As a Filipino living in Hong Kong for more than two decades, Noel de Guzman has taken a keen interest in learning more about his homeland, particularly the outstanding men and women who have made significant contributions to the Philippines and the world.
The 52-year-old art director, author, illustrator and publisher has profiled some of these people in a book called 100 Filipinos: A Collection of Biographies of Remarkable Men and Women of the Philippines, which will be available for purchase online from June 1.
De Guzman’s inspiration for the 212-page book was sparked in November 2018 after he saw a Google doodle of Fe del Mundo, the first woman admitted to Harvard Medical School, who also set up the first paediatric hospital in the Philippines.
“I didn’t know who she was and that attracted my attention … After reading the article [about her], I felt ashamed because I thought I knew all the important Filipinos, because I’m interested in this subject. But that got me interested in doing more research.”
De Guzman set up an Excel spreadsheet and created a list of some 500 well-known Filipinos. He then came up with the idea of compiling a book profiling 100 Filipinos. He had previously published 100 Best of Hong Kong, a guidebook of the best places to visit, things to do and places to eat in the city.
When he began the project in earnest, de Guzman casually asked his Filipino friends if they recognised the names of important countrymen and -women. When they didn’t, he was surprised, leading him to believe this book was his calling.
“I needed to tell the story of these remarkable Filipinos,” he says, especially given that they pale into insignificance in the era of what de Guzman describes as “celebrity worship” – when a photo of a celebrity eating a doughnut can accrue millions of likes on social media.
“People are blinded by the flash of fame, rather than substance. Imagine if this continues from this generation to the next generation, what will happen to our youth? I’m introducing people who can inspire you from different segments of society,” he says.
For example, the main thoroughfare in Manila is called EDSA, or Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, and de Guzman explains that Epifanio de los Santos (1871-1928) was a renaissance man: a governor, librarian, scholar and musician.
“Every day 2.7 million vehicles pass by that highway. Every time I took the taxi on that road, I asked each of the taxi drivers if they knew who Epifanio de los Santos was, and no one knew the answer. Now that’s sad. They are stuck in traffic and they don’t know who the guy is. As a publisher and illustrator, I need to tell this story.”
The task of whittling down his list from 500 to 100 people was a difficult one, however.
“I wanted to find a balance between different fields, like medicine, politics, the arts, public service and even overseas workers, from the 16th century to the present.”
The only common denominator for them to be included in the book? “Their life stories have to be remarkable, and at the same time they should have achieved something which is inspiring,” he explains.
An accomplished artist, de Guzman felt that illustrations would better accompany the mini-biographies than photographs. They are colourful portraits, and he admits that as he progressed they became bolder and more experimental.
The book includes some interesting backstories. Tony Tan Caktiong, the founder of Jollibee, started off with an ice cream shop in 1975. When hamburgers and spaghetti were introduced to the menu, they became more popular than the ice cream, and today the fast-food chain is famous for its fried chicken.
Another person featured is Gina Lopez, who died in August 2019. She was an heiress of a broadcasting corporation who gave up her luxurious life to help the poor in India, South America and Africa, before returning to the Philippines as an environmental activist, even serving as environment minister in Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, and overseeing the closure of almost two dozen mines.
Aspiring fashion designers in the Philippines will know the name Ramon Valera, who created the terno, the national dress with bell sleeves made famous by former first lady Imelda Marcos.
Some notable people in the book have links to Hong Kong. MetroBank Group, the second-largest bank in the Philippines, was founded by George Ty, the fifth-richest man in the country and born in Hong Kong. His family migrated to the Philippines when he was six years old.
Another is trained ophthalmologist and revolutionary Jose Rizal (1861-1896), who lived for a time in the then British colony, on Rednaxela Terrace in Mid-Levels and had a clinic on D’Aguilar Street in Central. He met his second wife, Josephine Brackman, in Hong Kong and she is buried in a cemetery in Happy Valley.
De Guzman flips through the book to Wenceslao Vinzons, born in 1910 and a young-looking man in his portrait.
“When I was studying at the University of the Philippines, I had lunch in a building named after him. I didn’t try to know who he was until I did the book. He was half Chinese and went to law school. He was president of the student council and champion in oratory contests,” de Guzman says.
“He was an elected governor, but when the Japanese occupied the Philippines, he led a series of raids using poisoned arrows. He was captured but refused to cooperate and was bayoneted to death together with his family. If he wasn’t killed he would have done so much more. He was so young when he died. He was 31. What did we do when we were 31?”
Although de Guzman says he developed an interest in outstanding Filipinos when he began living overseas, his curiosity may have been piqued in childhood, thanks to his father, who liked to travel around the country and visit museums.
“We drove to the far north of the Philippines, 10 or 15 hours’ drive [from Manila] and we saw president Ferdinand Marcos’ remains inside a refrigerated glass coffin. His major opponent, Senator Benigno Aquino … when he was assassinated – that sparked the People Power Revolution – I attended his wake,” he says.
“His body was in an open coffin, and he was wearing a white suit with the dried blood on it. These two people are very important in Philippine history in the 20th century. And I’ve seen them both in their coffins. Not many people can say that.”
Today there are 10 million Filipinos living overseas in more than 100 countries, representing 11 per cent of the population, according to de Guzman. It’s a huge diaspora, and that means a lot of so-called third-culture kids.
“I partially dedicate this book to my kids, who are third-culture kids. They are the Filipinos who are finding their own identity in a foreign land. That’s where the book comes in. I want to help them develop some nationalism,” he says.
“Either your nationalism becomes stronger or you forget about it and adapt to the other country’s culture. It can help them find themselves. [Revolutionary leader] Rizal said: ‘He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.’”
De Guzman has lived in Hong Kong since 1993, working for various local and international magazines and trade publications, including a one-year stint at the South China Morning Post.
His book project holds more personal meaning than any of those positions did, and has made him more proud to be a Filipino and helped him learn more about himself.
“I feel like a jigsaw puzzle. Every time I read something new and awesome and remarkable, a jigsaw puzzle piece completes me as a person. From where I was two years ago to now, it’s huge in terms of my sense of identity and where I am in the world.”
And where does he stand in the world? “I feel very small,” he says with a chuckle. “But at my age now, I’m 52, and after reading this it drives me, inspires me – how these people can do so much, why can’t I? Why not the rest of the 100 million Filipinos?”
100 Filipinos will be available for purchase from June 1. For more information go to www.100Filipinos.com.
