20 years after

They say he died in search of heroes, hoping against hope that his nation that was always an underdog and at the mercy of politicians, profiteers and vested interest would somehow, along the way, produce a handful of heroes who would carry the fight, pursue the dream and give birth to a better Philippines. He searched in vain, he died in vain.

Had he lived he would have been 78. In the worst-case scenario he would be an ex-con, a pardoned convict but one hell of a famous journalist for being sent to jail by the icon of democracy in the Philippines. Instead he died too young, if 58 years old qualifies as young. In dying, fate denied his accuser and her manipulative minions the satisfaction of sending him to jail on a charge of libel based on a figure of speech. In death he was denied the privilege to hear his accuser proven wrong by the higher court.

Ironically, death also denied him the satisfaction of an apology from someone he always held with respect and considered a friend. Death also robbed him of the pleasure to continually afflict the enemies of the people through his political opinion column, his TV show and his daily radio talk show. Death denied him the pleasure of seeing his tormentors become old, impoverished in their pride or publicly exposed and humiliated in their complicity and conspiracy as they parlayed their vaunted integrity for political expediency and influence as senators and businessmen.

In hindsight God has been good and gracious to him by not letting him witness all his hard work, sacrifice and battles wasted upon a nation that now props itself on economic data that truly reflects the rise and profit of the master class and the fall in economic status of the rest of Philippine society, where inclusive growth has been abandoned in the interest of promoting the exclusively wealthy. Yes God is good indeed, not letting him see how “the Insulares and Peninsulares” that he gave life to with editorial license have all come to real life and have learned the skills of influence peddling, political brokering, smooching with the powerful and how to corner government biddings in 10 easy steps. Yes your Immensity, the Mestizos are back in power.

In death he took with him his satirical “Banana Republic” that gave comic relief to the otherwise frustrating reality of the Philippines during his time. Tragically what he spoofed and poked fun at has disintegrated into chaos and mess under inglorious administrations of thieves and followed by another government we can only call the P-Noy Misadministration. Sadly we have no room for humor in our current state that feels like a daily replay of the movie “The Year of Living Dangerously.”

In his lifetime, he covered many Presidents: Garcia, Macapagal, Marcos, Cory and Ramos. He knew them well and he saw how each President and administration succeeded in making the past look bad. Ironically, today’s administration has succeeded in doing the reverse.

When P-Noy came into power people loved him for his integrity, now they disdain him for his incompetence or lack of action. Vice President Binay started out as being disdained by many in the middle and upper class and privately condemned him as corrupt. But because of the P-Noy administration’s many failures, Binay’s critics call him the acceptable choice between incompetence and corruption.

In the last four years, the present administration has blamed the Arroyo administration for every evil and every mistake. In four short years of utter incompetence, this government has managed to make people rethink their opinion about Gloria Arroyo and the truth of who really deserves credit for our improved economy. But the biggest insult to this administration is that in 4 years they have actually managed to make people revisit who Ferdinand Marcos really was and what good he may have done for the country. When you succeed in making your enemies look good at your expense, you have undoubtedly become an utter failure.

I remember him saying that he refused to seek higher office or power because his job was to be a journalist and his legacy would be the people he taught, trained, mentored and discipline in the University of the Philippines, those who worked under him and worked with him. I actually believe him. I even said to others that his legacy was in raising up many of the current practitioners in radio, TV and print.

But having an insider’s view of the three industries, I would have to conclude that he would probably be disappointed at how Media today has been bought not through bribery but through corporate takeover. He would probably puke to discover that content, style and opinion are now dictated by advertisers, not by public interest and truth. The saddest thing he would probably realize is that his “select handful of stars” in class have pursued becoming Stars in media and not the noble goals and vows they used to declare. It is no longer about taking a position but positioning within the organization.

Twenty years after death his true to life fans still walk up to me and speak kindly of their memories about “Anak ng bakang dalaga,” “Donker Brigade,” “Paniki Brigade,” and his many other satirical creations or representations of the Pinoy reality. Sadly those who worked with him, learned from him and were mentored by him have all easily forgotten him. No credits, no remembrance, no mention from the people who took up most of his time. That’s what 20 years can do: Make you appreciate someone and make you discover who others really are all about.

Thank You Louie Beltran for being my father, mentor, enemy, friend and professor.

Luis Diaz Beltran, April 4, 1936 – September 6, 1994.