MANILA, Philippines?The Jesuits have been occupying Xavier House since 1947 or for 62 years now.

What is remarkable about this building is its architecture?the pillars on the ground floor facing the Pasig River, the vintage tiles in the bathrooms, the shiny wooden floors on the second level which are probably narra or mahogany. These are rarely seen today.

Xavier House also played an important role in the history of our country, and in the history of the Jesuits in the Philippines.

When strongman President Ferdinand Marcos called for ?snap? elections in 1986, the National Citizens? Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), through Jose Concepcion Jr., requested for volunteers to watch the polls and the counting of ballots.

Fr. James B. Reuter, director of the National Office of Mass Media which was housed in Xavier House, gathered his office staff and about 95 members of the so-called ?Reuter babies? to help monitor the snap elections.

The Reuter babies were the priest?s former theater students who developed strong bonds with their mentor, which have remained long after school days were over.

From our base in Xavier House, we sent these young boys and girls to the precincts which needed ?watchers.? The information they gathered was relayed to the radio and TV stations of the Catholic Church members which make up the Philippine Federation of Catholic Broadcasters, also known as the Catholic Media Network.

The elections, perceived as ?strongly fraudulent,? woke up our gentle people from its stupor. After 20 years of martial rule, Marcos? defense minister, Juan Ponce Enrile, together with Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos and a small rebel group, broke away from the dictator.

They holed up, first at Camp Aguinaldo and at Camp Crame. Enlisting the help of the Catholic Church, led by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, they made known their breakaway from the Marcos regime. Sin, through Radio Veritas, called on the people to come together on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) and protect Enrile and Ramos.

This was Saturday, the night of Feb. 22, 1986.

Reuter babies mobilized

After Mass on Sunday morning, instead of joining our sisters who were going to EDSA, I opted to go to Xavier House in Sta. Ana, Manila.

When I opened the door, all three telephones were ringing. I had to answer the calls, begging for patience because everyone wanted to know what was going on in Manila.

When Father Reuter arrived in the afternoon, he mobilized everyone?June Keithley-Castro, accompanied by the Mercado brothers Paulo, then 15 and Gabe, then 13?to go on the air at Radio Veritas.

The rest of the boys?10 of Fr. Reuter?s stage actors and two of my cousins?were deployed to Santolan, Libis, EDSA, the ?war room? of Enrile and Ramos in Camp Crame, Nagtahan Bridge and Paco areas. As soon as Keithley-Castro?s voice was heard over the radios on EDSA, the effect was electric?there were cheers and rejoicing.

I was assigned the radio code name ?lady in white.? My responsibility was to man the telephones and the single sideband [radio] at Xavier House, passing on information to our radio stations.

The Reuter babies, who were also given code names, used walkie-talkies which were their only means of communication with me.

Radyo Bandido

But Marcos? forces had destroyed all the transmitters of Radio Veritas in Bulacan.

Crucial decisions followed. Sin called up Reuter. So did Cristina Ponce Enrile.

Again, an emergency meeting took place in the historic, unobtrusive house. Keithley-Castro, the Mercado brothers, and the Reuter babies were in attendance.

So was Col. Ruben Ciron, the manager of Ramon Jacinto?s radio station dzRJ which had been seized by Marcos. He was also the senior aide of Enrile.

I suggested to Father Reuter to contact Enrile, which he did. Ciron, who was in civilian clothes, went to dzRJ, which was housed in a building in Sta. Mesa, close to Malacañang.

We named dzRJ ?Radyo Bandido (Outlaw Radio),? as suggested by one of the Reuter babies. Reuter sent June, Paulo and Gabe, to Radyo Bandido. The rest of the boys went back to their previous assignments, armed once again with single [channel] hand-held radios. I stayed on at Xavier House.

The rest is history

Meanwhile, the Reuter babies continued to call: ?Lady in white, we need people in Santolan; lady in white, we need people in Libis; lady in white, tell June there are tanks moving into EDSA ??

I received these messages in Xavier House. I would relay the information to June, and she would broadcast it over Radyo Bandido and the people on EDSA would respond.

Even the US Embassy depended on our information. We were in constant communication with their political section. This continued until Marcos and his family left for Hawaii.

The rest, as they say, is history.

If these events do not make this beautiful and ?antique? house, historically significant and worthy of its noble heritage, what will?

Sister Manapol heads the Communications Center of the St. Paul University in Quezon City. She has been a long-time associate of Fr. James Reuter.