Raul Manglapus

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Raul Sevilla Manglapus (October 20, 1918 – July 25, 1999) was a Filipino politician and songwriter. He helped start reformist parties in the 1960s and won a seat in the Senate in 1961. He ran for president in 1965 but lost to Ferdinand Marcos.

During Marcos’s martial law, Manglapus lived in exile for 14 years and led opposition groups such as the Movement for a Free Philippines. He returned after Marcos fell and was elected to the Senate again in 1987 but soon left to become Secretary of Foreign Affairs under President Corazon Aquino, a post he held from October 15, 1987, to June 30, 1992. He supported keeping US bases longer in exchange for aid, a plan the Philippine Senate rejected in 1991, which led to the bases leaving in 1992. His 1990 remark about rape in Kuwait caused controversy but he did not resign.

Beyond politics, Manglapus was a prolific composer and performer, writing campaign songs like “Mambo Magsaysay” and “Blue Eagle” and even performing with Pope John Paul II and Duke Ellington. He studied at Ateneo de Manila (AB, summa cum laude, 1939) and at the University of Santo Tomas (LLB). He served in World War II as part of the Voice of Freedom, was tortured by the Japanese, and witnessed Japan’s surrender in 1945. He was married to Pacita La’O, and he died of throat cancer in Muntinlupa in 1999 at age 80. His name is honored at Bantayog ng mga Bayani for fighting authoritarian rule.