Frank Chavez on Marcos burial

FROM THE STANDS 

By Domini M. Torrevillas 
The Philippine Star

On Jan. 26, 1970, Frank Chavez was one of several hundreds of students, who, after tossing a life-size coffin and crocodile replica at the Marcos couple at the steps of the old Congress, were brutally truncheoned by policemen and soldiers. Four days later, still limping from the beating, the same students staged the first battle of Mendiola Bridge. The sound of rifle shots, and the mental image of the bloodied body of Francis Alcantara, who was shot that night a few meters from him, still visits Frank to this date.

About 13 months later, the students manned the barricades at the University of the Philippines from Feb. 2 to 7, 1971, after Metrocom soldiers desecrated the academe. “We did so,” recalls Frank, now a well-known practicing lawyer, “at the risk of being unable to graduate from the College of Law because if we were to remain impervious to the desecration of the rule of law, it would be pointless for us to pursue a profession based on law. We continued our activism through all the intervening years until after the assassination of Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr. on August 21, 1983, when we took to the streets again. For three years, we stood our ground and defended as many as we could those who were abused by the Marcos dictatorship. We dared to struggle because we dared to win. And we won because Marcos was deposed by the people.”

Now, Frank is horrified by the temerity of some legislators and Marcos loyalists to have Marcos’ remains interred in the Libingan ng Mga Bayani. “Is history judging him now a hero? I shudder at the thought.”

In a letter to Vice-President Jejomar C. Binay, dated Feb. 25, 2011, Frank wrote of the “established fact” of the late dictator stashing ill-gotten wealth in Switzerland through no less than 16 foundations from 1968 to 1989.

Frank wrote: “Marcos terribly and tyrannically abused his power. He mangled the Constitution, closed Congress, reined in media, controlled business, stifled democratic dissent, repressed the opposition, subjugated the courts and utilized the military in countless human rights abuses during his 19-year rule. There are cases upon cases here and abroad, as there are claimants upon claimants, to prove the violations of human rights and human lives. Perhaps we should be reminded why the Supreme Court did not even allow him to come home when alive. Should we honor him in death?”

Facts on these matters are readily demonstrable and verifiable in pertinent records, wrote Frank. “As an ordinary citizen, therefore, I most strongly and earnestly object to the proposal that Ferdinand Marcos’ corpse be interred at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani.”

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It’s been 38 years since Frank marched with hundreds of students opposing Marcos’ dictatorial rule. During the martial law years he defended in court scores of critics — citizens and media persons, including this columnist, charged for libel by minions of the dictator.

He continues to respond to issues touching on human rights violations. For doing so, he is a recipient of “Tribune of the People,” a lifetime achievement award given by the National Union of People’s Lawyers and the Senate minority bloc led by former Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., Sen. Manuel B. Villar, and Sen. Francis Pangilinan. The conferment recognizes his “unwavering fight these past 38 years for freedom, justice, human rights, honesty in government service and Constitutional advocacy — espousing public interest cases and the cause of the poor, the needy and the oppressed.”

Despite the turbulent times, he finished the law course, cum laude, in 1971. In 1987 he was named Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) for law and human rights. He served as (the youngest ever) Solicitor General during President Corazon Aquino’s term (1987 to 1992).

Frank is the founding partner of the Chavez Miranda Aseoche Law Offices, and the founder of Operation Clean Hands, Inc., an anti-corruption association of lawyers. Skilled in the art of litigation, he has contributed 70 cases to Philippine jurisprudence through decisions promulgated by the Supreme Court.

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Skillful as a trial lawyer, cutting a striking figure in finely-tailored suits, he has proven to be skilled as a literary writer as well. He is the author of Blighted, a riveting commentary taking the form of a novel, on a “confounding social malaise that grips a country beset by inequity and an inordinate tolerance for corruption.” In the book’s intro, writer Pete Lacaba describes Frank as “legal eagle, social gadfly, and now newbie litterateur rolled into one,” and his first novel as “a literary cocktail of documentary realism, investigative journalism, political satire, activist teach-in, law-school lecture, travelogue trivia, historical tidbits, and courtroom drama, memory and desire, desperation and dreams.”

The novel is into its second printing. Proceeds have gone to the building of 12 Gawad Kalinga houses through Rotary Club of Makati, donations of about P1 million to the Philippine Band of Mercy, UP PGH Cancer Institute, Bantay Bata, Don Bosco, Ondoy victims, and three cancer patients.

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The day may soon come when all public school pupils will have chairs and desks — thanks to an innovation that makes good use of illegally harvested timber.

The project, dubbed P-Noy Bayanihan Project, which is getting over a P100 million funding from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, is in response to a memorandum order signed by President Aquino, directing the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Education, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to work together and fast track the production of school furniture out of logs confiscated by DENR.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said that to heighten the administra-tion’s anti-illegal logging campaign, it was decided to donate the confiscated logs to DepEd. Previously, the confiscated logs were turned over to the winning bidders — who happened to be the illegal loggers.

Every year, DepEd purchases about P1 billion worth of armchairs and tables. With the support of PAGCOR Chair Cristino L. Naguiat Jr., Education Secretary Armin Luistro will be able to fill up the perennial need for school furniture. Imagine the good that will come from DENR’s inventory of some 17,608 cu.m. (7.47 million board feet) of confiscated logs donated to DepEd. Perhaps kids will turn out brighter if they have desks, not laps, to write on.

With PAGCOR’s funding, TESDA, said Secretary Joel Villanueva, will hire and train workers to work on woodworking facilities in various sites nationwide.

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My e-mail:dominimt2000@yahoo.com