Impeachment superior

“Last we met was last March 23, during the launch of the Fulbright Hall of Fame. The first was in the 1971- 72 ConCon at the Manila Hotel, where I was my Pasig townsman Delegate Bobbit Sanchez’s go- fer. Ed had asked another townsman, Aveling Cruz, bar No. 1 at 20, and ACCRA co- founder, to set up lunch with Ed in that venue. Ed asked me ever so gently to consider co- founding ACCRA. But, by then I had founded the San Beda Free Legal Aid Clinic and was set to become what would later be known as a human rights lawyer, an animal unknown when I was in law schools, here and abroad. [ In the June 16, 2015 email, he reminded me, “had you agreed to join us, you would have been a founding partner of ACCRALAW… You said you would study the offer and later you declined my invitation.’ The same way I declined a signed Supreme Court appointment in late January, 1987. My sanity continues to be questioned, jury still out.]

“Ed and I, both less than perfect in an uncertain world, had our differences then on martial law which lasted long, but where I was perhaps tactless and unkind he was ever so tactful and tolerant, like a forgiving Kuya.

“A turning point from where I sat was his Namfrel role in the 1985- 1986 snap elections, a game for all the marbles, the whole enchilada. He, like Manang Letty Ramos- Shahani, distanced himself from the dictator when it was risky to do so. Electrifying. In times of moral crises, one cannot be neutral, per Dante. ( BTW, my co- Rizal Hi alum Cora de la Paz Bernardo, was also active in Namfrel, and was also recognized last March 23 as a pioneer Fulbrighter. )

“Ed was among Prez Cory’s 1987 choices; more than impressed, she picked him as a Senate bet and he was decisively voted into office by an appreciative, grateful, discerning people.

“Long before his autobiography was launched, we had become fast friends, with a deep and abiding respect for each other’s, at times, differing views on what was best for the Motherland.

“I am reminded of what Wordsworth wrote, “What though the radiance which was once so bright, be now forever taken from [ our] sight, though nothing can bring back the hour, of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower, we will grieve not, rather find, strength in what remains behind [ and] in years that bring a philosophic mind.”

“Ed, we thank you, we salute you as we find strength in what you leave behind.

“Goodbye and Godspeed— to your deeply deserved eternal reward.”

It was a joyous, if solemn, affair to celebrate the life and times of a great Filipino patriot. But the dignity was to me sort of marred only when a senator to my right and a senator to my left—who will remain mercifully unnamed— showed me their CPs disclosing that the Boston Celtics had just again beaten the Cleveland Cavaliers in the ongoing NBA playoffs. The Celts were my late wife’s fave, having spent two years in Boston College for her master’s in social work, on a full scholarship. Sen. Sonny Angara said in his response that Ed’s parents did not have to spend for his tuition and free public education was one manysplendored dream Ed had worked hard for. Now a reality.

Again, TY, Ed, for everything you have done, to give the Filipino a chance for a better life. For us, “the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream [ for a better life], shall never die.”