My dad, Leoncio “Leo” R. Parungao, Jr. served as Press Secretary of the first President Macapagal at the very young age of 31. The call of public service was difficult to resist, and despite having a high-paying public relations job then at the Central Bank, my dad took the plunge, much to the chagrin of my late mother who craved for financial stability and a peaceful and quiet life.
And as far as I can tell, he did this job remarkably well, often spending long hours at Malacanang Palace. When I was a young boy, I used to spend hours on end every day during summer vacations just reading all the book-bound newspaper clippings painstakingly collected for him by my mom and his office secretaries. I thought his life was an exciting and meaningful one, and I wanted to be just like him.
But it wasn’t his stint at the Palace that made people sit up and notice; rather, it was his record of service as the dynamic 33-year old Manager of the Philippine Homesite & Housing Corporation (PHHC, the forerunner of the present-day National Housing Authority, or NHA) that won for him rave reviews and accolades for his “surprising” accomplishments as a government executive (his background before his appointment was solely in Journalism) in cleaning up the agency, alleviating the living conditions of long-suffering Sapang Palay residents, and ensuring the issuance of titles to fully-paid housing project tenants (like in Project 4, for instance), among others, that led to his being named as one of Asia Magazine’s 20 Outstanding Young Men (with Ninoy, FVR, Sixto Roxas, Manila Mayor Villegas, etc.). Eventually, he was recognized by the Philippine Jaycees with a ‘The Outstanding Young Men’ (TOYM) Award in 1964 in the field of Community Service.
More importantly, he kept his integrity intact during his years in the government. Some family friends actually harbored the thought that he must have acquired tracts of land for himself and lots for each of his children, only to find out that this was not the case at all. He served without any personal gain whatsoever; I should know – I grew up sometimes wishing we had more money. He’d tell us that all he had with him when he finally left the ‘snake pit’ was his good name. If only there were more government officials like him these days, our country wouldn’t be in such a mess!
Here is a 3-page article on him in the book entitled “The Outstanding Young Men 1959-1974″ published in October 1975 for the Philippine Jaycees by the Philippine Management Group, Inc. The book features many, many familiar names in Philippine history, some of whom are considered among the country’s heroes. I’m proud to say to one and all my dad’s one of them!
