Loyalty to a fault
Loyalty is very important to many Filipinos – loyalty to family, loyalty to friends. Rarely do we find Filipinos who are loyal first to their country. Businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco is one of those who places high value on loyalty to friends. And perhaps that’s the reason why his friendship with Ferdinand Marcos has, by his own admission, gotten him into all kinds of problems. But there is no question that Danding was not only a friend to Marcos; he was also friends with many other people, and one of them was Ninoy Aquino. As a matter of fact, when he and Ninoy had split ways – purely out of politics – the latter would always tell Danding, “politika lang ‘yan.”
Even then, the two continued to remain friends. In fact, even when they had political differences, Danding continued his friendship and assisted Ninoy with the mortgage of the latter’s house in
Max Soliven had one thing in common with Danding: he, too, put a lot of premium on loyalty. But through the years, Max himself had admitted that it was more important to put loyalty to the country first before loyalty to friends. As a matter of fact, Max and Danding were good friends from the beginning. After not seeing each other for many years, they got back together again in 2001 when Danding, accompanied by Ramon Ang, went to see Max at his residence in Greenhills.
The loyalty that Danding had with his friends has also mellowed him over the years. Today, he’s just concentrating on his businesses and spends most of his time in his Goree stud farm in
In 1998, I felt it was not yet time for ECJ to run for president, but he was being pushed by people who had their own agenda. Learning the hard way, ECJ knew theirs was not the kind of friendship he needed. In fact, some of these people even used his running to make money off him, and turned against him in the end. It was an eye-opening experience for Danding, and now he just keeps a very small group of people as his real friends. Actually, I felt 2004 was his time to run for president, but he had already decided that he was no longer interested in politics.
Not many people are aware that ECJ remains a farmer at heart. In fact, he’s been helping cassava farmers in Sta. Marcela in the
Only a few well-known people can claim to have the character of a “campechano” – cheerful, goodhearted, genial, and among them is Max Soliven, Danding Cojuangco and Enrique Zobel, all of whom I am proud to have been associated with and whom I consider as true friends. Through the years, these gentlemen have come to share one thing in common: they have learned that their loyalty to friends ends where their loyalty to their country begins – paraphrasing that famous quote of President Manuel L. Quezon. Perhaps we can all learn from their experiences.
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The Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) will be holding its “PNP Forum” tonight with Gen. Sonny Razon as guest speaker. But tonight will also be the launch of the first Maximo V. Soliven Journalism Awards in recognition of our late chairman who was one of the best – if not the best – journalist this country has ever produced. Without sounding biased, I feel Max is a national treasure especially in the field of journalism. His daughter, Sara, plans to launch the first of the many books about Max – in particular, one that is a compilation of all the poems her father wrote.
We will be honoring Max with this journalism awards, and the awarding ceremonies will be held early next year with our current MOPC chairman Tony Lopez announcing the winner (chosen among many nominees submitted to the MOPC board). Max’s widow, Ambassador Precious Soliven, will be our guest of honor.
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