The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) joins the Tañada family and freedom-fighters nationwide in celebrating Ka Tanny’s 110th birth anniversary.

We celebrate Ka Tanny’s life by sharing with the Filipino people, especially the youth, the legacy of Bayan’s founding chair, and our Great Grand Old Man of Philippine Politics.

Ka Tanny earned the distinction of being the longest-serving senator in Philippine history. From 1947, he served as a member of the Senate for 24 years. But more importantly, it was outside the halls of the Senate that he gained distinction as one of the greatest leading and uniting figure in the “parliament of the streets.”

Ka Tanny’s name became synonymous with Freedom, Justice and Democracy as he stood at the forefront of the struggle against widespread poverty and inequality, corruption and tyranny, from the period he founded the Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism (MAN) up to the height of the anti-dictatorship struggle. Ka Tanny became one of the greatest enemies of the US-backed Marcos dictatorship. He organized the Anti-Bases Coalition and other groups that rallied public opposition to the presence of US troops in the Philippines.

In 1983, after Ninoy Aquino’s assassination, Ka Tanny became a leading personality of JAJA (Justice for Aquino, Justice for All). Earlier, he was also a leading figure in the formation of the People’s Movement for Independence, Nationalism and Democracy and the National Coalition for the Protection of Workers’ Rights.

When Ka Bert Olalia, Ka Crispin Beltran and other militant labor leaders were arrested, Ka Tanny was a loud voice in condemning the brutal attacks on trade unions. He was the first ever politician allowed to speak before a big demonstration of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

A year before the founding assembly of Bayan, he also led the formation of NAJFD (Nationalist Alliance for Justice, Freedom and Democracy). In 1985, the historic founding of Bayan, Ka Tanny became our founding Chairman.

Ka Tanny attended meetings and preparations of Bayan for the huge rallies that were often met with fascist force. As he arrives in a wheelchair pushed by Bayan secretary general Lean Alejandro, he would always be welcomed with warm smiles and applause. Ka Tanny would listen intently to the planning sessions and then he would lean forward and comment on the formations and conduct of the mobilizations. With Ka Tanny at the front line, there was always a feeling of assurance among the rallyists that even though the rally would be dispersed, there would be a Ka Tanny who would raise his mighty voice against such violence.

In spite of his advanced years, Ka Tanny is best remembered by Bayan as the distinguished parliamentarian who was at home in the streets.

Ka Tanny led Bayan Cental Luzon (CL) and Bayan national leaders and forces in the renowned Welgang Bayan against Marcos’ plan to build a nuclear plant in Bataan. Bayan and its allied organizations conducted several waves of campaigns to enlighten and rally the public against the nuclear plant. When Bayan CL decided to call for a welgang bayan, Ka Tanny went to Pampanga and there, despite being in his wheel chair, together with all the Bayan forces, stood in the middle of the street to protest. That day, no vehicles could be seen plying in the busy streets of Pampanga because everybody heeded the call for a massive strike.

Due to differences regarding the 1986 snap presidential elections, Ka Tanny took a leave of absence from Bayan as he opted to participate in the elections. When Gen. Fidel Ramos and company made their move against the Marcos dictatorship, Ka Tanny immediately resumed his leadership in Bayan and started mobilizing forces for the EDSA 1 People Power uprising.

Ka Tanny, who had been undergoing kidney dialysis, finally rested in 1992 at the age of 93.

It is well known that on the day of his dialysis, Ka Tanny chose to attend the September 16, 1991 Senate deliberations on the extension of the US-RP Military Bases Treaty. After the historic vote against the rejection of the treaty, Ka Tanny, stood up and shouted as loudly as he could, “Mabuhay.”

Just a few years later, the Senate ratification of the US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement betrayed one of Ka Tanny’s greatest victories against US intervention. Ka Tanny would have been at the forefront in opposing the VFA and all other unjust policies of the current US puppet.

Present-day politicians should emulate the brilliant example of Ka Tanny and his brand of nationalism and tireless engagement in the people’s anti-fascist and anti-imperialist struggle.

Under present conditions of ever worsening poverty and inequality brought by a corrupt government that is subservient to US economic, military and geo-political interests, we celebrate Ka Tanny’s life by rallying Bayan and the Filipino people to continue his battle. Present-day activists, especially the youth, can gain inspiration from Ka Tanny who loved and served the people to his very last breath.

Today, we also remember another birthday celebrant, Ma. Luisa ‘Luing’ Posa Dominado, a human rights activist who shares the passion of Ka Tanny in standing up for freedom, justice and democracy. Ka Luing was imprisoned four times under the Marcos dictatorship. It has been one year and four months since the abduction of Luing and peasant activist Nilo Arado by three armed men in Iloilo on April 12, 2007.

Surely, Ka Tanny would have been at the forefront of Bayan rallies to demand justice for the hundreds of victims of extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and all forms of human rights abuses under the Arroyo watch.

Ka Tanny is sorely missed. But he remains alive and well, strong and unbending, in the multitude of patriotic and freedom-loving Filipinos today who continue to fight for genuine democracy, freedom and social justice.

Mabuhay ang dakilang alaala ni Ka Tanny!

Isulong ang pakikibaka para tunay na kalayaan, katarungan at pambansang demokrasya!

SIGNED:

Chairperson Secretary General

I am deeply pleased and highly honored to join the Tañada clan, friends, the various organizations and institutions and the broad masses of the people in celebrating the 110th birth anniversary of the great Filipino patriot Senator Lorenzo M. Tañada, champion of national independence and democracy, principled statesman, brilliant legislator, civil libertarian and fearless militant against oppression, be it the Japanese fascist invaders or the homegrown fascist dictator Marcos.

I am proud to have personally known Senator Tañada since he delivered the keynote speech at the founding of Kabataang Makabayan on November 30, 1964. He exhorted us to emulate Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan and to continue the unfinished Philippine revolution. I worked closely with him under his chairmanship of the committee that prepared the founding of the Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism (MAN) in 1966 and even more closely after the founding congress elected him as MAN chairman and myself as general secretary on February 8, 1967.

I am thankful for the inspiration, knowledge and experience that I gained from working with Senator Tañada in MAN under his leadership. He was a man of high intellect and deep conviction. He was always serious and meticulous in examining drafts and possible courses of action. I remember fondly the council meetings and the informal meetings where we would exchange views and he would often arrive ahead of everyone else at the effectively exact phrase in meaning and nuance to persuade people within the nationalist or anti-imperialist context. He was always supportive of the mass actions to express protest and make demands against US imperialism and the servile government.

Senator Tañada’s resolute and militant struggle against the Marcos fascist dictatorship encouraged and strengthened me when I was underground and then when I was under military detention. Despite his advanced age, he engaged in street activism and braved the bullying and assaults of the armed personnel of the state.

Like everyone else in the national democratic movement, I admired his leadership in a series of alliances (especially Bayan [Bagong Alyansang Makabayan] of which he was the founding chairman) and his active participation in indoor and outdoor rallies and other forms of activities for the purpose of seeking the end of the Marcos dictatorship. He delivered powerful messages to denounce the criminal acts of the regime and to inspire the people to resist.

It is of high and urgent importance to celebrate and seek guidance from the great legacy that Senator Tañada has bequeathed to us all. We need to refresh and revitalize ourselves with the principles that he enunciated so lucidly and so vigorously and with the actions that he undertook and made him an exemplary fighter for the national and democratic rights and interests of the people.

To this day the Tañada legacy is of vital significance and relevance to the struggle of the Filipino people for complete national independence, democracy, good governance, social justice, development and durable peace. We are confronted by a government that is shamelessly servile to US imperialism, extremely corrupt and exploitative and unrestrained in repressing the people and committing human rights violations.

Senator Tañada had a high standard of morality for both private life and public service. He espoused and practised the clean and honest service to the people which he required of all government officials. As senator, he first became well known as a crusader against graft and corruption.
We are obliged by his teachings and example to fight uncompromisingly against a regime that has prolonged itself through electoral fraud and whose corruption knows no limits. The Arroyo regime has no moral and legitimate basis whatsoever.

Senator Tañada stood for the economic sovereignty of the people, the conservation of our national patrimony and the development of the country through national industrialization and land reform. We are required by his teachings and example to fight relentlessly against the US-imposed policy of “free market” globalization. This is a tricky phrase for obscuring the reality of monopoly capitalism and favoring the US and other multinational firms and banks through the denationalization of our economy, liberalization, privatisation and deregulation.

We must denounce the policy of keeping the Philippine economy, agrarian, semi-feudal and preindustrial, producing only raw materials and semi-manufactures for export and always borrowing heavily from abroad to cover trade deficits, to finance outward capital and profit remittances and to conjure the false illusion of economic growth. The dumping of surplus manufactures and agricultural products from abroad has ruined local production and has made the country a victim of manipulated shortages and price gouging by foreign monopolies.

The people are suffering terribly from the rising debt and tax burden, the rapid increase of unemployment, the plunging level of income, the soaring prices of fuel, food and other basic commodities and the rising fees for deteriorating basic social services. The Arroyo regime does not offer any kind of solution or even mere alleviation to the suffering people. It is now floundering due to the international credit crunch and lower orders for the kind of exports that the Philippine makes. It is obsessed with raising the tax burden in an economy that is already bankrupt and depressed.

Senator Tañada consistently and vigorously upheld, defended and promoted the national sovereignty of the Filipino people and the territorial integrity of the Philippines. He devoted himself to the struggle for the dismantling the US military bases in the Philippines. He was pleased when the 1987 constitution prohibited the basing of foreign military forces and the introduction of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. He was elated when in September 1991 the Philippine Senate passed the resolution terminating the US-RP Military Bases Agreement.

But the regimes succeeding the Aquino regime have sought to circumvent and reverse these victories of the people and patriotic leaders like Senator Tañada with a series of agreements allowing US military forces to enter and occupy any or all parts of the Philippines under various pretexts and to operate as they please even in violation of Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Arroyo regime has been the worst in treasonously increasing the pretexts for US military intervention and for actually allowing the continuous and increasing presence of US military forces in the Philippines.

Under the guise of combating terrorism, the US policy of “global war on terror” has whipped up war hysteria and war production in the US, wars of aggression against Iraq and Afghanistan, repressive laws and state terrorism on a global scale. The Arroyo regime has followed the policy not only in abject subservience to its imperialist master but also in pursuit of its selfish interest in getting US blessings and some amount of military assistance and in using the military and police forces to keep it in power, to suppress the patriotic and progressive forces and intimidate the broad array of opposition forces and the broad masses of the people.

The gross and systematic violations of human rights have outraged the Filipino people and the people of the world and have fanned up the flames of the armed revolution for national liberation and democracy. All the vicious attempts of the US and Arroyo regime to destroy the revolutionary movement with the so-called military solution, Oplan Bantay Laya I and II, have failed but have only succeeded in rousing revolutionary resistance and paralyzing the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.

We must overcome the impediments to the resumption of the peace negotiations. If we cannot resume the negotiations during the Arroyo regime, we must prepare for doing so after this regime.
We must strive to achieve a just and lasting peace by addressing the roots of the armed conflict and agreeing on the social, economic and political reforms that must be undertaken.

It is possible to make comprehensive agreements on such reforms if both the GRP and the NDFP avail of and draw from the rich legacy of Senator Tañada those general principles that he enunciated and those concrete basic reforms that he proposed for making the Philippines truly independent, democratic, socially just, prosperous and peaceful.

May the wisdom of Senator Tañada continue to enlighten and inspire us. His teachings and his deeds are relevant to the understanding of our problems and to the solutions that we can undertake as a nation. Let us summon the memory of the great patriot Senator Tañada clenching his fist to defy the reign of greed and terror and signal the people to rise up and exercise their power against their adversary. Long live the great legacy of Senator Lorenzo M. Tañada!

We of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) convey our heartfelt condolences over the sudden death of former Army Capt. Rene Jarque to his parents General Raymundo Jarque and Zenia, his beloved widow Grace and their children Ryan Joshua, Marla Jessica and Hannah Therese, his siblings and other relatives and many friends. We are deeply saddened by the loss of a good friend who was ever mindful of the interest and welfare of the people.

We had the opportunity to meet and talk to Rene in the Netherlands on two occasions. Once, in 1997 when he joined his parents, Ray, and Zenia who were here for the peace negotiations where Ray served as consultant for military affairs of the NDFP negotiating panel. The second was in 2004, when he visited us while on a trip to Europe, to share views and insights on the peace negotiations in Aceh where he was based and on the situation in the Philippines.

But even only on these two rare occasions, we already felt a certain closeness towards Rene. In lively discussions with us, his love of country and his intelligence were very striking. We shared a common desire and vision of building a country where hard-working people can live a life of dignity and relative prosperity. He became increasingly friendly to and cooperative with patriotic and progressive forces in the motherland.

He was very much dismayed at the corruption he saw in high places both in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and in the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP). He became openly critical of the AFP and called for reforms. He said, “I believe in performance and accountability. I believe in competence and moral courage. I believe in honesty and hard work. I believe in transparency and candor. I have found these rare in the Armed Forces and I would like to seek them somewhere else.”

Like his father, he fell victim to the system he tried to serve with honesty and honor. Ultimately, he could not stay any longer in the AFP. He declared, “As a young officer, I used the power of the pen to question things that were not right in the Armed Forces of the Philippines–incompetence, corruption, lack of strategic direction, and unprofessionalism. My writings were a voice in the wilderness, but the criticisms earned me a reputation as a rebel officer–too honest and too frank for my own good. I really thought reforms could be achieved through intellectual honesty and awareness.”

Until his death, he never lost hope or his zeal for fighting for reforms. He demanded reforms in the AFP and in the society at large. He was always open to working with the legal patriotic and progressive forces as well as with the NDFP. Whenever he could, he volunteered advise to the NDFP for the benefit of the Filipino people.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines salutes Capt. Rene Jarque, as a patriotic officer and man of the highest integrity. Especially at this particular time in our history, his love of country and service to the people should shine like a bright star. We hope that more officers and personnel of the AFP emulate Rene Jarque’s example of exposing what is wrong in the AFP and in the ruling system and pointing out what needs to be done in the interest of the people.

Signatories:

NDFP Negotiating Panel: Consultants and Advisers:
Luis G. Jalandoni Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Julieta de Lima-Sison UN Judge Romeo T. Capulong
Fidel V. Agcaoili Vicente Ladlad
Coni K. Ledesma Danilo Borjal
Asterio Palima

Negotiating Panel Secretariat:
Ruth de Leon
Maria Lourdes Villanueva

Philippine Army (PA) Captain Jose Rene N. Jarque dead at 40, in the prime of life, with so much yet to give to family and country. It is both shocking and especially sad when the good die young unexpectedly. Rene was a man, a Filipino soldier, ahead of his time - ironically now even in dying well before his time. But already what he has started, what he has worked on, shows good signs of living on - not just being remembered but being carried out - after his passing. For most people who knew Rene, whether close up or from a distance, it is his advocacy of “Reforming the Armed Forces” that will undoubtedly for the most part be remembered and carried on. And rightly so.

But Rene had another special contribution as a Filipino soldier that perhaps only a few knew about, among them myself, and which must be part of the credit that we give him as we mourn his passing. This was his contribution to the Philippine Armed Forces and consequently government policy that eventually fed into a ground-breaking international humanitarian ban on anti-personnel landmines in October 1997 known as the Ottawa Treaty. This in turn led to the conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) in December 1997 in recognition of the significance of that humanitarian ban and the process which led to it. Rene was part of this process.

On 7 February 1996, Rene prepared a paper on “Landmines in the Philippines” for the Strategic Studies Division, Office of Strategic and Special Studies, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). This paper was then carried by then Col. Alfonso Dagudag, Chief of Staff, 7th Infantry Division, PA to the Meeting of Experts on the Military Use and Effectiveness of Anti-Personnel Mines held on 12-13 February 1996 in Geneva, Switzerland sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The most important conclusion of this meeting and a concommitant expert study was that the military utility of anti-personnel mines is limited and cannot outweigh the grave humanitarian, socio-economic and environmental consequences of their use. This was the first of several such expert meetings sponsored by ICRC with the subsequent meetings being held in the regions, like one for Asia which was held in Manila in July 1997.

It is now acknowledged that these unofficial or semi-official “Track Two” meetings (as distinguished from official diplomatic “Track One” meetings) contributed to the momentum and political will of the Ottawa Process leading to the Treaty. In fact, this process created a new model of diplomacy anchored on the close partnership of like-minded pro-ban governments led by Canada and a core group which included the Philippines, on one hand, and a wide array of humanitarian and anti-landmine NGOs and international organizations exemplified by ICBL and ICRC, on the other. Such a partnership can form the basis of a “new kind of superpower” in the unipolar world of one preeminent superpower.

Rene may have helped prefigure Philippine practice of this new model of diplomacy when his own expert/policy paper “Landmines in the Philippines” quoted favorably a “Proposed Philippine Position” which had been earlier presented by the non-governmental Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines (PCBL) in a Policy Brief on the Landmines Issue in the Philippines issued in September 1995. Among the recommended Philippine positions then were: (1) An international ban on the use, production, stockpiling and sale, transfer or export of anti-personnel mines; (2) Extension of the scope of the existing protocol on mines to apply also to internal armed conflicts; and (3) Institutionalization of NGO participation.

Ten years hence, all these have come to pass at both international and national levels. As early as December 1995, then President Ramos issued a policy statement which included a dramatic call to the AFP to disarm and safely dispose without delay some 2,460 claymore mines still in its inventory. Then, in January 1998, President Ramos issued his Instrument of Ratification of the 1997 Ottawa Treaty. Eventually, in January 2000, the Senate issued its Resolution of Concurrence in the ratification. Since February 2000, or for more than five years already, the Philippines has been a State Party to the Treaty with corresponding international obligations and also privileges.

Rene at least lived to see these happen in his time - even if the same may not be said for the armed forces reform which was his main passion. In more recent years, he would tell me how he somehow rued Commander-in-Chief Ramos’ order to AFP to dispose of its claymore mines. You see, claymore mines, which are anti-personnel mines, are not necessarily banned by the Ottawa Treaty if they are used in command-detonated mode, i.e. if they are not victim-activated. Claymore mines by their design can be used either way, command-detonated or victim-activated. The former would make it a legal weapon, while the latter would make it a banned one. The New People’s Army (NPA), to their credit, know this international humanitarian norm very well. Field accounts show extensive NPA use of command-detonated improvised claymore mines as part of ambush tactics. This notwithstanding, the AFP, to their credit also, has so far not reversed the policy against its use of claymore mines, even though it could still legally do so in command-detonated mode say for perimeter defense of small detachments. Sometimes, giving up the use of a certain weapon is repaid in the form of higher moral ground by one side’s contribution to the elimination of a global scourge like anti-personnel mines.

Perhaps just as important as the substantive achievement of a humanitarian ban on anti-personnel mines was Rene’s example of a Filipino soldier (and later ex-soldier) reaching out to the “usual suspects” on the NGO front like us in PCBL. Later, he himself would form or join advocacy NGOs like the Actions Against Tyranny and Corruption Now (ACT NOW) and Initiatives for Peace-Mindanao (InPeace Mindanao). Some of these NGOs are even characterized as “Left-leaning.” But it is precisely this kind of reaching out - from both sides now - that is needed for the peace, unification and reconciliation of this country. I think Rene presages a coming effort at more genuine dialogue between Filipino soldiers, on one hand, and peace advocates, human rights activists and humanitarian workers, on the other. And there is something about a soldier (or ex-soldier) as a peacemaker that seemingly ironically makes his peacemaking more effective than usual. Maybe part of it is the trust reposed by his own comrades-in-arms, warriors being asked to take a leap of faith into peace.

One of the best possible tributes to Rene would be the emergence in due time of an honest-to-goodness advocacy network on security sector reform, one of the few advocacy issues not yet really touched enough by Filipino NGOs which are already all over so many issues. And our security sector reformers will definitely derive some guidance from Rene’s writings on the subject. Indeed, his widow Gay does well to preserve Rene’s articles and share them with others as he did when he was alive (I was one of those privileged to get them direct from him by email).

He had the gift of writing, and the thing with writing is that it can go a long way, as we know even beyond death, in achieving good, as was with the landmines ban, as we hope with military reform. I believe we have not heard or read “the last word” from Rene. As is often the case with writers, there are written pieces here and there which may not have yet come to light. That is why we bring to light his seminal AFP paper on “Landmines in the Philippines.” No, we haven’t heard the last of Rene Jarque. Because there are bound to be other Rene Jarques.

8/24/05

Former army captain and West Pointer Rene Jarque, eloquent and outspoken advocate of reforms in the military establishment, is dead at age 40. In his abbreviated life, Rene had metamorphosed from being a young, idealistic officer aiming to follow the footsteps of his father, General Raymundo Jarque, in a distinguished military career, to that of a crusader, seeking an end to the scandalously corrupt, shamefully inept and intolerably abusive armed forces which he had been a part of and gotten to know and understand well.

It is one of the ironies of life that Rene Jarque’s path and mine should cross in a rather unique and non-adversarial context. I first met Rene in 1995 as he dutifully accompanied his father, General Jarque who, after having defected to the New People’s Army, came down from the hills of Negros to face the criminal charges leveled against him by feuding landowners and then Public Prosecutor Aniano Desierto. I was part of a party of lawyers and activists that met the General and provided him moral, legal and political support as he faced an uncertain and risky future.

I must admit a measure of wariness when I met this army officer; my activist instincts told me that despite his natural sympathy to his father’s plight, it could not be assumed that he had become open, much less sympathetic, to the Left as well. Our conversations were light but guarded; he struck me as an intelligent, soft-spoken, respectful and non-confrontational person but I reminded myself that I was talking to a dedicated and loyal military officer.

I would hear about his military career suffering in the years to come; he had been quietly placed in the freezer. Perhaps it had something to do with his father’s spectacular defection to “The Enemy” that had indelibly marked Rene as a non-conformist and potential troublemaker. Certainly, his critical views about corruption, lack of professionalism and mismanagement in the AFP that he wrote about unabashedly in military publications sealed his fate. It came to the point that copies of a military journal that he edited, was embargoed and set to the torch because it contained an article exposing corruption in the military and calling for reforms.

After Rene had prematurely been forced to retire from the military in 1998 and had started a new career as a business executive, I ran into him again and learned that his passion for advocating wide-ranging reforms in the military had not waned. Thereafter he would be tapped as a resource person by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, In Peace- Mindanao and other progressive groups especially after the so-called “Oakwood Mutiny” in July 2003 to explain what was going on in the military.

In November 2003, Rene helped convene the Action Against Corruption and Tyranny Now or ACT NOW!, an alliance of personages and groups that was appalled at the corruption during the incumbency of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and vowed to animate a citizens’ movement against government misrule, abuse and corruption.

Upon the initiative of Rene, the newly-formed anti-corruption network wrote an open letter to the officers and men of the AFP calling on them to put a stop to the practice of “conversion”, literally converting public funds into private monies by a series of criminal acts that involved the collusion of military officials and private supply contractors and appropriating said funds to enrich themselves. This was long before the scandal over the billions of money allegedly siphoned off by General Carlos Garcia and his cohorts using the strategic office of the military comptroller. Rene had hoped it would send even a small ripple of appeal to the remaining decent elements in the military establishment.

He also brought up a proposal to hold small forums inviting enlisted servicemen and not just officers “to serve as an outlet for soldier’s grievances besides the PMAAA and the AGFO” and to provide a venue for the men in uniform to meet with leaders of cause-oriented groups and exchange views. He had hoped such efforts would help lift the veil of misconception and prejudice that beclouded the mindset of each side.

I learned that Rene had resigned from his executive position in a Manila-based firm and had accepted instead a job that required him to be based for the most part in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. In the time that he was back home, we had an opportunity to speak at the same forum on corruption in the military in the wake of the case of Gen. Carlos Garcia and other implicated officers. We also attended the first hearing of the military tribunal trying Gen. Garcia’s case. I could feel the questioning looks of military men as they saw me enter the courtroom with the famous or notorious Captain Rene Jarque, depending on one’s point of view.

In February of this year, ACT NOW! invited Rene to deliver a paper on corruption in the military at a National Study Conference on Corruption held at the University of the Philippines. He graciously agreed and since he was abroad at the time, he was hooked up via long distance to answer questions raised during the open forum. Bishop Julio Labayen was at the conference and asked Rene how he explained the phenomenon of reform-minded officers in the AFP as dramatically revealed in the recent “Oakwood Mutiny”. Rene’s insights impressed the good bishop who remarked that he was hopeful for change in the AFP with advocates such as Rene persisting in his awareness raising efforts.

Captain Rene Jarque certainly belongs to a distinguished breed of Filipinos because he had the courage of his convictions, a moral courage displayed in the risky but principled choices that he made that affected adversely “success” in his chosen career and even his personal fortunes. Moreover, he persisted in his crusade while he could have quietly faded away from the controversial limelight when he was effectively forced to resign from the institution he loved and served to the best of his ability and with his integrity intact. He was able to maintain his links and command the respect of his peers and other active and retired military officers precisely because, even when they disagreed with his views, they could not doubt his moral integrity, intellectual honesty and willingness to make the necessary sacrifice to advance his convictions.

Rene was a rare kind of intellectual: he was a critical thinker who could not be satisfied with what has been ingrained in him but was open to the truths that he learned as he matured, from his experiences as a young officer fighting a counter-insurgency war in the hinterlands of Isabela province to his stint as a staff officer with a promising career in the AFP headquarters to his “downfall” as a maverick soldier railing against an institution that had gone terribly awry.

Rene was broadminded enough to respect the views of those in the revolutionary movement whose ideology and politics were diametrically opposed to what he had been molded to believe but whose basic values and concrete practice he had grown to admire.

Captain Rene Jarque remained a soldier at heart which is why he never gave up writing and talking about what he felt was wrong in the military. He also never gave up on the decent people he knew remained in the AFP.

In the last essay that he wrote, “What’s with the Armed Forces?” dated 25 July, he came up with some very radical proposals:

“There is indeed a dilemma. Military intervention can restore order but… if the intervention is by the generals, no real change in politics and society will happen. In fact, it could be worse if a military or military-controlled government takes over… If the young officers intervene without the blessing of the chain of command, it will be a bloody confrontation with the “pro-government” forces. I think the best combination for a military intervention, if ever it happens or when it becomes “final solution” or “fait accompli”, would be the younger generation of the Officer Corps supported by broad popular support, including the progressive elements of the left. Perhaps then, we can expect real change in government.”

Rene Jarque’s legacy to the struggle to bring about an armed forces that will truly serve the interests of the people and the country is surely enshrined in the hearts and minds of the patriotic men and women in uniform. Indeed, he has served his people and his country well and we are all very proud of him.

The older Jarque shocked the nation in 1995 with his defection to the communist New People’s Army (NPA). His defection, he explains, was brought about by trumped-up graft charges against him by his fellow officers.

For two years the older Jarque lived in the hills of his native Negros Occidental, after which he surfaced to become a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in its peace negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

He is now back in mainstream society, though he shows no signs of regret that he ever went over to the other side, and is still being quoted in media interviews as saying that the NPA is better than the AFP.

The younger Jarque witnessed military corruption early on, just shortly after he graduated from the U.S. West Point Military Academy in 1986. He joined the 1989 coup attempt in earnest desire for military reform, and when that didn’t work out he turned to writing hard-hitting articles in the various publications of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Because of these, he was subjected to various forms of harassment and was even placed under surveillance. Disillusioned, he left the military fold in 1998, but he didn’t stop trying to push for reforms in the AFP. He continued writing articles against military corruption, this time for the national newspapers and magazines, and even joined anti-corruption groups like Action against Corruption and Tyranny Now (ACT Now).

His sudden death, from cardiac arrest, last Aug. 19 came as a shock to many. He was just two months short of his 41st birthday.

This writer went to Rene’s wake and was able to talk to his father. What does he think of military corruption, which his son and others fought against in various ways? What does he think has been achieved so far in this area, and what more does he think should be done?

Below are excerpts from the interview:

Capt. Rene Jarque was known as a staunch opponent of military corruption, and his advocacy proceeded from incidents he himself had witnessed. Did you also witness incidents of corruption in the military during your time as a young officer?

There already was. During my time, there were sporadic practices of corruption. It came to the point where the level went higher and higher, because the higher headquarters saw that they could produce money out of conversion.

But actually, how come there is conversion especially in the Army?

When I was a battalion commander in Cotabato, we needed money. Example, you have an operation today and you have a budget for one week and after that your sardines run out, your rice runs out — so the operation is continuous and your supplies are all used up. So if you have no cash and you are, for example, in the Liguasan Marsh, your troops would not be eating anything the next day, or you would loan for food. If you loan, you would have a problem if you have no receivables, for what is your guarantee then?

And normally, if you request for additional budget, it takes time, because you have to send the request and what will reach you is a piece of paper. But you have to eat and your troops have no more rice.

So to accelerate the process, the commanders are allowed to convert procurements into their cash equivalent. For example, you have on paper a procurement worth ten pesos and you want it converted into cash. But you also lose something there: for example you bring the paper to the store or to the supplier, of course they should also profit from that. Out of ten pesos, you get only eight while they take two, because that is like a ghost purchase.

But that time we were only talking in small amounts, only thousands, needed by the troops. But there were some people who became “wise” and the practice went to the higher levels and we were now talking in terms of millions.

But tactically I’m in favor of that because the commanders need money immediately for necessities of operations. But only in amounts just enough to feed your troops.

But to convert money for your personal use, that cannot be done in our time. Say you’ll convert ten thousand pesos. Can you build a house with ten thousand pesos?

But now it has come to the level where we are now talking in millions. It has reached Camp Aguinaldo. Senior officers saw that they could control the release of funds.

So during your time there was already the practice of conversion but that was only for immediate needs?

There already was, so those who are being interviewed by the media saying there was none, they are liars.

The people must understand that when you’re in tactical operations, the lives of soldiers are at stake. But their lives are simple, you only have to feed them. You can’t convert guns and ammunition because they’re there. They need only rice and other food items.

But you need cash and you’re already in the field. The sari-sari stores won’t loan out.

So with the level of conversion in my time as a young officer, you can’t get rich with it. Because we were not talking in millions then.

To the best of your knowledge, when did it begin to reach such high levels?

The practice started to reach high levels in the 1980s, and from there there was no turning back.

The latest development is that we have Gen. Carlos Garcia getting into the hot seat for conversion. If he wasn’t caught by U.S. Customs, the extent of conversion would not have been exposed. You had no news of it. In the simplest terms, he was caught in the act.

But as of now, the practice continues. And the people are blind to the excessive wastage of our budget, especially our military budget. It was just that General Garcia was caught in the act.

We have to put up strong measures now on how to cut down that practice.

What do you think are the specific measures that can be imposed to cut down on conversion and other forms of military corruption?

One of the measures would be the abolition of the comptrollership. The office should be scaled down.

Because I remember, when I graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1961, I reported to the comptroller, which was then only a section of the G4 or logistics.

But during the time of Gen. Fabian Ver as AFP chief of staff, they made the comptroller co-level with the other staff officers. There is a saying that “He who has the gold controls the world.”

So others saw that there’s gold in the comptrollership. Because the comptroller can just give you whatever he wants to give you. You need 100 pesos, he can give you just five.

The comptroller became powerful.

So was former Navy Capt. Dan Vizmanos correct when he said that military corruption became massive during Martial Law?

Martial law? I don’t know if it was massive, but of course during Martial Law, everything was under control. Everything.

That brought about the existence of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM). One of its issues was corruption.

Because at that time only General Ver and his minions were controlling the Armed Forces. At that time you couldn’t tell what was going to happen with your military career. Retireable officers’ terms were being extended for as long as 10 years, 15 years, that was what was happening.

Rene joined the 1989 coup attempt with the intention of pushing for reforms in the military. If you’re willing to answer this, on which side were you when it broke out?

I was on the government side. I was a division commander. My view then was that I would no longer join such attempts. EDSA was over and there would be chaos again.

How did you feel that there was this coup attempt in 1989 and you were on the government side and your son was on the other side?

I didn’t really feel critical about it because the Visayas where I was assigned is very far from Manila and the only action was in Manila. It was so far from our division.

If the coup plotters had won–there is a saying, “To the victors belongs justice.” If they had won, what do I do except to keep quiet about it? They want me relieved from the division, let them relieve me. They want me charged, I’d ask for what offense.

But I was thinking, maybe they’d take pity on me because I didn’t fight them, I was in the Visayas and they were in Manila. My troops didn’t move.

After 1989, Rene’s efforts to promote military reform were through writing, and he was subjected to various forms of harassment.

Yes, the senior commanders got angry. Maybe they were included in the articles.

Every so often there are people like Rene who exert efforts to promote reforms in the military — by whatever means, by any of the two means that he chose to take. What, in your observation, have they achieved in terms of fighting corruption in the military?

According to the news releases of the AFP, some progress has been made in that area. I read in the newspapers that the finance people are now being made to report directly to the chief of staff. I don’t know if there is now a stronger audit control.

What do you think should be done so that there could be far-reaching and long-lasting reforms in the AFP?

You have to revise old policies. There should be legislation so that corrupt officials know that their practices are punishable by law.

One of the things I remember Rene saying is that nothing short of revolutionary could reform the AFP. Would you agree with him on that?

It depends on how “revolutionary” is defined. He must have been thinking of something that is really radical, so the means could be peaceful but the solution is radical. In one of his latest articles he was talking of the constitutional soldier. The soldier must protect and defend the Constitution. Bulatlat

But more than that, it is saddening that the country has just lost one of the few honorable men to have come from its Armed Forces — and at a time when no one expected him to die the way he did.

A 1986 graduate of the US Military Academy, Rene was a staunch opponent of corruption in the Armed Forces, which is most brazen in the highest echelons of its leadership. He sought to fight military corruption through armed means in 1989, and when that didn’t succeed he turned to writing articles exposing various corrupt military practices in the different AFP publications. His facts were well-researched, his analyses incisive, his recommendations sound.

Because of his efforts, he was repeatedly subjected to harassment and was even placed under surveillance by his own superiors.
Disillusioned, he left the military service in 1998. He was then just a captain. One of his last works for the AFP was a paper arguing for a self-reliant defense policy, contrary to the present US-dependent one.

But the fight didn’t end there. He would spend the next several years combatting military corruption and promoting AFP reform by continuing to write about these issues, this time for the major newspapers and magazines; as well as joining anti-corruption groups.

Even after he had taken his Jakarta job, he would every so often find time to return to the Philippines and speak in forums and conferences on corruption.

As a journalist, I had the pleasure of interviewing him in depth a number of times. He was one of my favorites among my frequent interviewees. Despite his hectic schedule, he always had time for interviews, whether personal or through e-mail, and to top that off he was both intelligent and eloquent.

He also had this way of making good friends with the journalists who interviewed him. He invariably took the initiative of keeping in touch with his journalist-interviewers even when there was absolutely no interview to make: from time to time he would send us jokes and other funny e-mails, aside from giving us the privilege of being among the first readers of his latest articles.

In early 2004, when he left for Jakarta, we lost contact with each other. Later that year, on one of his frequent visits to Manila, we saw each other again — and without my asking him (which I had meant to do), he gave me his e-mail addresses and told me to just send him an e-mail if I needed anything. I was able to do several interviews with him that way.

Just nine days before he died, he had e-mailed us a copy of a speech he delivered before the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1995. It was about courage, integrity, loyalty and the soldier.

That was Rene N. Jarque — a patriot in his own right, a brilliant thinker, and a good friend. An officer and a gentleman.

***

MAHIGIT SA APAT NA BITUIN
Ni Alexander Martin Remollino

(Sa alaala ni Rene N. Jarque, dating kapitan ng Philippine Army na naging masugid na kritiko ng katiwalian sa militar, 1964-2005)

Ang iyong uniporme
ay hinubad mo
nang di man lamang nakakabitan ng estrelya.
Sapagkat paninindigan mo:
Aanhin ang ilan mang bituin
sa balikat ng unipormeng putikan
na di sa larangan ng matwid naputikan?
Walang dangal, walang dangal
sa karangalang naangkin ng unipormadong tulisan.
Lubusan mo itong nabatid,
at ayaw mong maging kamukha
ng nagkatusak na unipormadong tulisang
may estrelya sa balikat,
kaya’t hinubad mo ang iyong uniporme
nang di man lamang nakakabitan ng bituin.

At dahil dito,
nasa kawalan ng estrelya
sa balikat ng unipormeng iyong hinubad
ang iyong pagtataglay
ng mahigit sa apat na bituin.

The Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), including its consultants, staffers and volunteers, extends deepest condolences to Sonia Malasarte-Roco, her children and grandchildren on the demise of Senator Raul S. Roco.

The NDFP shares in their grief for the passing of an exemplary Filipino patriot and civil libertarian who stood for substantial progressive reforms to uplift the people from their oppressed and exploited condition.

Senator Roco was a close family friend to one of us, fondly remembered for his astute political observations while leisurely playing poker in small-stake games during weekend gatherings before martial law was declared.

But Senator Roco was more than a personal friend to the NDFP. The NDFP Chief Political Consultant remembers fondly how his neighbor Senator Roco arranged his first meeting with Senator Benigno Aquino in 1968. He was then the latter�s technical assistant. He also arranged meetings between the NDF Preparatory Commission on the one hand and Bonifacio Gillego and other members of the Constitutional Convention who opposed Marcos� rape of the 1972 constitution.

Senator Roco was a close ally of the aboveground democratic movement and the underground revolutionary forces and people during the struggle against the Marcos fascist dictatorship. He defended victims of human rights violations and did his utmost to foster unity among the opposition forces against martial rule.

He was an honorable person. He stood by his lofty ideals and principles as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1971, during his stint as congressman and senator from 1987 to 2001, as Secretary of Education, and a presidential candidate in 2004. On the eve of his death, he showed great wisdom in calling for the resignation of Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for corruption and cheating in the elections.

Senator Roco was also known for his advocacy of women�s rights, earning the title of �Honorary Woman�. He could have become the president had it not been for his sudden illness which distraught the people and his supporters. He would have been an excellent partner in peace negotiations for the benefit of the Filipino people.

He lived a meaningful life of service to the people. He has left a legacy that his family, friends and compatriots can be proud of and that can continue to inspire them. Thus, he continues to live in all our hearts and minds

For the National Democratic Front of the Philippines:

Luis G. Jalandoni
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel

Roco, who passed away last month due to cancer, personified the best the traditional political elite has to offer. Prior to running for president, he was a former senator and congressman. He championed worthy causes like the “Study Now, Pay Later Act” as a staffer of Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and various laws under his own Senate stint. He was, I think, the only “honorary woman” so honored by the nation for his work for the uplift of women through legislation. His criticisms of corruption and expressions of hope captured a segment of the youth.

Meanwhile, Villanueva put his presidential campaign solidly behind a call for moral renewal, asserting the notion that immorality hs taken over the presidency and all spheres of society. This immorality has resulted in so many crimes against people and in unbridled criminality among rulers.

Both Roco and Villanueva however suffered from several handicaps: lack of viable political machineries, absence of truly radical programs and consequently the failure to attract the support of the basic sectors of workers and farmers.

The latter, methinks, will for now on would be the most crucial part of any noteworthy campaign for national leadership in the days to come. This is especially true considering the growing disenchantment over elitist rule and the disastrous sidestepping of the interests of the workers and farmers inspite of their being the real democratic majority in our country.

With his death, Roco leaves a nation still searching for fresh leadership which he hoped to provide but was prevented by the most malignant sections of the ruling elite who would want nothing of the reforms he wanted to take and especially detest the comprehensive social revolution the people aspire for more than ever today.

Eventually, the rotten elite may hatch all possible plots but they have to brace themselves for the eventual triumph of the marginalized sectors whose program for genuine reform seek to overhaul the whole society and bring about a new Philippines that is free from corruption, feudal rule and foreign domination.

On the morning of August 5, 2005, around 9:40 am, I was typing furiously on my computer as I was rushing some paper works when I received a text message from my father in law. The message went like this: “PATAY NA RAW ROCO. ”

I couldn’t believe what I’ve read. Maybe a nasty joke aimed at those people calling for Arroyo’s resignation. I thought that he was already recovering from cancer and he’s in the US for continuous rehabilitation. Only weeks ago, I entertained the thought of seeing him as a senatorial candidate for 2007. I even admired his current stand on the Gloriagate scandal where he called on Arroyo’s resignation, “por la patria.”

I then sent text messages to some people who could verify the news. First, to my fellow student council officers from the University of the East (UE) who formed part of the UE Student Leaders for Roco. I got no confirmation from them. Then I sent a message to my wife to see if the news has reached the Makati business district where she works. “No, not yet,” she replied. I also sent a text message to former UE President Baltazar Endriga, who was my wedding sponsor and a friend of Sen. Roco. He told me to verify it. Finally, I called the Roco Kapunan Law office at Strata building, which was transformed into a headquarters of the Roco campaign for 2004. I asked the dreaded question: “Is it true that RSR (Sen.Roco’s initial’s that was sometimes used as his reference) is gone?” The female voice on the other line answered yes, “It’s true. The senator died at past 9 am at St. Lukes hospital,” continued the female voice. I thanked her for the information. The female voice on the other line advised me to call the office if I needed further information. That’s so nice of her.

After confirming RSR’s death, I proceeded to text those people whom I asked for verification earlier. “Too bad,” replied one. “Mukhang nauubos ang kalaban ni GMA, pareho pang sa St. Luke’s namayapa,” replied another one. (Fernando Poe Jr. also died in St. Lukes.)

With Senator Roco permanently gone from this mortal and wounded world, I just can’t help but remember the elections of 1998 and 2004. For casual observers and non-believers, both elections would remind them of his defeats as a presidential candidate. For me, and many others, I will remember it as a gallant struggle to correct the many wrongs and to maintain what is left of the good.

Others would think that he was not a team player and a coalition builder which is a must to muster the needed votes to clinch the presidency. I think it’s okay for Senator Roco to be branded as a loser. That’s perfectly all right, because his loss is an honorable one, and he fought a great fight, unlike others who managed to win an election or two, but whose mandate is contested because of the circumstances surrounding their electoral victories. It’s better to win fair and square than to win using resources not allowed by election laws.

I also believe that the observation made by some which states that he was not a coalition builder may sound true enough. After all, you may not want to coalesce with some brusque, loud, and corrupt people. If that’s the meaning of it, I’d rather take it willingly, just like what Sen. Roco did. In our political culture, idealism and politics don’t mix well. The time it mixes well, believe me we will move forward.

Senator Roco deserves the accolades due to a statesman of high moral and spiritual foundation. He was a lone moral fighter in the echelon of cheats, greedy, and monsters. Some of them are now heaping praises, eulogies, and tributes for him. Shame, shame, shame.

I met Senator Roco in the flesh twice in his lifetime. The first one was at the height of EDSA Dos. If I am not mistaken, it was on the third night when he announced at the EDSA shrine some updates on the negotiations between the opposition and some emissaries of Ex-President Erap Estrada regarding the latter’s graceful exit from power. It was the first time I shook hands with him, and we were in the middle of throngs of admirers. I told him he did a great job as a senator-judge. He smiled and said that it was already up to the people to make the crucial decision (on the fate of Erap). I felt that what he meant was that he could no longer discharge his duty as a senator-judge because the impeachment trial had lost its credibility and moral ascendancy when the pro-Erap senators refused to open the second envelope.

When Ex-Laguna Governor Joey Lina went to the microphone, he led the crowd in chanting “Bise, Bise, Bise!” which meant that Senator Roco should be appointed as Vice President of the Philippines once Arroyo assumes the presidency on the basis of constitutional succession. Senator Roco just smiled and thanked the crowd for the trust and confidence they had bestowed on him. Needless to say, the vice-presidential post went to Senator Tito Guingona.

The second time I saw the man was in February 2004 at a youth rally where we had a one-minute chat while he was visiting the Eulogio Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (Earist) Gym at Nagtahan. A few days before that, the office of the UE Student Council received an invitation from Aksyon Kabataan- San Beda chapter regarding a kick-off rally for Raul Roco and his Alyansa slate. I failed to attend the said rally because I had a prior commitment, and unfortunately, no one from my council officers was available. When the invitation for the Earist rally came, I readily went there to finally express my support for Anak ng Bayan, who sponsored the event, and for the whole Alyansa ng Pag-asa slate.

I brought along some of our student council officers, some officers and members of the UE Political Science Society, and a number of UE students who were supportive of Roco’s presidential candidacy. All of them later on, formed part of the UE Student Leaders for Roco. With Senator Roco then was the entire Alyansa slate.

When he was about to leave the Earist Gym for another engagement, I approached him, introduced myself as a student council president and asked for an autograph on a magazine with him on the cover. He glanced at it, smiled then said “Parang hindi ko pa nababasa ito ha?!” I didn’t know if he was just kidding or not, but he signed the copy anyway and thanked me for the gesture. I thought, “No. I should thank you for giving your best shot for us.” He thanked me again and said “See you soon!”

In my own humble way, I got involved in the Roco campaign. I was busy campaigning in school, in my community (Angono, Rizal), in my office where I worked at night (I was a working student). I also joined a coalition called Luzviminda Forum, which supported Roco’s candidacy, going far as producing stickers and posters. My girlfriend (now my wife) was very helpful because she also campaigned at her work place for Senator Roco.

At UE, we were then planning a school-wide mock elections and a presidential debate as part of our electoral education campaign. Problem was we were running out of time because the final exams were just around the corner. The student council settled for a school-wide survey and a mock elections scheduled in April in time for the annual UE Student Leaders Training seminar where a formal turn over of the student council is done incoming and outgoing council officers.

In the UE student council survey, Roco led by a slim margin (33 %), followed by GMA with (32 %), Lacson (18 %), FPJ (6 %), Bro. Eddie Villanueva (6 %), and 4% as undecided. The mock election results showed that Senator Roco was at the top with 48 %, GMA with 32 %, Lacson (16 %), Bro Eddie Villanueva (4 %), and FPJ getting no votes at all. In another survey undertaken by the UE school paper “The DAWN,” Roco was a close second to GMA. Lacson was at third place followed by FPJ and Bro. Eddie.

After much thought, Roco could have gotten more votes in UE than the rest of the candidates , if not for the sudden implementation of the Student fund (S4R) of GMA. S4R allowed students to loan their tuition expenses and pay for it after graduation, a rehash of Ninoy Aquino’s “Study now, Pay later” scheme drafted by Senator Roco decades ago. We called that deliberate move “Sophisticated Vote Buying.” Some fellow student leaders from other schools couldn’t agree more. Because of the S4R, many UE students switched sides to GMA, which in our calculation amounted to 10 - 15 percent. In fact, S4R was even launched at the Araneta Coliseum. UE was invited but we in the student council and other other student organizations boycotted the launch knowing it was a trick. Look at S4R now, you can’t even borrow a single cent from it! Lack of Funds? We knew they would say that after the elections. Remember that this happened prior to Senator Roco’s announcement of his chronic back pains in April 2004.

In another mock elections, this time at the office I worked for, Roco led with 35 %, Bro. Eddie with 21%, Lacson with 19%, FPJ and GMA tied with 11%.

Trust and Confidence. That’s what I had for Senator Roco. Although admittedly, I was against his support of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1995. For us who supported him all throughout his career, he was one person who could give decency and morality to national governance and was not afraid to say his piece. He showed that in all his years as a public servant. He abhorred the politics of machismo and the politics of arrogance. He put premium on the politics of fair play, the politics of hope, the politics of nationalism, and the politics of transparency, hard work and scholarship, thus his reliance on “the sunshine principle” — a principle he firmly believed will make the Filipino proud, progressive, and respectable.

I can still recall a group discussion I had with some friends sometime in November of 1997. In the huddle, we were talking about the then upcoming 1998 presidential elections. One of my friends remarked that the said elections lackluster because he couldn’t see anyone as qualified as Salonga or Laurel. Someone in the group observed that Erap was a phenomenal candidate but someone countered that he lacked intelligence. Joe de Venecia was as dry as desert, and Renato de Villa was quite uncharismatic. When it was my turn to speak, I said that “If Roco runs as President, I’m for him all the way, he may not be as charismatic as Erap, but he can match up to anyone in terms of governance, track record, genuine love for the people, and by bringing hope to where hope is extremely needed.” Some of my friends felt the same. They felt Roco was the one needed to restore our country’s positive image. The one who could give the much needed inspiration to rally the nation. One who will secure a better future for the next generation of Filipinos by providing equal access to education, from elementary to college. For Roco, education is the one great equalizer in this country of unequal opportunities. Unfortunately, many people did not heed that call in 1998. Roco was best prepared for the presidency, but the people were not prepared for him.

That last encounter I had with him at the Earist gym was the one that immediately flashed on my mind when news of his death was confirmed. At that moment, I just can’t help but recall it once again and talk about it in the office as if I knew him personally. An officemate, who was a graduate from the University of the Philippines, remarked “He is a Great Man, we just lost a great man.” Another officemate who came from San Beda high school and De La Salle University said that “I am a proud Bedan because Roco represented us well.” I told him to be “proud as a La Sallalite” not only for its basketball team but because another great intellectual and nationalist, Lorenzo Tañada, was educated there.

With Roco’s death, he is now enshrined with the likes of Recto, Diokno, Tañada, et. al. What was going on in my mind while my officemates were giving their praises for Roco was the phrase “The great President that never was.” A great one indeed. Just like Claro M. Recto and Jovito Salonga, Roco was one statesman who could have been our President if not for the politics and the electoral system we have. I cannot nor do I have the right to blame the electorate. They are mere victims of the vicious cycle of dirty, feudal, and immoral politics.

Roco’s crusade for the betterment of his country and people was not a quixotic job for there are still many out there, especially among the youth that Roco can depend on. He invested his energetic zest, vast experience, and admirable intelligence to sow the seeds of goodness and to spread and delegate the work for a better Philippines. We, the youth of this land, must continue what Roco and other distinguished people, including the unheralded ones, have started to work for: a great country with a great people. It may sound like a clique but we have no choice but to continue fighting, to continue dreaming, to continue praying, and to continue aspiring simply because to stop is to fail. This, I firmly and honestly believe, is the marching order given by Senator Roco minutes before he retired permanently. His influence must transcend and must not only be felt in San Beda or in any other schools he visited, not only in Bicol or in other communities he went to. His influence and his legacy must be propagated now and must be felt everywhere because we need it now more than ever.

We have just lost a harbinger of hope, a human bastion of greatness. But it’s only his physical body that went away. To rephrase a quote from his brother Ding, his dream, his aspiration, his seed of devotion to good governance shall continue with his family in the forefront, with his wife Sonia as the protector of the flame, and with the rest of those who unconditionally supported him until the last votes were canvassed and those who refused to be bought, both known and unknown to Senator Roco.

There is a marching order from Roco: Let the seed spread. Your will be done sir. We will spread the seeds and we shall pay it forward. Goodbye, Mr. President.

————
Dexter Villanueva, 29, studied Political Science at University of the East - Manila, and was a former president of the UE Political Science Society, former president of the UE Student Council, and a former Vice Chairperson of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) - NCR Rizal Chapter. He now works as a Technical Writer for Systems and Plan Integrator and Development Corp. (SPIDC), an IT - based company and works part-time as a speechwriter. He organized and headed the UE Student Leaders for ROCO and endorsed the youth party list group ANAK NG BAYAN for the 2004 elections.