THE VIEW FROM RIZAL
By Dr. Jun Ynares, M.D.
Last June, we wrote a piece on our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. In that column, we referred to him as the quintessential “lodi,” the colloquial term used by today’s young people to describe someone they hold in high esteem.
A fellow Antipoleño wrote to us to say that there is another outstanding Filipino whom our young people may consider looking up to as a model, and one to whom they can easily relate.
“If the late Senator Lorenzo Tañada Sr. were part of today’s millennial generation, he would easily be a major campus heartthrob,” my fellow Antipoleño wrote.
He said he takes pride in having had a personal encounter with the late solon and who had followed the latter’s sterling life as a statesman and nationalist. Senator Tañada Sr., of course, was the father of former Senator Wigberto Tañada, and the grandfather of former congressman and now media executive Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III.
“Baby-boomers revered Senator Tañada as a one who championed the ‘aban ng bayan,’ together with the likes of Ninoy Aquino, Don Chino Roces, and Jose W. Diokno,” my fellow Antipoleño related.
“But in his younger days, he would have also been ‘crush ng bayan’,” he added.
I asked why. He explained that, during Senator Tañada’s youth, he embodied what today’s young people would be looking for in a campus standout.
“Consider the following,” my fellow Antipoleño continued.
He recalled that Senator Tañada was gifted, “both physically and intellectually, an attribute aspired for by today’s young people.”
“He was a product of two prestigious educational institutions – the De La Salle University and the University of the Philippines,” he wrote. “Those are two schools many young men of today would love to study in,” he noted.
“Senator Tañada must have also made many young women of his time look at him with much admiration,” my fellow Antipoleño wrote.
He added, “After all, he was what today’s young people would call ‘guwapings’ – good looking, with a charming smile and a kind face which concealed the blazing fire of love for country raging in his heart,” he continued.
“He was also part of campus organizations considered by all generations as the testing ground of intellectual and physical prowess,” he added. My fellow Antipoleño noted that the late senator from Gumaca, Quezon, was a cadet officer of the UP Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) long recognized as the best in the land.
“He was also part of a champion national football team,” my fellow Antipoleño added. “If he were part of today’s millennial generation, those extracurricular activities would have won him a large following on FaceBook,” he said. “I can only imagine fans running after him for a selfie,” he added.
Our view is that the late Senator Lorenzo Tañada Sr. represented the fiery passion which characterize the youth of every era. The lesson his life provides is this: That the fire and passion of youth is best harnessed to achieve a purpose. His life showcased a fiery passion that had a specific object and direction: Love for country and for countrymen.
He had a singular goal in life: Setting Filipinos free. My fellow Antipoleño recalled stories from his UP ROTC peers that then Cadet Major Lorenzo Tañada had urged his fellow ROTC cadets to take their military training seriously because they may have to use it against the Americans who ruled the country then as colonial masters if the latter would not grant our independence.
There were also stories of him organizing a protest against a schoolmaster who ordered him and his classmates to do manual labor for the school, to the prejudice of their weekend with their families.
“Senator Tañada was the goal-keeper of the champion national football team,” my fellow Antipoleño said. “It appears he took the task of keeping goals in life very seriously,” he added by way of an insight.
Our generation remembers Senator Lorenzo Tañada Sr. as the statesman who appeared on the floor of the Philippine Senate on the day our senators voted to end the presence of United States military bases in the country. The one single most unforgettable moment in that historic chapter was captured by a newspaper picture of him sitting on a wheelchair, with tears in his eyes.
His son, the distinguished Senator Wigberto Tañada, had approached him to kiss his hands after the younger Tañada had cast his “No” vote on the Senate floor. The picture captured both the love and respect between father and son, and the fulfilment of that Goal Keeper’s dream for his beloved country.
A proud nation shared that moment. A proud Senate was there to witness it and honored the moment with a standing ovation for the man who made his countrymen’s hearts throb for their Motherland.
“The nation would also remember him as one of the country’s longest serving senators,” my fellow Antipoleño wrote. Senator Tañada Sr. was a member of the Senate for some 24 years.
“Filipinos also remember him as a great legal mind,” he added.
He concluded his note with the following testimonial:
“I will remember him, however, not so much for the grandeur of his achievements, but for his humility.
“Some time in the late ’70s, I went to see him in his law office in Makati. I needed to interview him for an article I was writing for my journalism class. It was a piece on the Civil Liberties Union of the Philippines of which he was a pillar.
“Senator Tañada welcomed me to his office. I was just a student then, with no stature that would have merited the time and attention of a national luminary like him.
“Yet, he spent more than an hour with me, speaking to me like a grandfather, sharing the stories of his crusade for rights and freedom. He was teary eyed as he shared his stories, paying tribute to his peers and fellow crusaders. Not at any moment did he attempt to portray himself as a hero.”
There are two outstanding sons of the Southern Tagalog whose birthdays will be marked this month. Former President Manuel Quezon will celebrate his on the 19th.
Senator Lorenzo Tañada Sr. will mark his on the 10th.
We hope our young people would strive to learn more about the latter. In doing so, may our young people find another great Filipino whose heart throbbed with love and passion for his country and after whom they may model their lives.
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