PEACE-MAKER
Our wife Gina and we visited former President Joseph Estrada in his home several days ago.
As some may know, then Vice President Erap Estrada and we ran against each other and eight other candidates during the 1998 presidential elections. We came out second to him in a highly competitive field of 10, where our party then, Lakas-NUCD-UMDP, now Lakas-CMD, had four strong unyielding candidates, while our friend Erap, vastly popular and alone in his party, sailed home victorious.
The eight other candidates, who were among the notable leaders in our country, were Senators Raul Roco, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, and Juan Ponce Enrile; Defense Secretary Renato de Villa, Cebu Governor Lito Osmeña, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chairman Manoling Morato, and lawyer Santiago Dumlao.
It was the second time in May 2022 that 10 candidates ran for president – Vice President Leni Robredo, former Senator Bongbong Marcos, Senators Manny Pacquiao and Ping Lacson, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, former National Security Adviser Bert Gonzales, former Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella, labor leader Leody de Guzman, businessman Faisal Mangondato, and lawyer-doctor Jose Montemayor.
We used to tease Erap that he should have not run at all and left the presidential field to us instead of being confined later, until we moved for his pardon. He was later elected two times as Mayor of Manila. He also landed second when he ran again for president in 2010. Indeed, the man is one of a kind politician.
Erap and we are both 87 years old. We are happy to say that despite our political differences, we and our families have remained friends to this day.
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The people of Dagupan City, led by the indefatigable Mayor Belen Fernandez, commemorated last Jan. 9 the 79th anniversary of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s Luzon landing.
To this day, we vividly remember General MacArthur, smiling and waving at the crowd from the Home Economics building of our wartime school in Dagupan, the now West Central Elementary School, which served as his brief military headquarters in January 1945. We were then nine years old.
Our current Dagupan City home is a short walking distance from the Lingayen Gulf, where General MacArthur and, earlier, Japanese General Masaharu Homma landed on Jan. 9, 1945 and Dec. 22, 1941, respectively.
We still recall that as a five-year-old boy, we witnessed the Japanese forces commandeered our father’s black Lincoln car when they landed ashore in Dagupan.
We are delighted that our son, Congressman Christopher “Toff” de Venecia, spearheaded the restoration of the said building, now fittingly called the “MacArthur House” and which has been declared a cultural heritage site.
Incidentally, the historic “MacArthur House” serves as the venue of the Anakbanwa Arts Exhibition, which is ongoing until Jan. 28. It is open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The Anakbanwa Creative Residency Project was launched by Congressman Christopher in 2021 “to provide a venue for artists and creatives to immerse themselves in the different communities, experience cultural heritage, and learn from diverse practices in the fourth district of Pangasinan.”
We are gratified that he has taken up causes that are closest to his heart – arts, culture, and the creative industries.