Happy 89th Birthday "Sunshine Joe"

August 19, 2013
Agoo, La Union

JOSE D. ASPIRAS

 August 18, 1924 – November 14, 1999

Happy 89th Birthday , “Sunshine Joe”!

          I was looking for a material to write on my new blog. As they say, when the muse comes, welcome it. Yesterday, August 18 was an opportune time as it was the 89^th birthday anniversary of “Sunshine Joe”. I was surfing the net to get his biography but I could not find much from the top sites of Google search machine. ... And to think that the late Jose D. Aspiras was a statesman.

          

           I joined the mass for him held at the mausoleum of the Lady of Charity Basilica with his family led by his wife former La Union Vice Gov. Amparo M. Aspiras; their children present, Aida Aspiras, also a former La Union Vice Governor; former Agoo Mayor Jose Luis Aspiras and Mrs. Babot Aspiras-Oreta. Later, the family served lunch at their house, where I met mutual friends and met new ones.

          

          The mass was officiated by Father Salvador Agualada, Jr.  a Claretian priest, and by Father Chito Apusen and Father Ronald Chan. Father Salvador is the author of “Strings of a Heart in Prayer”, “Homecoming”, “Pedro Calungsod, Patron for the Filipino youth”.

          

          Father Salvador in his sermon said that although we are born into this world, this is not our home. But we must prepare ourselves to the true homecoming and that is when we die and go home to our Father in heaven.  He also said he was amazed that the sun rises in one portion of the earth and sets in another, describing God’s magnificence. I thought then, Tito Joe, was aptly called “Sunshine Joe” for his magnificence. Among us siblings, I was closest to him.

          

          What I haven’t found in the net, I found in the pages of The Ilocandia Express, which I published and edited.

          Now, I must rely heavily on the article – Ex-Congressman Aspiras dies (banner story, November 17, 1999) and re-write it, remove details about the schedule of the event but add some details to suit the present year.

         *****

          Former Congressman Jose D. Aspiras of the Second District of La Union held the position of a Resident Representative and Managing Director of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan when he died of heart attact at the Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City. He suffered from a lingering illness before his death.

          While in Taiwan, Aspiras’ MECO position was equivalent to a rank of an ambassador. He died at the age of 75.

           

          Aspiras, fondly called, “Sunshine Joe” is survived by his wife, former La Union Vice Governor Amparo Mendoza Aspiras and his children: Aida, Babot and Babes, Jose Luis, Cristy, Vicky, and Reggie; grandchildren, Toby, Padjo and Leia, Charlotte and Bacchus, Monique, Maureen and Louie, and Quinto and great grandchildren John, Kayla and Emilio. Vicky followed her father a few years later.

          Aspiras was a journalist who wrote for the Evening News and later became a war correspondent in Korea. He was at the time with Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., who was also a correspondent of The Manila Times. In one incident, Ninoy  had to dive first in the fox hole, followed by Aspiras with the latter’s body covering and securing the young Ninoy.

         

          Aspiras also became a President of the National Press Club (NPC) when journalists went all out for him, following the defiance to reveal the source of his news story during a legislative investigation. He was at the same time the embodiment of a champion of press freedom. Ferdinand E. Marcos, then a congressman became his defense counsel who tried to save Aspiras from his predicament but was nevertheless jailed. Aspiras’ heroic act paved the way to the passage of the Freedom of Information Act of 1957.

          

          In 1965, President Marcos appointed Aspiras as Information Secretary. Then he ran for congressman for the 2^nd District of La Union in the 1969 polls and defeated then incumbent Congressman Manuel T. Cases, who had dominated La Union for 20 years.

         Aspiras served in the Seventh Congress until 1972 when Martial Law was proclaimed. Marcos then appointed him as Minister of Tourism until 1986.

          

          Under Aspiras’s initiative, the Balikbayan Program, the Reunion for Peace, the Miss Universe contest and other toruism projects were implemented which attracted local and foreign tourists. In 1980, the Philippines reached its goal of a million foreign tourist arrivals, making the tourism industry the country’s third largest foreign exchange earner.

During Martial Law, Aspiras was also at one time acting General Manager of the Government Insurance System and member of the Board of Directors of several government and private corporations.

          

          In Agoo, La Union, the parish church of the 16^th century vintage got renovated, all through his leadership and vision.

          

          After the church’s improvement, it was elevated to the rank of Minore Basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1981.

For his services to the church, Aspiras was conferred the Grand knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory, the highest lay decoration from the Holy See.

          

          Aspiras had also envisioned La Union to become an educational center of the north. He then worked out for the establishment and improvement of the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University now with campuses in Bacnotan, San Fernando City, Agoo, Sto. Tomas and Rosario.

          

          Aspiras again ran as Congressman and won handily from 1987 to 1998. Barred to run for re-election for Congress after his third term, Aspiras became a candidate for governor of La Union but he lost. With the onset of the Estrada administration, was tapped to run MECO in Taipeh, Taiwan.

          

          Popularly known as “Sunshine Joe”, he will be remembered as a public servant with utmost charisma, very pleasing personality of a devoted public servant, sincere and noble God’s crusader and a true lover of country and people, an Agooenian of the highest tradition.

          

          Less than a year after his death, the Agoo-Tubao Section of the Agoo-Baguio Road (Marcos highway) was renamed as the Jose D. Aspiras Highway in his honor through Republic Act 8971 of October 31,2000. The Agoo Civic Center which he built also was renamed Jose D. Aspiras Civic Center and the DMMMSU Gymnasium as Aspiras Gymnasium in his honor. Moreover, a building at the La Union Medical Center, Agoo, La Union, was also named after him.