^

Opinion

Man with a vintage of values

FROM THE STANDS - Domini M. Torrevillas - The Philippine Star

One of the best and brightest of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ men, Manuel “Lolong” M. Lazaro, has released Vintage of Values,  a compendium of his “timeless and timely essays.”  One looks forward to a good read of the lawyer’s recollections of the good in the past regime, and his commentaries on the flaws committed by  the present governors,  and, as he puts it, on the  â€œcomplexities of life and society.”

To give you an idea of the power Lolong wielded during the Marcos years:

He was Government Corporate Counsel, with the rank of Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals; first Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Government Service Insurance System, and legal consultant of the DBP, PNB and Land Bank. Most important, Marcos appointed him presidential assistant for legal affairs (PALA) with the rank of Minister. As PALA, he acted as the counsel of the President and the Office of the President. He helped screen the appointees of Marcos in the judiciary and executive departments, and drafted or polished presidential decrees, letters of instructions, executive orders and proclamations. Presumably, the men and women in Marcos’ circle  passed through the recommendatory hands of Justice Lazaro.

A most looked- forward to in his compendium of essays is his tribute to his late chief: “FEM: The Great Ilocano Lawmaker.”  Let me quote his introduction:

“The great bard William Shakespeare wrote in an epigrammatic tone: ‘The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.’ It is typical of Filipinos to have short memories of another’s good deeds, but long memories of the other’s bad or perceived wrongs. This is the tragic irony in the case of the late President Marcos. The perceived illegal acts of FM have been incessantly tautologized. They were designed protuberantly to submerge or marginalize his landmark contributions to our legal system… ”

Marcos’ achievement and contributions “are a matter of record,” writes Lazaro. “To obliterate Marcos’ achievements/contributions from the pages of history is to distort the past and mislead the future generations. Succeeding administrations have employed laws and the media to destroy or consign Marcos to oblivion notwithstanding his solid achievements for the good of the nation and its people. Good deeds, especially those beneficial to the nation and people cannot be effaced or expunged. Good triumphs in the end. FM’s place in history is secure. The Marcos laws around us. They are embedded in our legal system. They continue to govern and guide the nation and the government functionaries. The vision and foresight of FM in law-making for governance are richly illustrated by the varied and numerous vital legal issuances.”

“At time’s healing hands, FM will be vindicated. FM is a great man – unjustly judged at the wrong time by the wrong minds,” writes Lolong. “Time and history will vindicate his vision and foresight, especially in law-making as a vehicle of governance. Dispassionate men will make an icon of FM. FM is the greatest Ilocano.”

An essay I would have liked to read but which is absent in the compendium is Lolong’s defense of martial law that Marcos declared to perpetuate himself in power. Did Lolong help write the draft of Proclamation 1081?

Another riveting piece would have been on former First Lady Imelda Marcos, but the author chose not to write it.

Lolong has a quizzical look at  â€œbalimbings,” who have shifted allegiances from the past to the present dispensations, “survivors” who are dancing to the music and singing paeans to the new leadership. A pitiable  genus sired by the EDSA revolution are the “social lepers,” whose only fault was their being members of the family and social circles of the former First Couple. They are shunned, they have “to deal with synthetic persons who wear different masks.”

The outstanding Ateneo law alumnus and present chairman and CEO of the Philippine Constitution Association brings us to the topic of church interference in public affairs in the piece,  â€œReligious Terrorism.” He blithely touches on the role that the late Jaime Cardinal Sin had played in the mobilization of throngs that marched to EDSA, eventually leading to the exile of the Marcoses to Hawaii.

He decries church condemnation of the “pandemic graft and corruption”  in the government, but it  is numb  about certain celebrated cases of graft and corruption; it has censured and vilified  gambling, but a ranking clergy characterizes PAGCOR,  â€œthe major donor at religious activities, as a wholesome form of entertainment.”  It has decried “with apocalyptic tone the commercialization of sex in Ermita, but has been deafeningly silent on the ‘escapades’ of public officials and lay leaders.”

Vintage of Values covers 263 pages, the  topics including discipline as the key to progress, Right of Reply, a tainted electoral process, the right to revolution, and judicalization of politics. Running through the book is the pre-eminence of  ethical values, of  the virtues of delicadeza, courtesy, humility and sincerity, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

On the congressional act granting the Right of Reply, lawyer Lazaro is on the side of the media. The act, he writes, appears “to be the salutary medicine for the victims or pushovers of the press. Ironically, however, the methodology and the means provided to enforce the right of reply envenom its enforcement. The medicine prescribed hinders the cure/healing desired. The proposed law is simply rhetoric or a vacuous gesture of sincere concern.”

The grant of the right of reply, he continues, is “a hollow shibboleth. Congress grants nothing. Every person has the constitutional and guaranteed right of reply to any published accusation or critic of the press. This right is encompassed by the constitutional freedom of speech or of expression. A law creating/granting a right of reply is of no legal consequence. Congress cannot create or grant what the Constitution has already granted and guaranteed.”

Is there a right to stage a revolution? Lazaro’s essays contain noteworthy quotes from legal luminaries, and the ones he quotes here are on the side of revolution, as for instance, US Presidents Ulysses Grant and Abraham Lincoln, and the transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau, who exhorted: “All men recognize the right of revolution: that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government when its tyranny or inefficiency are great and undendurable.” Lawyer Lazaro does not say that he himself favored the staging of the People’s Revolution in February 1986.

Always dapper in his dark suit, and elegant of speech, Lolong values family ties, treasures fidelity in marriage and friendship. He made public acknowledgment of the loyalty and affection of his  lovely wife Rose Marie, and their five children.

A loyal friend, is how former Quezon City Mayor Mel Mathay described him in his remarks at the book launch held at the Manila Polo Club. Lolong, he said, “is a lawyer, civil servant, author, his life encapsulates our concept of the complete man. But over and above all these, it is as a once and always faithful friend that  we honor him.”

Readers who would like to have (or buy) a copy of the book may call the Lazaro Law Office; it’s in the phone book, may be googled.

*      *      *

Email:[email protected]

 

DID LOLONG

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE SYSTEM

FIRST COUPLE

LAZARO

LOLONG

MARCOS

RIGHT

RIGHT OF REPLY

VINTAGE OF VALUES

  • Latest
  • Trending
Latest
Latest
abtest
Recommended
Are you sure you want to log out?
X
Login

Philstar.com is one of the most vibrant, opinionated, discerning communities of readers on cyberspace. With your meaningful insights, help shape the stories that can shape the country. Sign up now!

Get Updated:

Signup for the News Round now

FORGOT PASSWORD?
SIGN IN
or sign in with