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 took a different turn when war came.
Racuyal went on to participate in every Presidential election after the war until the 1960s. In 1981 he missed filing his certificate of candidacy. (Bungal na siya noon). During the Snap Election of 1986, he was declared a nuisance candidate.
Racuyal in his many attempts for the presidency, promised these things if elected: He will run the country via remote control. He will build movable plastic roads to ease traffic. He will accept no more than 1000 pesos a month as salary. He will introduce a new monetary system and issue bills that are fireproof. He also promised to give jobs to the unemployed, investigate friar lands, pass a law imposing a 100-year sentence to corrupt government officials. He also would sell the presidential yacht (the Casiana) once elected. Incredibly some of these campaign promises were taken as laughable at that time but much of what he said turns out to be a reality right now.
Above all, Racuyal challenged Quezon and other candidates to a debate and he declared that if he wins the presidency he will start his government's investigation on Vice President Osmena by asking him 1000 simple questions -- What those questions were, we would probably never know.
From all these accounts one might not help but compare the kind of politicians we have right now, those shunning presidential debates--They are not even in the league of a Racuyal?
Pascual Racuyal passed into obscurity, but now and then comes back to haunt us with memories of his antics or his wisdom when presidential election comes. Lest we forget, he was that man who once dreamed of occupying Malacañang but ended up in a psychiatric ward.

Perhaps Pascual Racuyal lived in another world, he saw the future, he saw our time?
Vive le Racuyalesque!





From The Tribune- March 2, 1938


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