Pascual B. Racuyal: The Man Who Dreamed of Malacañang but Ended Up in a Psychiatric Ward
Pascual Racuyal (1911-2004) He challenged everyone of them from Quezon to Cory. He had the nerves or perhaps, as others are saying, he had an "unstable mind"..."baliw". In the 1981 Presidential election, he missed filling his certificate of candidacy but still a journalist hunted him to get his opinion about the election. And in that interview..He still delivered that "Racuyalesque" rhetoric. In 1935, Racuyal signed his certificate of candidacy for President of the Republic in his blood. The Cebuano high school graduate also boasted of having his so-called "51 Platforms". He went around campaigning in the Cebu district on foot, wearing only a pair of sandals made from old tires and declaring that he was the Abraham Lincoln of the Philippines. On January 20, 1937, Pascual Racuyal was committed to the National Mental Hospital. President Quezon wanted to let him stay there till 1941 to prevent him from taking part again in the election but events...