An interview with Don Guillermo Gómez Rivera, defender of the Hispanic legacy in the Philippines

WHEN I first arrived in the Philippines and became interested in Philippine literature in Spanish, people around me always said, "Oh! So you should meet Don Guillermo." One day, at a cultural event at the Instituto Cervantes, during the questions section following a conference, a tall mestizo began talking in Filipino Spanish. He defended the necessity not only of teaching Spanish, but also of teaching Filipino Spanish. Then, he talked about the American efforts to eradicate Spanish and anything Hispanic in the archipelago.

"Who is that man?" I asked.