As Speaker of the House of Representatives — a title he held five times — Jose de Venecia did his job. To speak up for the people.

But there’s another side to JdV.

That was the side that said to me once upon a time, “Sometimes I wish I could just lock myself up in the bathroom.” He was referring to people who waited to be let into his house “first thing in the morning” even before he could brush his teeth or take his breakfast, because they had favors to ask, papers for him to sign. They were there, and they wanted him pronto, immediately, right now.

One Christmas Day many years ago, a small group of us girls from media were invited to lunch with him and Gina in their house in Makati. They were an effervescent couple who enjoyed talking to people and listening to them. When Joe saw how much I enjoyed the pasta Gina had served us, he said, “Next time you come around I will do the cooking!” Yes, I replied, and please make it pasta with clams, unless you’re just a promising politician.

I left the lunch shortly after 1 p.m. — my office was at the opposite end of town and I didn’t want to be late for my work and the deadline.

A few hours later, at 4 p.m., I was stunned to hear, disbelievingly, news that Joe’s house had caught fire. As the story unfolded, it turned out that there was a casualty, Joe’s daughter, trapped by the flames. The young girl’s brother, Christopher (who was to become a congressman years later) was spared – he was out buying pizza for merienda, thank God and Italians for pizza.

The tragedy that struck Joe was felt by the entire country, not just his constituents. It was also the last time Joe invited any of our group to lunch with him again.

The people credit Joe with opening up the Middle East as a rich source of employment for Filipino expats, having been one himself. To those of us who knew Joe — even though from a distance — he was a politician’s politician with a big sense of humor, i.e., he could laugh at himself (though not for his pasta).