A man of honor

In 1965 a retreat movement was started in Leyte with which I was involved from the beginning. One of those who made the retreat every year in the first five years was an elderly man who had been a career member of the Department of Foreign Affairs and had risen to the rank of ambassador. He was a quiet person, dignified, with high ideals of rectitude. I had grown to respect him.

He was a friend of those in power, and when a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) was organized in 1971, he was one of the elected delegates.

One day someone gave him an envelope, which turned out to contain a large sum of money in cash. He was puzzled and disturbed. What was it for?

The following week a similar envelope with similar contents was given him.

He consulted a Jesuit priest, former Rector of the Ateneo, who was also a delegate to the Con-Con. The priest told him: "Keep the envelopes and their contents intact, but mark the time and date and the place where they were given to you and the name of the person who actually handed you the envelope." The ex-ambassador did so.

Eventually (when the envelopes had amounted to a considerable sum) certain proposals were made to the Convention with which the ex-ambassador could not agree. That was when he took the floor and exposed the whole thing as an attempt to bribe him.

At once the efficient wheels of power began to function. The military "raided" his house and "found" large sums of money – which the ex-ambassador knew had not been there before. He was accused of many things. The attack on his integrity was too much for the old man. He was an elderly person and it broke his health.

He paid the price of exposing a bribe attempt.

That man is one of my heroes. He had tried to uphold his honor and integrity, and had to suffer as a consequence. To him might be applied the words of Jesus, "Blessed are you when they persecute you for justice’s sake. Be glad and rejoice for your reward is great in heaven."

That is the tragedy of our country. Men of honor and integrity like that ex-ambassador are destroyed. Dishonest men who amass millions by questionable means prosper and are honored.

One wonders. Was he the only one who received those weekly envelopes? Were there perhaps others who also received similar envelopes and gladly accepted them? Were any members of that Constitutional Convention similarly "bought"?