Brod Francisco "Frankie"
Llaguno
UP Diliman 1957
Betan Rites in honor of Brod
Frankie Llaguno
by Vic Ramos
On the day (July 5) of our final rites, Quezon City was drenched with
heavy rain (blessings). The roads to the Sanctuarium, especially Araneta
Ave where it is situated, was flooded. In spite of this, we saw a record
attendance of the brods, albeit quite late. Brod Frankie’s family had to
get a room twice bigger than they had originally booked to accommodate a
record attendance. We saw brods like Lito Imperio who had not attended any
rites before.
Scheduled for 7pm, it finally started after 8:30pm to wait for some brods
who were stranded in the flooded areas. As usual, the resident brods
presided over the solemn rites. Brods Vic Ramos, Jimmy Yambao, Buddy
Garbanzos, Romy Lumauig and acting alumni president Rolly Reyes (Rene de
Rueda is in the US) took turns delivering their eulogies. Brod Jimmy sang
the Lord’s Prayer.
It was a fitting tribute to a brod who had given much to the fraternity.
Frankie Llaguno, 3rd left, at
Rico Arranz' 83rd birthday celebration at Gerardo's Grill - Oct. 24, 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He lighted a candle for us that
cannot be extinguished
(Eulogy of Brod Victor O. Ramos, UPD
'62, during the final rites of the fraternity in honor of
Brod Francisco L. Llaguno, UPD '57 at Sanctuarium, Quezon City, July 5,
2011)
I first met Frankie in 1962 when I joined the fraternity and also the
Collegian staff during the editorship of Brod Lito Imperio. I was then a
premed student and wanted to learn how to write. So, I started my learning
curve by watching Frankie, Lito and Erwin Castillo pound their typewriters
and come out with the most sublime words in the English language ever
printed on a campus paper.
At that time Frankie was already a seasoned writer with his own style of
clear, elegant and piercing sentences that revealed aspects of campus life
in his much-loved column, “Charivari”. I hope that Jenny will reprint in a
book the collections of his columns because they told the story of our
life in Diliman during the early '60s.
He loved the creative process. But he also knew that this gift of
perspicacious thinking could be just an indulgence unless put to greater
use. So, he was in the lookout for a worthy collaborator who could
appreciate his talents and use them strategically on national issues. He
found that man in Rafael M. Salas -- one of his professors at the UP
College of Law and later Vice President of UP under Carlos P. Romulo. He
was a scion of the Montinola, Yulo and Araneta clans of Negros who did not
share these clans' propensity for profligacy.
Salas was the ideal choice as mentor and partner. He was young and
ambitious. He loved to read and appreciated good writing. So he quickly
knew what strategic role Frankie could play in his political plans. During
his student years, Salas was head of every student organization worth
running for. Through all those years, he nurtured a wide network of former
student leaders from all schools who continued to be loyal to him. They
would form a formidable network for political campaigns. In the early '60s
Salas was already considered the best administrator of his generation.
Someday he could become President.
The Salas team was put to a test in the presidential campaigns of Marcos
against Macapagal in 1964-65. When Marcos won, Salas was 1 appointed
Executive Secretary -- the Little President. As the most trusted assistant
of Salas, Frankie started to recruit brods into the fold. Together with
Boy Morales they plotted out the key areas in government where the brods
could be deployed and earn their internship. They were so successful that
the Sigma Rhoans started to complain to their Brod Salas that there were
more Betans in Malacanang than Sigma Rhoans. That is how many brods
started their careers under the tutelage of Frankie.
We became a community of believers. We believed in a dream that we could
go beyond our simple lives and contribute immensely on a national scale.
Salas sent many of us abroad for studies so that we would be better
prepared for greater challenges in the future. No other leader at that
time would be surrounded by so many foreign-trained assistants. For me
coming from a poor farming town in Pangasinan, it was a real eye-opener
because during my first trip abroad I realized that I could hold my own
against the best of my peers anywhere in the world. It gave me a lot of
self-confidence. Those were heady days. We felt we could do anything with
Salas as our leader. From him, we have imbibed the passion for public
service.
Tracing back, that was the road that started my long journey to eventually
become a Cabinet member in 1995. Salamat sa iyo Frankie.
I have confined
my remembrances of Frankie during our years in college and Malacanang
because those were the years when Frankie opened a lot of doors for the
brods and gave them wings.
We were assigned to various agencies -- Education where Boy Morales held
court, Congress where brods acted as liaison or pages, national
intelligence, defense, housing and political operations. I was assigned to
the PR group in the palace with Frankie as our head.
We accompanied Salas in his
provincial trips to look after the rice harvests that made possible for
the country to export for the first time in our history. We were part,
however small, of a breakthrough and national achievement.
We wrote press releases on the Salas approach to governance. We wrote his
speeches mostly in outline form. A sentence was enough for Salas to
expound on an idea. But for major speeches, we had to depend on Frankie. I
remember that Salas was asked to deliver a speech in a UN conference
abroad. We asked an expert on the theme of the conference to make the
initial draft. When it did not get the approval of Salas, we were too
apoplectic. He would leave in a few days! But Frankie was the only one
unperturbed. He quietly sat down on his chair in his apartment, looked at
some pages of Gunnar Myrdal's book, then started to pound on his
typewriter. We were seated outside to give him peace and quiet. After
about 3 hours, he had a first draft. When it was presented the next day,
it got a smile and ok from the boss. Sabi namin, papano na pag wala si
Frankie?
We did research on what should be our national goals for the next 20 years
following the example of Eisenhower when he was US president. We would
bring in professors from Diliman to expound on aspects of these goals. We
were preparing to assume eventual national leadership.
Salas had a good practice of gathering the staff at the end of the day and
telling us about some problems of the administration. It was his way of
making us part of the governing process. He would define the problem and
then ask around what was the key to the solution? For example, he would
talk about a problem with Speaker Viillareal about some legislative
issues. What are our options? Those sessions were very instructive. When I
became a Cabinet member and confronted with a problem, I would look back
at those sessions and ask what Salas would have done, how he would define
the problem and find a solution.
Life in Malacanang was not all work. I will always remember our Holy Week
vacations in Daraga, Albay -- the beautiful coastal town where Frankie was
born. Meeting his parents explained a lot about Frankie. Frankie's father,
a dead-ringer for Anthony Quinn, was a bear-chested man with a booming
voice. He was witty, literate and cheerful. He could quote Shakespeare or
John Donne out of the blue. This was the side of Frankie that we saw when
he was happy either writing or drinking with the brods. On the other hand,
his mother was a quiet, self-effacing, self-assured woman of means. This
was the side of Frankie that many remember -- taciturn and often times
mistaken for being aloof. Actually his moments of silence were his way of
recharging by reaching deep down to gather energy from his trove of wisdom
and imaginative thinking.
Summing up, Frankie's life was a blessing to many of us in the fraternity.
We thanked our lucky stars for joining the fraternity when he was there to
open windows of opportunity at a time when we were looking for a place
under the sun. But his life was not unlike that of a tragic character in
classical literature. He had a dream that we could do more for the country
under the leadership of Mr. Salas. When Salas died unexpectedly in 1987,
it sapped the lights out of him. He got depressed and lost much of his
zest for life. It was a slow death for him ever since.
Still we thank Frankie for making us part of that dream. He lighted a
candle for us that cannot be extinguished.
That's why tonight we mourn the passing of this brother because we are not
sure if we have thanked him enough for ushering us into a world that we
would never have known without him.
In closing, I recall a Japanese proverb that Frankie liked to quote: “Whatever road you take, you're going home.”
I believe he is now home with our Lord.
GOODBYE BROTHER.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MESSAGES
I announce with a heavy heart the
passing of Brod Frankie Llaguno, UPD '57. He joined His Maker at 11:15am
today (July 1). Brod Frankie was a pillar of the fraternity. He was a
campus poet and author of the much-loved column called "Charivari" during
the editorship of Brod Lito Imperio. After college, he helped launch the
careers of hundreds of Brods by giving them their first jobs as assistants
in the Office of the President under the wing of the late Executive
Secretary Rafael M. Salas (first term of President Marcos).
Brod Buddy Garbanzos was one of those early recruits of Frankie. I quote
his text to me about this milestone: "I am saddened by this news. He
touched and moved so many lives, made it possible for many of us to
manifest ourselves beyond our own expectations. I will always remember him
with much respect, love and gratitude. May he find the peace that he so
richly deserves. We have lost a true brother and a friend."
Vic Ramos'62
*************************
Frankie gave me my first job.
That was sometime in 1969 when he asked me to do press releases for the
late Leonardo Siguion Reyna who was running for the Constitutional
Convention. I was 19 years old and wrote in short paragraph sentences that
he liked. We drank beer in his apartment near the corner of EDSA and
Quezon Avenue across the present Hi Top supermarket. Very quiet and proper
drinking. His wife used to work at the UN in Rome but I had no sense of
kids in the family then. Frankie drove a 2 cylinder Citroen with doors
that opened from the front side. I rode in it a couple of times. It was
like riding in a hammock. Frankie and I just talked mostly work and we
never knocked heads in the streets together, though he knew Erwin Castillo
well, with whom I knocked a few heads in the streets together. After that
short stint with Siguion Reyna, he set me up with Buddy Garbanzos and
Manny Balangue to work with the late Jun Leido who was a Congressman from
Mindoro in the early seventies. While studying in Diliman I rode the bus
to Congress in Manila late afternoons. I was a page who passed papers to
Leido when he was on the floor. Sometimes I went up the second floor to
listen to the debates in the Senate with Aquino, Tanada and Diokno and the
others with their impassioned causes. After that, Frankie introduced me to
the late Ric Serrano, killed in Pampanga in the 1990s. Ric was one of the
so-called Salas boys who worked with Juan Ponce Enrile at Defense in 1971.
He took me in as a Speechwriter and that started my 14 year career at
defense. That was in 1972, I never saw Frankie after that. But after 40
years I will never forget Frankie, and I know that he will always be out
there, somewhere, looking for kids who could write a line or two. Cheers,
Brod.
Yong Afable'68
*************************
Hope we can have a journal or a
book of the memorable lives of Betans in order to inspire us today and
give us a written record of our beloved fraternity. Cheers!
Abe Agulto'71
*************************
Brod Frankie Llaguno, one of the
technocrats most valued by the then Rafael Salas, was also a great poet
and editorial writer. He was also responsible for recruiting some of the
best minds in the frat towards the service of our beloved country, the
Philippines. Even in his waning days, Brod Frankie was a member of UPBSFI,
Inc. courtesy of our very own beloved Secretary Victor O. Ramos. This is
sad news, indeed.
Willie Vergara'67
*************************
This recent info on Brod Frankie
Llaguno's death is, again, a sad news for the brotherhood. Indeed, Brod
Frankie Llaguno was a pillar of our fraternity. I first met him sometime
in 1987 at the office of Brod VOR, then DENR Usec for Field Operations,
and thereafter during the latter's incumbency as DENR Secretary, and in
our frat's affairs. Brod Frankie could be likened to the saying that
"silent water runs deep". He seemed to be of silent type, but listening to
him discussed the ills and needed reforms of Philippine bureaucracy, you
would find out that the brother was full of knowledge and wisdom. We will
surely miss him.
Our prayers for his eternal rest, and sincere condolences to the bereaved
family.
Rene de Rueda'64
*************************
I've tried to resist the
temptation of saying something about our departed brod Frankie, as a
tribute to his kindness coz I'm not good when it comes to words. Kaya lang
naisip ko sayang naman kung hindi ko ipapaalam sa mga brods na hindi
nakakilala sa kanya ang kabutihan nya bilang isang tunay na brod.
He's a visionary. Tahimik, ngunit matapang, artistic, matalino at magaling
na tao.It was he who gave me my first crack in practicing my designing
skills while still a young Fine Arts student without knowing me yet. He
simply took the word of another brod Rey Rivera. It was he who gave me my
first all paid vacation trip to his hometown of Daraga, Albay with another
brod Pogs Gaspay in exchange for the delivery of some sample ballots to a
certain Raul Roco. We were treated like family by his real family. I
fondly called his dad Anthony Quinn, a real dead ringer and without
Frankie knowing it I would refer to him as Chuck...(nalimutan ko na), the
Rifleman (a popular TV series at the time).
From there he gave me and some brods some things to do in our spare time
to augment our needs as students. When I was beginning to show promise as
an entertainer, he even thought of creating a career planning corp of
elder brods to see me through the process. That's how caring Frankie was.
I just want to reemphasize how we, as elders now, could and should do the
same for the younger batches of Beta Sigmans. In like manner that brods
Vic Ramos, Teddy Rey, Ely Santiago, Banz Banez, Boy Morales and some other
brods have done and still doing their fraternal chores.
Cheerz to brod Frankie!!!
Willie Nep'69a
*************************
Helping a brod get started in his
career is noble . Rejoicing in seeing a brod succeed is priceless. Brods
like Frankie Llaguno, Teddy Rey, and Vic Ramos are the true wealth of our
brotherhood.
Judz Rey'68
*************************
Yes indeed, brod Frank Llaguno is
a pillar in the UP Beta Sigma fraternity, particularly to those in the
60's whom he has interacted and influenced. A thinker, raconteur and
everyone's man, yes Frankie, we will miss you. Joining all the brods
mourning his loss and praying for the repose of his soul.
Fraternally,
Winston Acevedo'61 Diliman
*************************
After having undergone my first
session as a neophyte, I was made to report to Brod Frankie Llaguno at his
office at the Instititute of Mass Communications at the time. His
perspective on the whys and wherefores of what I was going through as a
neophyte was a defining moment for me. It was then that I realized that I
was entering a different plane in human relationships. He was right in
saying that the friendships being forged at that time would last a
lifetime. I can't pretend to have always lived up to the ideals of what he
had defined brotherhood to be, but certainly I am thankful to have been a
recipient of his attention and wisdom.
To brod Frankie, thank you and Godspeed.
Ike Araneta'71b
*************************
Brod Frankie, brods like you will
always live in the hearts of Betans. May you rest in peace, Brod.
Sonny Pagador'76
*************************
I read the news about Frankie's
death this morning. Not totally unexpected, thanks to the earlier news
courtesy of Brod Rolly Reyes about Frankie's illness. I was able to call
his number, maybe a month ago, but it was only Jenny his wife who could
answer as Frankie was too weak already. Jenny said they were trying to
sell their house at Sikatuna Village to pay for Frankie's treatment. This
was the house Frankie bought way back in the 1980's after retiring from
his post at FAO in Rome. It was this house where I had several occasions
to get to know him better as we talk and drink during my 7 years of stay
in the Philippines before I returned back for good to my home here in
California. He was a valuable mentor and professional confidante,
encouraging me to write a weekly op-ed column at the now defunct Business
World, counseling me through some challenging times during my time as the
Environment Management Bureau's Director at DENR.
I first met Frankie when Rey Rivera introduced me to him and mentioned to
Frankie that I could write and was in need of a part-time job, while
finishing my engineering degree. As others here attest, Frankie was always
willing to help a deserving brod - even untried resident brods. He got me
a job drafting form letters for a campaign he has handling - perhaps the
same campaign that Yongyong mentions as my boss was the maverick Ric
Serrano of the DND. Being an engineer I was also assigned to trouble-shoot
the production of printing presses that were getting delayed in their
printing of sample ballots - something I really enjoyed doing as it
allowed me to apply my skills in systems analysis and process/work
efficiency as I identified bottlenecks, used my PERT/CPM charting skills
to rework schedules and crash critical activities. I was so good that the
owner of one of the printing presses offered me a fulltime job I was not
ready to accept at that time. I also had a lot of fun times with Frankie
and other brods working for him then as he would give us time-off, with
beer and banters, after working our asses off. One of that fun moment was
the episode that Willie Nep mentions when we were assigned to bring some
crated sample ballots to Cong. Raul Roco's home and had some hree days of
R&R in Frankie's hometown of Daraga (a beautiful place). That was very
memorable, especially with some surprises that Willie Nep may not want to
share right now (he-he). That was my first training in field operations.
Something that came handy, and was even honed more, when I started working
for Teddy Rey (another of my beloved mentor brods) a few years after my
graduation.
I lost touch with Frankie when he left for a high post at the FAO in Rome
(sometime in 1972 or 73). But rediscovered him again when I started
teaching at AIM in 1993. Frankie knew intimately the corridors of power in
the Phil. government and was a good navigating guide. He was also fun to
be with - if he liked your company - and Boyette Fenandez and me had
occasional but almost regular drinking sessions with him. Frankie had the
soul of a poet, the pen of a good prose writer and the mind of a true
philosopher. Perhaps few brods knew that Fraknie's pugilist demeanor comes
from his amateur boxing in his younger years - as Erwin Castillo was (a
Godlen Gloves champion?). Erwin is another brod with poetry dripping from
his blood who works in prose. His short novel, The Firewalkers, is sheer
poetry in prose. It is no wonder that Frankie took in Yongyong
immediately, for Yongyong is a true poet. Creator of powerful pulsating
lines that makes you virtually see and smell the places he raves about.
Banngue was another poet of our times, spinning kilometric lyrical rants
of a spurned lover. As Yong was terse and brief as Pacquiao's knockout
punch, Banggue will take you through a poetical journey. And we all were
inspired by Frankie's foray into the written world. Aahh, old men can only
reminisce their romantic times. The tradition passes on as I read the
letters of younger brods, such as Joel and Raffy, and feel the power of
their words.
I could tell you moe about Frankie, how he took the time to help some
resident brods in the 1980s (Liggayu?) who got jailed for the usual
troubles, and get them out using his connections. But I could not even
make myself write this e-mail earlier, as a kind of tribute to one of our
fallen heroes, as the series of deaths and illnesses weigh heavily on my
spirit. Dopoy, just a few weeks ago, then now Frankie and the news about
Romy Acota's terminal disease. Romy is another beloved brod who was a
kindred spirit in my time with Vic Ramos at the DENR. A very intellectual
brod who is faulted with a social conscience. As when something epic
happens, we all pause, and the pausing is becoming more frequent. Perhaps
it is simply the drumbeat of life and nature signaling us to savor and
un-spare each day of good health and fortune.
The passing of Frankie marks the passing of an important chapter in our
fraternity's history. The days of wine and roses are becoming days of
golden remembrances. I mourn and celebrate!
Cheers to Frankie! He's so good, he's so good......
Pogs Gaspay'68
*************************
the life and character of brod
frankie llaguno is revealed not by his biography but by quality of men who
have spoken when we received the sad news of him leaving us for good.
leaving us may not be the most appropriate phrase for this departure
considering that what he contributed will be with us forever. that quiet
glance and assessing aura vibrates like a hidden bomb about to explode
descriptive of the character of this legendary betan. muttering three or
four sentences in an hour, his eyes mirrored the vastness of his thoughts
and the accumulated years of wisdom acquired. when i received the text
message i got from brod boyet fernandez regarding his demise, i
instinctively spread the story to everyone without expecting that i will
be left alone sadly remembering the images of this man dissolving like a
muted slide show with crawling text underneath enumerating stories of how
he helped young brods to start mounting the saddle of their horses for
that long journey. true, frankie was a day care center for young minds and
touched the lives of so many brods in so many ways. yes, our fraternity is
both getting older as many have failed to answer that roll call...and
getting younger when you hear new laughters of young brods getting in.
that betan seal may fade and glow through the years but brods like frankie
will definitely hold it tight and up high forever.
paalam brod frankie and in behalf of up fine arts brods, maraming salamat
po.
rolly reyes - spirit of '66
*************************
It is sad indeed to learn of the
passing of Brod Frankie Llaguno.
While I did not have the privilege to get to know Frankie on a more
personal basis . . . that is, spend some quality time together in
conversation because he was a few years ahead of me in Diliman . . . I
admired him greatly for his accomplishments, particularly his writings. He
is one of the greats of our fraternity. I am sure he is now resting in
peace.
Please extend my condolences and prayers to his family.
Ben Pires'64
*************************
Farewell to a quintessential
Betan who lived and breathed "Beta Sigma". My sincere condolences to Brod
Frankie's family. May his soul rest in peace.
Edwin Acuna UPD'76D
*************************
Please extend my profound
condolences to Jenny, his wife and the other members of the family of our
departed brother Frankie Llaguno. I would have been very proud to meet,
talk, and just be around our illustrious brod Frankie, after all the good
and great things he did to and for his country and his brods.
It has been more than half a century since I saw him as a young student in
the late fifties and early sixties. Our meetings were brief and casual,
what with us veterinary students saddled so early with our studies and our
brods in the AS and other colleges also busy with their own studies.
Except for some who were more senior and the bright stars among us, like
Boy Morales, Lito Imperio, Jimmie Yambao, and so on, many Betans were
discovering themselves and developing their potentials.
Frankie was one of us, and I'm very happy for him that along the way he
bloomed into a great mind and a prolific doer of remarkable works. My
heart bursts with pride to read about good thing brods who have known him
and got close to him say about this exceptional UP Betan, for he is our
brother. I offer prayers for the repose of his soul and for God to comfort
and console his loved ones and family, and will continue to do so as I
pray for my own departed loved ones and other departed brods and friends.
May God welcome you into His bosom brother Frankie, where you will have
only peace, bliss, and contentment.
Fraternally,
Cesar Antonio'57
*************************
I just have to write something --
nothing profound-- but something that I must do to move on and do my other
stuff. I feel that if I don't write about Frank (even though my
face-to-face interaction with him was very brief), his memory will just
linger on my mind without any form of closure. You see, I heard about him
but just met him sometime in December 2009 at Brod Boyet Fernandez' house
in Antipolo. It was very nice of him and Jenny (and for some 10 or 12
brothers and host Boyet) to welcome me back after 35 years of being away
from the Philippines, residing in another country. My conversation with
him was very brief, just feeling each other's interests, yet very
brotherly and warm. The attached photo is with Brod Jimmy serenading all
of us and as you can see, Brod Frankie and Jenny are having a good time
just like all of us in the crowd. After our brief encounter, Brod Frankie
sent me one of his published commentary in the form of a press release for
Newsbreak (he really tried to reach out and connect with me on issues he
knew I am passionate about). I have been reading all the Brods' beautiful
words about Frankie. I just want to add that he just didn't belong to our
fraternity's rank of intellectual brothers but he was also sharp and
sensitive to the needs of the Filipino masses. He was a scholar with a
critical mind! A critical pedagogue! In that commentary, Brod Frankie
wrote about his concern for the people in the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) who live on US$1 a day. He wrote about the poor conditions
of people, poor nutrition, and lack of health that contributed to the
region's high death rate. He wrote about poor education in the region and
the lack of academic achievement that he attributed to low per student
expenditure of P100 a year! He understood the government's corruption and
its role in fanning the fire of conflict in the South. In his own words,
"all of these to the detriment of the millions of poor, powerless
people... especially the children trying to survive there."
God bless you, brod Frankie.
Peace!
Joe Lalas'69C
*************************
37 years ago at Frankie &
Jenny's apartment in NYC
-- and a group of zany Betans
by Norman Bituin
December of '74. It was my first
winter in Toronto and I decided to take a week off from work. I called my
kabatch Boi Wico in Newark, NJ to see if I could spend the holidays there.
Soon enough I was headed up the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania towards the Big Apple in my Toyota station wagon. Boi rounded up the brods
and set up the Christmas jugalug at Frankie and Jenny's apartment in NYC.
It was a merry night, as you might expect, from a group of young
and cool Betans - Frankie Llaguno, Pet Grajo, Wally Rodriguez, Iking Agana,
Jimmy Yambao, Boi Wico and myself.
Surprise Jenny and Brods, I've kept
these old photos of now some 37 years.
"Old Betans never die, they
just...".
You know the line.
We love you and Cheers Forever,
Brod Frankie!!
Wally and Iking congratulate the
rising star in DFA, Consul Jimmy, of Sorbonne Paris fame
Frankie and Jenny graciously host
the "wild and crazy" brods on Christmas'74
Just like the tambayan days -
Cheers!!
Pretty smashed as Jimmy steals a nap
The Betan Doo Wops:
Boi, Jimmy, Iking, Norman, Wally,
Frankie and Pet
(Back ---> In Memoriam)
