Maceda’s last will

Former Senate President and erstwhile Philippine ambassador to Washington Ernesto Maceda will be laid to rest tomorrow. Maceda died last Monday night due to multiple organ failure. He was 81.

He is survived by his widow, former Marichu Vera-Perez. They have five children: Emmanuel, Ernesto Jr., Erwin, Edmond and Edward.

Maceda also left a void at The STAR with his regular column “Search for Truth” every Tuesday and Saturday ended with his demise.

With formal state honors, his former colleagues in previous Congresses paid tribute to Maceda at necrological rites held yesterday at the Senate. His remains were taken to the Senate in Pasay City from Mt. Carmel in Quezon City where he laid in state until interred tomorrow at Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.

Two former presidents of the country – Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – were grateful for Maceda’s unselfish sharing with them nuggets of lessons in politics and governance. Estrada and Arroyo received Maceda’s “mentoring” while both of them were still neophyte Senators one after the other.

That’s why Maceda was more fondly called by close friends and fellow politicians as “Manong Ernie,” or “kuya” (elder brother) to all.

But even his enemies call Maceda as “Manong Ernie” though at one time or the other they crossed swords with him for his Senate exposes.

While he himself did not reach the ultimate ambition of every politician – to become president of the country – Maceda had the opportunity though of having molded former Senators who later became Presidents of our country.

Maceda was first elected as Senator a year before martial law was declared by then president Ferdinand Marcos. He was the lone Marcos administration-backed Nacionalista Party (NP) Senate candidate who survived the election landslide win by the opposition.

During the Marcos administration, Maceda became popular while he was then the presidential assistant for community development promoting “doctors and nurses to the barrios” program of government. Marcos later appointed him as his executive secretary.    

It was in 1987 elections when he won his first term as post-martial law senator, serving until June 30, 1992. He won his second term in 1992. He served as Senate president between 1996 and 1998.

As chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee during his second term at the Senate that he earned the nickname “Mr. Exposé.” It was bestowed to him by the defunct Philippine Free Press Magazine to recognize his privilege speeches that exposed irregularities in government and landed many erring officials in graft courts. He used this monicker “Mr. Expose” as the title of his regular radio program he anchored for several years over DzRH.

After his Senate term ended in 1998, then President Estrada appointed him ambassador to the United States. He served until 2001. Later that year, he ran but lost to Mayor Alfredo Lim during the May 2001 elections in Manila. Since then, he tried twice to make a Senate comeback but lost.

But it was in Manila where Maceda started his political career. He was first elected No. 1 councilor at the age of 23. As early as those times, he was already a fiscalizer. He had bitter conflict with the late Mayor of Manila Arsenio Lacson whose famous tirades “so young and so corrupt” stuck to Maceda, unfairly or not.

Of the five children, it was only Maceda’s youngest son Edward who followed his father’s footsteps in politics starting as councilor in Manila. The Maceda family still lives at their Piy Margal St. residence in Sampaloc, Manila.

After three consecutive terms as councilor, the 45-year old Edward ran and won in last May 9 elections as Congressman in the fourth district of Manila.

Not only being his chief financier, Edward credited his father for helping him win his congressional bid. He went out with Edward doing house-to-house and door-to-door campaign in Sampaloc. Considered as the “guru” on the basics of a political campaign, Edward observed how his late father enjoyed accompanying him in the campaign trail and gave him lessons on “Politics 101” on the ground.

While he felt his father should be resting instead of exerting himself in tiring campaign, Edward felt happy for letting him joined his campaign. The seasoned politician that his father was kicked in and seemingly gave the elder Maceda the fountain of youth. But when the elder Maceda suddenly fell ill, it caught all of them by surprise.

The elder Maceda was recuperating from a laparoscopy that removed stones from his gall bladder at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. It is a non-invasive procedure of modern medicine where patients even with advanced age like Maceda could take. But complications set in and Maceda fell into comatose. 

The elder Maceda had oxygen and tubes on his throat that prevented him from talking to them. After coming out from comatose last Saturday, Edward said his father tried to communicate something to them. So they gave him a magic slate to write on. He wrote, with great difficulty, R E F I L. After writing these letters, he would look at and point to the nurse standing at his beside.

They thought he was asking for a refill of medicine or refill of glass of water. But after several times of pointing to what he wrote and then looking to the direction of the nurse, they finally understood him. He was telling Edward to ”re-file” the Nurses bill that was vetoed last week by President Aquino.  

On a proud note, Edward said his father was already at sick bed but he was still concerned about the plight of less privileged and marginalized sectors of society. He surmised going in and out of hospital for regular medical check-up kept his father fully aware of the plight of lowly paid but overworked nurses.

As a public servant and politician for more than four decades, the sons of Maceda lived through this kind of life where their father’s priority was not his family. But as dutiful sons, they did not take it against their father. In fact, he said, their late father tried his best to give them the best education and nurturing to become good Christians and Samaritans ready to help others in need.

As it turned out, it was the “last will” by Maceda handed down to his lawmaker-son to revive and push in the 17th Congress the enactment of this vetoed bill for nurses.