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Ricardo Manapat
Jose Ricardo de Leon Manapat (May 24, 1953 – December 24, 2008) was an activist, scholar, writer, researcher, and educator who was the Director of the Records Management and Archives Office of the Philippines (The National Archives) from 1996 to 1998 and 2002 to 2008. He is best known as the author of the book, "Some Are Smarter Than Others: The History of Marcos' Crony Capitalism", a work on anti-cronyism exposing the wealth of the Marcos dynasty, and as Editor-in-Chief of the "Smart File", Smart File Magazine Animal Farm Series.
Ricardo Manapat was born on May 24, 1953, in Manila, Philippines. His father, Apolinario B. Manapat (1925–2006), was a mechanical engineer, and his mother, Angelita de Leon (b. 1923), is a pharmacist and was a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Santo Tomas for 30 years. Manapat was the eldest of five children, and his siblings are Maria Teresa, Maria Lourdes, Maria Cristina, and Jose Alfredo.
As a young child, Manapat served as an acolyte at the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City, when Mass was still given in Latin. He played piano and violin, and also studied the clarinet and trumpet. He was an avid and voracious reader, and he kept music and books as part of his daily life. He completed his elementary, high school, college, and post-graduate studies at the Ateneo de Manila University, where he cultivated and pursued his interests in mathematics, physics, linguistics, history, economics, and philosophy. He was fluent in English, Spanish and Filipino, and spoke German, French, and Italian. He also studied Latin, Portuguese, Arabic, Catalan, and Sanskrit in his later years.
In his high school days, Manapat wanted to serve his country, and in response to the Marcos dictatorship, he joined Kasapi (Kapulungan ng mga Sandigan ng Pilipinas)[clarification needed] and postponed his studies at the Ateneo for a year and became very active in the movement. He resumed his high school studies at the Ateneo de Manila, and obtained his college degree in Philosophy in 1976, graduating with Departmental Honors.
Manapat was pursuing a doctorate in Economics at the New School for Social Research in New York, when he decided to return to the Philippines after the People Power movement led by President Corazon Aquino in 1986. He completed a master's degree in Spanish at the University of the Philippines[which?], while pursuing master's degrees in Mathematics and History at the Ateneo de Manila University. In 2005, he began his studies in Historical Sociology towards a doctoral degree at La Trobe University in Australia. He was the recipient of a Commonwealth International Student Scholarship and was awarded the DM Myer Medal as the most outstanding undergraduate student graduating in that Faculty in 2006.
After graduating with honors, Manapat became an instructor at the Department of Philosophy in the Ateneo de Manila University from 1977 to 1979. In December 1979, he met with Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. ("Ninoy") at the Aquino residence in Quezon City, where Manapat was congratulated by Aquino for his then 48-page pamphlet, “Some are Smarter than Others”. Aquino, while incarcerated in Fort Bonifacio in 1979, called the document as “the most explosive document to have rocked the city of Manila”. The meeting in Quezon City proved to be the beginning of a lifelong friendship between the two. A year later, Manapat received a letter from Aquino asking him to develop his pamphlet into a book. Manapat started working on the book in the United States in 1980.
Manapat worked at Bear Stearns, a global investment banking and securities firm in New York City, in 1988.[dead link] While in the United States, Manapat also took computer programming courses at New York University and briefly taught at St. Peter's College in New Jersey.
Manapat then completed his book, “Some are Smarter than Others: The History of Marcos’ Crony Capitalism”, in 1991. The book takes its title from a statement made by Imelda Marcos on criticisms regarding her relatives who became overnight millionaires under the Marcos regime. Imelda Marcos reportedly said, “Sometimes you have smart relatives who can make it …. My dear, there are always people who are just a little faster, more brilliant, more aggressive.” Manapat’s book became the best-selling book in contemporary Philippine history at that time.
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Ricardo Manapat
Jose Ricardo de Leon Manapat (May 24, 1953 – December 24, 2008) was an activist, scholar, writer, researcher, and educator who was the Director of the Records Management and Archives Office of the Philippines (The National Archives) from 1996 to 1998 and 2002 to 2008. He is best known as the author of the book, "Some Are Smarter Than Others: The History of Marcos' Crony Capitalism", a work on anti-cronyism exposing the wealth of the Marcos dynasty, and as Editor-in-Chief of the "Smart File", Smart File Magazine Animal Farm Series.
Ricardo Manapat was born on May 24, 1953, in Manila, Philippines. His father, Apolinario B. Manapat (1925–2006), was a mechanical engineer, and his mother, Angelita de Leon (b. 1923), is a pharmacist and was a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Santo Tomas for 30 years. Manapat was the eldest of five children, and his siblings are Maria Teresa, Maria Lourdes, Maria Cristina, and Jose Alfredo.
As a young child, Manapat served as an acolyte at the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City, when Mass was still given in Latin. He played piano and violin, and also studied the clarinet and trumpet. He was an avid and voracious reader, and he kept music and books as part of his daily life. He completed his elementary, high school, college, and post-graduate studies at the Ateneo de Manila University, where he cultivated and pursued his interests in mathematics, physics, linguistics, history, economics, and philosophy. He was fluent in English, Spanish and Filipino, and spoke German, French, and Italian. He also studied Latin, Portuguese, Arabic, Catalan, and Sanskrit in his later years.
In his high school days, Manapat wanted to serve his country, and in response to the Marcos dictatorship, he joined Kasapi (Kapulungan ng mga Sandigan ng Pilipinas)[clarification needed] and postponed his studies at the Ateneo for a year and became very active in the movement. He resumed his high school studies at the Ateneo de Manila, and obtained his college degree in Philosophy in 1976, graduating with Departmental Honors.
Manapat was pursuing a doctorate in Economics at the New School for Social Research in New York, when he decided to return to the Philippines after the People Power movement led by President Corazon Aquino in 1986. He completed a master's degree in Spanish at the University of the Philippines[which?], while pursuing master's degrees in Mathematics and History at the Ateneo de Manila University. In 2005, he began his studies in Historical Sociology towards a doctoral degree at La Trobe University in Australia. He was the recipient of a Commonwealth International Student Scholarship and was awarded the DM Myer Medal as the most outstanding undergraduate student graduating in that Faculty in 2006.
After graduating with honors, Manapat became an instructor at the Department of Philosophy in the Ateneo de Manila University from 1977 to 1979. In December 1979, he met with Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. ("Ninoy") at the Aquino residence in Quezon City, where Manapat was congratulated by Aquino for his then 48-page pamphlet, “Some are Smarter than Others”. Aquino, while incarcerated in Fort Bonifacio in 1979, called the document as “the most explosive document to have rocked the city of Manila”. The meeting in Quezon City proved to be the beginning of a lifelong friendship between the two. A year later, Manapat received a letter from Aquino asking him to develop his pamphlet into a book. Manapat started working on the book in the United States in 1980.
Manapat worked at Bear Stearns, a global investment banking and securities firm in New York City, in 1988.[dead link] While in the United States, Manapat also took computer programming courses at New York University and briefly taught at St. Peter's College in New Jersey.
Manapat then completed his book, “Some are Smarter than Others: The History of Marcos’ Crony Capitalism”, in 1991. The book takes its title from a statement made by Imelda Marcos on criticisms regarding her relatives who became overnight millionaires under the Marcos regime. Imelda Marcos reportedly said, “Sometimes you have smart relatives who can make it …. My dear, there are always people who are just a little faster, more brilliant, more aggressive.” Manapat’s book became the best-selling book in contemporary Philippine history at that time.