Roco remembered

Fine things are being said of our friend – indeed one of the most admired leaders of this country – Raul S. Roco. He deserves every accolade. To our lasting regret, we were unable to harness his talents and rectitude adequately in our nation’s service.

This is not to say that Raul could have been elected President. He was too outspoken, at times too quick of temper, and had never been able, in his candor, to acquire the politician’s most useful tool: the ability to side-step, obfuscate, and obtuse. Worst of all, very early in the campaign, he ran out of money. Someday, somewhere, "Presidents" will be chosen for their virtue. Alas, this seldom happens in most of the world. Raul never had a chance.

Certainly, he was qualified. Indeed, when he announced his intent to vie for the Presidency in October 2003, he immediately became a favorite. In a survey conducted nationwide by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), the former Senator and Education Secretary Roco was rated Number One, with 24 percent. In that SWS poll taken December 7 to 15, 2003, FPJ was Number Two, with 21 percent; then Senator and former ABS-CBN broadcaster, now Vice-President Noli de Castro, got 19 percent, while President Macapagal-Arroyo garnered only 13 percent!

Former Police Chief and then Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson got a scant 6 percent, former Senator Loren Legarda, was accorded a mere 4 percent. If you want to know, that December 2003 poll also gave Sen. Edgardo Angara 3 percent, Senators Franklin Drilon and Aquilino Pimentel 2 percent each; and then Vice-President Teofisto Guingona, a tail-ender’s 1 percent.

In short, if an election had been held then, Raul Roco might have become President – with the help of God and an accurate count by the Comelec, of course. This did not come to pass.

It goes to show, however, that poll survey results are fleeting. Within just three months, Raul was down to third place, trailing FPJ and GMA. Even before the prostate cancer earlier diagnosed in 1996 (he had his prostate gland removed by surgery that year) metastasized and sent him to the United States for emergency "check-up" in April last year, Roco was already sliding down to fourth. He returned from the US, still determined to fight the good fight, but it was no use. What can be said in admiration is that he honorably fought and lost – and conceded the battle with dignity and honor.

After his defeat, Raul generously said that we ought to all join hands in making our country progress and resolving the bitterness the campaign had engendered. This is what he told me himself.

Roco resurfaced briefly in July to call on President GMA to resign and propose "snap elections." But he was already seriously ill and that – to my knowledge – proved to be his last public utterance.

Ave atque vale, Raul! You were not "cursed" with the Presidency, but your family’s consolation is that you are admired by a grateful nation, and surely you’ve flown straight to the bosom of God, Who sees with an unerring eye into the hearts of all men and women. In His Kingdom awaits a reward befitting a heart so true.

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Raul S. Roco died at 63, but his outstanding life – by the way, the "S" stands for Sagarbarria – is a reminder that the young must continue to take the lead in this land. Our heroes were youthful – Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo – all in their 20s to early 30s. Our Boy General Gregorio del Pilar (after whom the Philippine Military Academy’s "campus," Fort del Pilar in Loakan, Baguio City, is named, was only 23 when he and his men fought and died to the last man, defending Tirad Pass against the advancing American troops pursuing Aguinaldo. Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña Sr., were President of the Senate and Speaker of the Philippine Assembly by age 29.

Roco, born in Naga city on October 26, 1941 – just before the Philippines was invaded by Japan – had finished elementary school at the age of 10, and high school at 14. By the time he was 18, he was already a magna cum laude in San Beda College, with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He was Editor-in-Chief of his college paper, The Bedan in 1961, and was elected the youngest President of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP).

After acquiring his Law Degree from San Beda, Roco went off to the United States to pursue higher legal education. He was the youngest Bicolano delegate to the Constitutional Convention. In 1983, he became the youngest President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

As a member of the House of Representatives, then the Philippine Senate, Roco served in Congress with distinction – his 17-year political career untainted by scandal of any kind. When he was Representative of Camarines Sur’s second district, the Ford Foundation and the University of the Philippines Institute of Strategic and Development Studies lauded Raul as first in over-all performance among legislators of the Eighth Congress. As an oppositionist, during the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada, he was bestowed the Bantay Katarungan Award for "exemplary performance."

Even his resignation on August 13, 2003, from the Secretaryship of the Department of Education was impelled by strange and petty circumstances. Roco got a bum rap from a group of noisy and belligerent DepEd employees who accused him of an unconvincing litany of stupid infringements, now thankfully forgotten. Sanamagan.

When this writer’s wife was rumored months ago of having been offered the post of DepEd Secretary, Raul had remarked to me: "Tell Precious not to accept DepEd Secretary – it’s a snake pit over there!" I replied without hesitation that she never had contemplated anything like that. No way, I told Raul.

What is it, incidentally, about DepEd Secretaries? Is that post unlucky? The last short-lived DepEd Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad, doublecrossed his own boss, GMA, by going off to Hong Kong along with then Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to meet with Vice-President Noli de Castro then returning to denounce GMA (along with the "Hyatt 10" noise-makers) and demand La Gloria’s resignation. The group further insisted that she turn over the Presidency to Noli? Susmariosep. What Butch might need, really, is an education in delicadeza.

In any event, Raul is now free of the treacheries and disappointments of politics. His memory will remain, however, for all of us still stranded in this vale of tears, an inspiration.