MAKATI QUEZON CITY THE GUIDE JANUARY 17, 2015
If you were one of those who caught Pope Francis’ mass at
the Manila Cathedral last January 16, you may have chanced upon the words of
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle in which he quoted a fellow named
Fr. Horacio de la Costa who said that the resiliency of
the Filipinos can be traced to “music and faith.”
While there is little argument to be made about that
statement, some have raised a question as a consequence of the Cardinal’s
statement: who is Horacio de la Costa? Today, this edition of The Guide
will try to answer the question about this man’s identity and his contributions
to religion, history, and even the landscape of the metropolis.
Born on May 9, 1916 in the town of Mauban in Quezon
Province, Horacio Villanueva de la Costa was born to Sixto de
la Costa, a judge, and Emiliana Villamayor. He spent his
early education in Batangas before moving to Manila where he was
eventually admitted to Ateneo de Manila.
It was in Ateneo where de la Costa shined, having
displayed “excellence” not only in academics but also in student leadership.
But it was in writing that he came to be well-known for as he served as a
writer and eventually becoming the editor of the school’s newspaper, The
Guidon.
After obtaining his bachelor’s degree from the school, in
1935 he decided to enter the religious vocation to join the order of the
Society of Jesus which happens to be the same religious order that runs Ateneo
de Manila. He entered the Sacred Heart Novitiate, the Jesuit house located in
Novaliches where he obtained a master’s degree.
He returned to Ateneo this time as a teacher where he taught
philosophy and history. Around the same time, he also continued his writing
career this time for radio, where he also served as talent for the Catholic
Church’s Sunday variety radio program “The Common Weal Hour.” It was within the
confines of this variety program that de la Costa conceived the
character of a kutsero or calesa driver named Mang Teban who
would comment on the issues of the day, which at that time was the divorce bill
which de la Costa and others in the Catholic hierarchy were opposed
to. With de la Costa’s sharp satire delivered on air through Mang Teban
and other characters, it not only get the divorce bill stopped, it also gained
much popularity for these radio characters, enough for them to be spun off into
a new program called “Kuwentong Kutsero,” which poked fun even more at the
establishment with more biting satire courtesy of de
la Costa and other writers who followed. “Kuwentong
Kutsero” would become an even more popular radio program until the 1960s
(a run only interrupted by World War II) with film and
TV adaptations made as well.
During World War II, he helped in the resistance movement
against the Japanese forces that occupied the country during that time,
delivering needed supplies to the soldiers who were fighting the Japanese. For
this, he was imprisoned by the Japanese for two months in Fort Santiago and was
duly recognized after the war by the United States government by awarding him
the Medal of Freedom. He would return to his studies this time in the US at
Woodstock College in Maryland where in 1946, he was finally ordained as a
priest. He then proceeded to earn a doctorate degree in Harvard in
1951.
He returned to the Philippines in 1953 and resumed his
teaching career in Ateneo de Manila. Later that year, he would appointed to be
the dean of the school’s College of Arts and Sciences, earning the
distinction of becoming the first Filipino college dean in the school. In 1958,
he was made a consultant for the Philippine province of the Society of Jesus as
he gained on his academic credentials around the same time with his writings on
Philippine history and culture, a Smith-Mundt-Fuldright scholarship in
1960, becoming research associate for the London School of Oriental and African
Studies in 1962, honorary doctorate degrees received from University
of Santo Tomas, (which incidentally is run by Jesuit “rivals”
the Dominicans) Dumaguete’s Silliman University, and Tokyo’s Sophia
University.
In 1964, he would earn another distinction by being
appointed as the Provincial Superior or head of the Philippine province of the
Society of Jesus, the first Filipino to hold such a position and is considered
an achievement in the order’s growth in the country. He would remain as
Provincial Superior until 1970 so he could assume another role and another first
for the Philippine Jesuits as he served from 1971-1974 as General Assistant and
Consultant to the Superior General (AKA the head) of the Society of Jesus, the
first Filipino/Asian to hold such post.
Apart from these achievements as a Filipino Jesuit, he was
known more for his work on promoting Philippine history and culture through his
writings. He wrote a number of books, notable of which are “The Jesuits in the
Philippines, 1581–1768,” “Readings in Philippine History” and his
annotated translation on Wenceslao Retana’s “The Trial of Dr. Rizal.” He
also contributed a number of articles in different publications, notably in
Ateneo de Manila’s “Philippine Studies” where he also served as editor once.
For these contributions, he was awarded the Republic Heritage Award in 1965 by
then President Diosdado Macapagal.
He died on March 20, 1977 and was mourned by not only the
Atenean community and the Jesuits, but by historians and
others who have come to appreciate his writings on Philippine history and
culture. In his honor, a building in the Ateneo de Manila campus in Loyola
Heights, Quezon City was named in his honor where a statue of him can be found
in front of the building as well.
In addition, a street in Makati’s Salcedo Village in the
central business district was named in his honor, perhaps due to the influence
of Ateneo’s Salcedo Campus located along this street. The Salcedo Campus by the
way houses the university’s Graduate School of Business (for some classes at
least) and the Center for Continuing Education, which is a
bit ironic considering de la Costa was known more for historical
and cultural studies rather than business and continuing education.
