Arsenio Luz

Arsenio Nicasio Luz y Katigbak (December 14, 1888 – 1966) was a Filipino showman, businessman, journalist and educator, remembered for being the General-Director of the Philippine Carnival which ran the Manila Carnival. He was an attaché for several Philippine Independence Missions to the U.S. as the representative of the press. He led trade negotiations during the transition to the Commonwealth and served as President Manuel L. Quezon's economic advisor at Malacañang throughout the Commonwealth Period. He was a charter member of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and the first Filipino President of the Rotary Club of Manila. He was manager of the Philippine Government Commercial Agency's New York branch and represented the Philippines at several conventions and expositions.

Early life Luz was born on December 14, 1888, to Don Manuel Metra de San Miguel-Luz and Doña Segunda Solis Katigbak, best known as the first love of José Rizal, in Lipa in Batangas province, which had become a city earlier that year.

Education Luz graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Liceo de Manila (Manila Central University) and studied law in the Escuela Derecho de Manila. While working for the Philippine Government in New York he took a special course in advanced journalism at Columbia University. Luz served under James J. Rafferty, the director of the agency.

On December 19, 1919, at the New York Agency of the Philippine National Bank, Luz was one of some fifty business men to meet Jaime de Veyra and Teodoro Yangco, the Resident Commissioners of Philippines who represented the Philippines in the U.S. House of Representatives, in order to develop and establish the new Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce. Luz was one of four men appointed to nominate twelve directors for the Chamber and propose a means of the Chambers functioning. The other three men were Charles C. Robinson, vice-president of the Philippines National Bank; Charles D. Orth, of Hanson and Orth; and B. E. Reuter. In 1932, Luz was recognized as a Publicity Leader in the Philippines due to his position of Director General of the Philippine Carnival which made Philippine progress internationally known. He served as Director-General for 17 of the company's 31 years, until the Carnivals ended in 1939. For his work as the Director General of the Philippine Exposition Inc. Luz was listed as a Manila leading Businessman in Miguel Cornejo's 1939 Commonwealth Directory.

From 1935 to 1941, Luz was involved in numerous oil and mining companies as a director or incorporator. Companies included Filipinas Mining Corporation, Far East Oil Development Company, Land Surveys and Registration Inc, South Tayabas Oil Company, Inc, Mindanao Oil Company, Inc., Mineral and Commercial Development Company, O.R.O. Oil Company, South Cebu Oil Company, Inc., and the Sterling & Company, Inc.

Political career

Philippine Independence In 1919, Luz as editor of El Ideal, was an attaché of the First Parliamentary Mission of the Independence Missions to the United States, serving as the representative of the press. The mission was led by Senate President Manuel Quezon, and received approval from U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. and Sixth Mission (1927).

In April 1920, as manager of the Philippine Government Commercial Agency in New York, Luz published Philippine Economic Development Under American Sovereignty in the Bankers' Magazine Periodical Vol. 100 Iss. 4. His article was split into five sections and explained the Philippine Economy to an American business audience, the first section was on the limited American knowledge of the Philippines; the second was on how trade has increased; the third was on growth of the Philippine National Bank; the fourth was on the money circulation; and the final section was on and trade with other countries. In 1932, for his assistance at the Colonial Exposition and as representative of The Philippines, Luz was conferred the rank of officer in the French Legion of Honour, France's highest order of merit.

In 1933 Luz managed the first National Charity Sweepstakes with Jorge B. Vargas and Isaac Barza.

Arensio Luz is quoted to have said "Independence is dead" during a Rotary Club speech shortly before the independence debate that led to Philippine Independence restarted in the U.S. Congress.

Commonwealth of the Philippines Luz served as an economic adviser at Malacañang throughout the Commonwealth period and took up several appointed positions. In 1936, Luz was part of the Commonwealth Anniversary Committee led by Elpidio Quirino, celebrating the first anniversary of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. He also served President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, organizer of the Philippine-American Trade Association.

In 1939, Luz served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Manila Hotel Company.

U.S. Army Intelligence during the war wrote that on January 18, 1944, President Laurel established a Bureau of Information and appointed Luz as its head. A position with the rank and salary of a Minister of State. The Bureau was established to "sell the new Japanese-backed Republic to the Filipino people" through "controlling, directing, supervising and coordinating all information or publicity activities of the government." The Bureau would edit and publish the Official Gazette.

The U.S. Army wrote a brief profile on Luz explaining why Laurel chose him for the Bureau position. Laurel picked a man who has a reputation for being a rather popular figure, particularly among businessman. Luz before the war served as head of the Philippine Carnival Association, was a high figure in Rotary circles, and in demand as a speaker. He is mostly Spanish, perhaps one-fourth Filipino. He was a neighbor and good friend of Laurel for a number of years. His principal role in the New Order before this has been as an Assistant Chairman of the Kalibapi.

Post World War II On November 18, 1946, President Roxas appointed Luz to the newly formed the Surplus Property Commission. Tasked with handling the surplus property procured by Title 2 of the Philippine Rehabilitation act of 1946. Following Roxas' untimely death, President Quirino replaced Luz with the Hon. José Zulueta for the Surplus Property Commission.

In 1953, Luz was Director-General of the Philippines International Fair, Inc. and announced the Philippine Government's 1954 16-day national fair. As Director-General Luz managed the Philippines World Fair, the first World Fair to be held in the South Pacific. The fair featured Hawaiian showman E.K. Fernandez.

Boy Scouts Luz (centre) Founders of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. Stamp for National Boy Scout Movement 50th Anniversary, 28 Oct 1987. In 1928, Luz registered to be a member of the Cebu Council, Boy Scouts of America. On October 31, 1936, Luz and the other Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) founders officially chartered the BSP in Commonwealth Act No. 111 authorized by President Manuel Quezon. Later, he was appointed as Secretary of the Boy Scout Foundation by Joseph Stevenot and served in the BSP's National Executive Board.

Awards and honours