448. Capt. RUFO C. ROMERO: How A Kapampangan West Pointer Became America’s Betrayer

Capt. RUFO ROMERO, convicted military spy, Kapampangan

In late November of 1940, a West Point graduate was convicted of espionage-- at that time, the first and only alumnus of the prestigious United States Military Academy to be court-martialed and charged for attempting to sell classified maps to Japan, via an intermediary. The military officer, Rufo C. Romero, also happens to be a Kapampangan, the illegitimate son of a poor woman with an unknown partner, who, some tongue wags say, was a priest.

Nevertheless, Romero grew up an intelligent child, finishing his secondary education at the Pampanga High School, class of 1926, where he was also a top Cadet Officer. However, it was at the University of the Philippines that  his brilliance showed, leading to an appointment at West Point. He graduated in 1931 with flying colors,  ranking 17th in his class—an incredible feat for a Filipino who, lumped with African-Americans, were considered as minorities.

Armed also with a civil engineering degree from the University of California, Romero seemed bound for an illustrious military career. He found love in the U.S., marrying 17 year old Lorraine Becker of Bronx, New York, before being sent back to the Philippines to serve as captain to the Philippine  Scouts.

The commander of the Philippine Scouts 14th Engineer Regiment recalls that Capt. Romero  was among the U.S. Army's most knowledgeable experts on the topography, road and trail network and defensive positions on Bataan.

Romero would also have known the value of such information to the Japanese and other foreign powers even long before the 1941 Philippine invasion ; there have been several cases in the past where confidential fortification blueprints of Corregidor and Bataan where stolen, lost,  or copied, clearly for use in military espionage. There was circumstantial evidence to suggest that Romero could very well be a spy, thus, a sting operation was hatched by the U.S. Army to entrap him.

The Army drew up a plan where a supposed Japanese-colluding Mindanao sultan was out on the market looking for such maps and classified documents. Romero, along with alleged civilian accomplices Ignacio Agbay and Mariano Cabrera, had photographed copies of Corregidor and Bataan defense maps, which the captain then attempted to sell for $25,000.

It was in this dramatic way that Romero was arrested, and court-martialed at Fort McKinley in November, 1940. By the 24th, he was found guilty of giving secret maps related to national defense to unauthorized persons, a violation of the Articles of War 96.

Professing his innocence, he volunteered to undergo any kind of brain operation that would erase his memories and recollections regarding military matters,  a last-ditch effort to save his tarnished reputation. Romero  was dishonorably discharged, lost all his pay allowances, and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor at McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington State. His wife, Lorraine, who had connived with him, was not charged.

After Romero served his time in prison, he left the United States to build a new career in the academe back in the Philippines. He taught engineering subjects at the National University  in Sampaloc, Manila, where students remember him as an amiable professor who likes engaging people in friendly conversations. Further distancing himself from his past, he went to Africa and Spain, where his tainted reputation was relatively unknown, and found some engineering jobs.

All this time, his notorious deed led his many fellow Filipinos to ask:  what makes a man of intelligence become a spy? What drives him to become a betrayer of his country, his family, and conscience? The world will never know as Rufo C. Romero  passed away in Spain on 3 January 1985, leaving behind his wife and 3 children in the U.S., remaining quiet about this one act of treachery that changed the course of their lives.

SOURCES:

Scott Harrison;s Espionage Page: https://corregidor.org/crypto/chs_crypto1/sting1.htm

West Point grad convicted for attempting to sell maps of fortifications to a foreign power: https://militarycorruption.com/romero/

Time Magazine: The Philippines: Spy Trial, 2 December 1940

Board of Review Holdings, Opinions and Reviews, https://books.google.com.ph/

 

*435. Maestro IRINEO L. MIRANDA, Dean of Philippine Cartoonists

DRAWING FROM EXPERIENCE. Acclaimed artist, painter, water colorist, caricaturist, art director and illustrator, Maestro Irineo Lintag Miranda of San Fernando.

The most accomplished artist who made a lasting mark in the field of cartooning and illustration was born in San Fernando to couple Catalino Miranda and Eustaquia Lintag on 15 Dec. 1896.  Irineo L. Miranda was so talented in drawing that at age 19--while still a student at the U.P. School of Fine Arts-- he was hired as an assistant illustrator with the Bureau of Printing.

A year after graduation, Miranda started worked at the Pacific Commercial Company where he designed product labels and created illustrations for advertisements—thus becoming one of country’s first agency art directors. His involvement in mass media art was looked at as just an extension of an artist’s activity, thus, outputs such as cartoon art were not regarded in the same breadth as painting. Even so, his alma mater believed in his talents; in 1918, Miranda was appointed to the Fine Arts faculty of the state university. The newly named professor taught decorative painting, cartooning and commercial design, an academic career that would last until 1961.

He flourished at the U.P., surrounded by his young, creative students whom he would address as “Ineng” and “Itoy”, as they presented their works for evaluation. He would critique each piece in English, delivered with humor and with a marked Pampango accent. He would count, among his students, future National Artists Carlos “Botong” Francisco, Cesar Legaspi and his favorite student who helped out in his illustrations, Carlos Valino Jr.

Meanwhile, he would move to Brown and Roosedel Advertising Co. in 1920, and chartered a different course from his peers like Dominador Castañeda and Fernando Amorsolo by illustrating the covers for Graphic, El Debate and Liwayway Magazines, dabbling in caricatures and working with watercolors. He was known for his theatrical style in painting, emphasizing lighting effects for example, and characterization of faces. His clients in the 1920s-30s included the Pampanga governor, Sotero Baluyot, Jorge Vargas Sr., Alfonso Ongpin and Lope K. Santos.

During the war years, the artist continued mentoring students, but resumed illustrating and painting with renewed vigor after the turbulent 40s. A 1953 jeep accident unfortunately sidelined him from painting for years—he fractured his armbone that led to a series of operations, incapacitating him temporarily.

Maestro Irineo Miranda first settled his family in front of the the Bellas Artes at R.Hidalgo St. He would sometimes use his daughter, Irinea, as his model for his paintings and sketches. Other models included Nena Saguil, Abdulmari Imao and the future senator Santanina Rasul who sat for him for the 1951 painting, “Tausug Princess”, which now hangs at the National Gallery of Art. Other well-known works include “Sampaguita Vendor” (1931, U.P. Filipiniana Collection) and “Portrait of Fabian dela Rosa” (1937 watercolor).

The maestro’s wife died young and the artist would never marry again. To while away his leisure hours, he would go and watch movies, which were one of his consuming passions. But he would always be devoted to his art. The acclaimed “Dean of Philippine Cartoonists” died of a heart attack on 21 Mar. 1964.

SOURCE: IRINEO MIRANDA 1896-1964, (c) 1972 Zone-D-Art Publications