41. THE GOVERNOR AT SHAW’S WACK WACK

THE GOVERNOR AT SHAW’S WACK WACK

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

31 August 2017

I am to retire for the day after attending the birthday get-together of my boss, Isabela Governor Faustino “Bojie” Dy III at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City. My hotel is almost adjacent the main gate of Wack Wack along Shaw Boulevard and as I browse the photos of the gathering, I was curious about the history of the golf club and why the name Shaw Boulevard remained unrenamed for the past decades compared to old American Street names like Dewey Boulevard, Calle Washington, Harrison Boulevard and Governor Forbes Street which were rechristened to Roxas Boulevard, A. Maceda Street, Quirino Avenue and A.H. Lacson Avenue, respectively. The man named Shaw may have contributed much to the community or to the field he once ruled in his lifetime for him to be immortalized with a street name.

Yesterday, the Governor led the inauguration of the newly constructed Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) – Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Headquarters as highlight of his simple celebration of his birthday. The official post of the Isabela Provincial Information Office in its Facebook account shows: Gov. Faustino G. Dy III, PDRRMC Chair, took the lead in the inauguration and blessing of the PDRRMC-BFP HEADQUARTERS with BFP RO2 Regional Director SSUPT Joselito A Cortez, BFP Isabela Provincial Fire Marshall CINSP Juanito Diamsay, and PDRRM Officer Edmond A. Guzman. The prayer service and blessing of the building was conducted by Most Rev. Fr. Ingeno E. Rapadas.

At the side of the PDRRMC Office, the official marker is prominently displayed with this DEDICATION: This edifice, the PDRRMC-BFP HEADQUARTERS stands tall as a proud testament to our unwavering commitment and firm resolve to champion Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in the country. Built during the administration of Governor Faustino G. Dy III and Vice Governor Antonio T. Albano, the Headquarters is home to the GAWAD KALASAG Best PDRRMC in the Philippines and the flagship in a fleet of facilities to comprise what is envisioned as the Isabela DRRM Complex, aimed at enhancing our capacities and strengthening our mechanisms to address the effects of nature’s wrath and the complexities of the changing climate of an Earth in peril.

Never before has any generation of Isabeleños been given so great an opportunity to raise and nurture a culture of preparedness, while honoring its commitment to the highest ideals of excellence. Inspired by the resilience of our people, and emboldened by the courage and fortitude of our firefighters, soldiers, police officers and rescuers, we are committed to provide a fortress to a formidable network of DRRM warriors and climate change crusaders who share our compelling vision of a safer, environment-friendly, climate smart and disaster resilient Isabela.

The fiery passion to serve that started as a tiny spark has ignited into a conflagration that engulfs the entire province. Let us therefore continue to blaze the trail in DRRM, always rising to the occasion and never ceasing to demonstrate our core values of diligence, vigilance and resilience in the midst of adversity. And as we herald the dawning of a new and triumphant day in a province where rescuers never sleep, we vow to continue to harness the hero in every Isabeleño.

The first time I encountered the name of the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club was when I was studying at the La Salle Green Hills since one its gate is located in front of our school in Ortigas Avenue. Surfing the net, I encountered the blog of louopal, “lougopal”, with an article on Manila Nostalgia. The historical development of the golf club complete with picture gave me a smile as I learned why Mr. Shaw was honored until this time.

“The Philippine Open was held from 1913 to 1934 at the Manila Golf Club, mostly won by Caucasian amateurs. Filipinos were barred from taking part in the Open until some kind-hearted unidentified American decided to sponsor a talented local caddy, Larry Montes, who learned the game by himself without the benefit of coaches and trainers or golf theory and training.

Somehow he bypassed the color barrier and was allowed to play. The irony of it was that he won and became the club’s first professional champion. But the officials were agog because as winner of the open, he deserved to sit at the presidential table during the awards dinner. Alas, cooler (and bigoted) Caucasian heads prevailed and they asked poor Montes to leave in the middle of the ceremony, stating club rules which prohibited caddies from entering the clubhouse.

Enter William “Bill” Shaw, an American member of the club and coincidentally married to a Filipina. The club officials soon felt his anger at this blatant evidence of discrimination...

His sense of fair play drove him to form another golf club, which would be open to all races and free from any discrimination. A new site in Mandaluyong was selected. A vigorous campaign was launched with a picnic at the proposed site of the golf course followed a few days later by a luncheon hosted by Bill Shaw at Tom’s Dixie Kitchen where applications for membership were distributed and filled out. [Source: Cris Pin, post on Manila Nostalgia]

Membership subscriptions were offered at P1,000 each among Filipinos and foreigners with a limit of 400 active members. The subscription was quickly filled. The club was incorporated in February 28, 1930 with Bill Shaw as its first president.”

William James Bernard Shaw (1877-1939) was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist who permanently resided in the Philippines. He worked as a busboy on a US Army transport ship to pay his passage to Manila, arriving in 1901 and never left since then. He eventually became part owner of Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific; served as President of the Rotary Club of Manila (1925–1926) and a member of the board of the Boy Scouts of America Philippine Islands Council No. 545. Shaw Boulevard and The William J. Shaw Theater in Greenbelt, Ayala Center, Makati City were named after him. A small monument of Shaw's stands along Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong.

Today, Shaw Boulevard, formerly known as Jose Rizal Boulevard, is a 6-10 lane highway connecting the cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig in Metro Manila. The road is one of the major thoroughfares of the Ortigas Center in Mandaluyong and Pasig, housing many shopping malls like the Starmall on EDSA-Shaw, The Marketplace and the posh Shangri-La Plaza. It is served by the Shaw Boulevard Station of the MRT-3 along EDSA.

The same blog narrates the name origin of Wack Wack. “Apparently it started when a foursome was playing at Archbishop O’Doherty’s 9-hole course rented to Shaw and friends. At the last tee near Malecon Drive close to Ft. Santiago, when one golfer hooked his drive into some tall bushes, scaring the heck out of some crows. Their cries sounded like “wak wak” . From then on the term wack wack was yelled out similar to the term “fore”. The club’s logo shows the two wacks or crows... Some say, it was termed for the Tagalog reference to the raven, Uwak Uwak.”

Governor Bojie Dy, an avid golfer, celebrating his natal day at the Wack Wack Clubhouse refreshed me on the story of Mr. Bill Shaw regarding discrimination. Like Mr. Shaw, Governor Dy made sure, in his almost four decades of public service, to give the proper and equal assistance to the common Isabeleño most especially the farmerfolks.