Posted on April 17, 2013
My father retired from the UN in 1972, returned to Manila. He accepted to be Vice President of IISMI, then privately owned by the Jacintos. He did not stay long. In September 1972, with the imposition of martial law, the government sequestered IISMI. I remember going with my Dad to the heavily guarded IISMI offices in Santolan to retrieve personal documents in his IISMI office. I don’t know he said to the guards but they did let him in and he came out with a small carton box.
Martial law depressed my father. At about this time, the National Shipyards were divesting and my Dad with Commodore Andrade were arranging to bid with Japanese partners for the shipyards. The bidding resulted with Bejo Romualdez, Imelda’s brother, winning, with very little capital investment. It was, after all, martial rule.
At about the time that my mother spent an extended time in the U.S., my Dad started to name me as a co-signatory to a number of bank accounts and his safety deposit box. This was proverbial. At the time of his death, I knew enough bank officials who allowed me to withdraw funds and open my Dad’s safety deposit box which contained enough cash for his funeral and interment expenses.
My Father's Gifts 
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