The Funeral Oration of President Carlos P. Garcia at the necrological service for Don Sergio Suico Osmeña Sr. – Last of two parts

Don Sergio Suico Osmeña Sr. died on October 19, 1961. This was delivered by President Garcia on October 26, 1961:

“In essaying wise and consummate national leadership, Sergio Osmeña also reached the height of statesmanship and patriotism. To the preservation of the political party that he founded and to the unity of the people he loved, he gladly sacrificed position and ambition and personal fortune. To preserve the oneness of the nation, he made great sacrifices, including political self-effacement. Consequently, his three most glorious legacies to us were a vigorous and triumphant Nacionalista Party, a united nationally conscious Philippine nation, and a free independent Philippine Republic. For these three he gave his best and his utmost.

“Sergio Osmeña was ever the model of gentleness and correctness and nobility. A sincere regard for the feelings of others guided his conduct. The nobility of his nature ruled his thoughts. The greatness of his soul suffused his deeds. He was mild in anger, moderate in joy, forgiving in defeat and noble in victory. To strangers he was considerate, to friends he was kind, to his family he was devoted and loving. He was as generous as harvest time, as hospitable as summer, and as radiant as the full tide of springtime. He was by all greatly beloved. He was respected for his greatness, admired for his accomplishments, and revered for his integrity that rose like a great mountain peak, and there it stood firm as the earth beneath and pure as the stars above.

“The one tragedy in the life of Sergio Osmeña was to have been the undeserving victim of the ingratitude of democracies at a time when his services to the nation were of the utmost need and his lifelong patriotic service fully deserved as crowning reward the first presidency of the Republic. Calmly and nobly and in admirable grace, he nevertheless accepted his share of the misled and peculiar temper of postwar electorates that; also toppled down the equally great Winston Churchill from the United Kingdom’s premiership. It affected not a whit his deep and abiding love of the people and the nation whom at every opportunity he continued to serve with the same devotion and dedication. Humble in victory, he was proud and unbowed in defeat. It is a great historical paradox that Osmeña emerged greater after his defeat.

“Gentle friend and beloved leader: On behalf of our bereaved people, we bid you farewell. But in the night of death our faith sees a star, and our listening love hears the rustle of a wing. We feel your spirit will abide in the heart of the nation as long as liberty and freedom and democracy shall have meaning—as long as this nation, of which you have been one of its greatest architects, shall live and endure. Our grief is profound, and the grief of your beloved family far greater. But we shall all find comfort and solace in the realization that, in the freedom we have, in the prosperity we enjoy, and in the security and tranquility in which we live forever, yourself breathed into them your own life and your spirit. Farewell, beloved leader and gentle friend: May the glories of God’s Kingdom ever yours.”