Honor guards, red carpet send-off for Roco

Former lawmaker and presidential candidate Raul Roco yesterday made a final journey to his hometown of Naga City where, in a somber ritual, his remains were returned to the bosom of his kababayans.

Relatives, friends and supporters formed a convoy of mourners behind Roco’s hearse from the Della Strada Chapel along Katipunan Road in Quezon City, where his remains had been lying in state since Friday, to the Andres Soriano Aviation hangar in Pasay City where his coffin was placed onboard a chartered, 19-seater Dornier 228 airplane for his last flight home.

Except for the presence of 21 honor guards and a red carpet, little indicated the dark green casket loaded on the plane bore the body of a presidential contender — not once, but twice — despite his failing health and lack of political machinery.

Senate President Franklin Drilon led the Senate departure rites accorded to Roco before the plane took off at high noon.

Tears streamed down the faces of some of Roco’s supporters. Others silently waved farewell as the plane gently left the hangar.

"We made do with what we could," Drilon said. "We had the formal departure ceremony for a departed colleague as a tradition in the Senate."

Besides his two unsuccessful attempts to win the presidency, Roco had served as a senator and, prior to his tenure in the upper chamber, a member of the House of Representatives. Roco was consistently judged an outstanding senator from 1992 to 2001. He is also credited with crafting the Intellectual Property Code, the New Securities Regulation Code and the legislation that put into motion reforms within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as well as the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, Anti-Rape Law and the Family Courts Act of 1997.

He had also served as education secretary during the first year and a half of the Arroyo administration.

If was during Roco’s stint at the Department of Education that the payment of teachers’ salaries was modernized so they could receive their wages on time and through automated teller machines (ATMs). Roco was also credited with ending the victimization of teachers by loan sharks operating within DepEd.

While no other senators were present at the rites and strong winds and rain met his funeral cortege, Roco’s mourners — relatives, friends and former employees — made the solemn march to bid their colleague goodbye on the tarmac.

The Senate paid tribute to Roco in the afternoon with an early adjournment of session in lieu of the traditional necrological service.

After the roll call of senators, a reading of matters for consideration was conducted and Sen. Joker Arroyo moved to adjourn session.

"Raul passed away, so let’s stop for a while," Arroyo said in calling for the adjournment.

In a prayer read by Drilon at the start of the session, the Senate expressed gratitude for the opportunity of serving alongside Roco: "Sen. Roco was a principled man who was not afraid to take unpopular stands and to fight for what he believed was right. He was not afraid to swim against the tide. He was a model for the Filipino people, both in the legal profession and in public service."

The Senate also passed a resolution signed by all the senators present expressing the chamber’s profound condolences and sympathy for Roco’s family in their time of grief.

The resolution recognized Roco’s achievements from his days as a student to his last tenure in a government post as DepEd secretary.

On a more artistic tack, the Senate resolution described Roco as a poet and musician who "dabbled in film production" by producing the film "Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang " directed by the late Lino Brocka.

"He was a statesman whose life is a testament that honesty, decency and integrity must never be compromised in favor of convenience and expediency," the resolution said. "His wisdom, politics and vision prepared him well for the presidency, which could have changed the country’s political landscape had fate not intervened."