Gringo: Green and Go!

Col. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan has always been something of an enigma. All but invisible pre-EDSA Revolt, where he carefully stayed in the shadows of his boss, then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, he was catapulted to the limelight almost overnight when literally thousands of flashbulbs lit up in front of him as he physically propped up both Enrile and then AFP Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos on the rooftop of a building in Camp Aguinaldo that fateful day of February 1986, as the two announced their withdrawal of support from Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Gringo was the original Probinsiyano, having grown up in Baguio City and hitting the University of the Philippines like a farm-fresh egg, after which he went to the Philippine Military Academy. He became Class Baron, not a mean feat in a field that included Ping Lacson, Victor Batac, Virtus Gil, among others who later on distinguished themselves.

He quickly became the most recognizable hero of EDSA after the new government was in place. His youthful good looks, macho physique and gungho image made him the stuff of schoolgirls’ (and many a matron’s) sexual fantasies, and he basked in popular adulation. For his role in the uprising, he was honored by no less than President Cory Aquino with both the Distinguished Conduct Star and the Presidential Government Medal. He truly was, at that time, at the apogee of his fame and career.

He could have just curried favor with the Aquino administration and coasted along, and I am sure he would have been eventually rewarded with a multi-star rank and a cushy sinecure in government, but the disillusionment felt after Cory’s utter lack of governing skills and blatant cronyism saw him at the forefront of another movement — not once, but twice, to quote Susan Roces — to oust Aquino and install a government composed of people possessed of better skills.

It had to take the active intervention of the United States Armed Forces to save Cory’s ass (figuratively, of course) and Honasan went into hiding, as his boss and mentor, Enrile, was booted out of the administration. It is a testament to his powers of persuasion and the intensity of his beliefs that, caught and imprisoned in a ship in the middle of Manila Bay, he not only escaped but he took his guards with him, converted into believers in his cause.

Pardoned by President Ramos in 1992, Gringo served the country in another capacity, this time as a senator. Elected four times — and as an independent, at that — his style of legislation was low key but militarily efficient. As a political observer, I found Senator Honasan underrated.

Never bombastic nor pandering to the gallery, he was, in contrast, analytical, methodical and sober in his approach to his legislative duties. Truly the quintessential anti-trapo!

A fine example of his style was seen during the impeachment trial of President Erap, which many of his colleagues saw as an opportunity to project themselves by indulging in grandstanding, strutting around the Senate floor like political peacocks trying to draw attention to themselves. Honasan was articulate, to be sure, but he was calm, composed and discussed the issues without cant. Decorous and dignified, the way an Elder Statesman should behave.

This may have proven to be his undoing because in the internet age when people placed a premium on showmanship rather than substance, he failed to make the grade, albeit barely, in the 2022 senatorial race.

Instead, people elected actors, demagogues and others who were perpetually present on social media for all kinds of reasons, many times wrong. Perhaps, after looking at the quality of some of the supposed senior legislators with a purported national constituency, the voters will see the folly of their ways and return a quiet but hardworking soldier to the halls of the Senate.

I hope it’s green and go for him in 2025.

“Honasan was articulate, to be sure, but he was calm, composed and discussed the issues without cant.

“Gringo was the original Probinsiyano, having grown up in Baguio City and hitting the University of the Philippines like a farmfresh egg.