly stylish invite to revisit the past through one impeccably stylish man.
