Today, Oct. 26, a novel entitled Blighted will be launched. The author is Atty. Frank Chavez, whose name is familiar to lovers of freedom and justice. It promises to be an extremely compelling work of fiction woven around verified and verifiable facts.
The book narrates the story of the lives of three young Filipinos that intersect in a twist of fate amid the confounding malaise gripping a country beset by inequity and an inordinate tolerance for corruption. Their divergent backgrounds and class associations provoke nagging questions on morality, with the core narrative embroiling a spectrum of Philippine society.
It is a novel that depicts the Philippines today, because — from the unimaginable conditions of squalor to swank villas that define the matrix of greed, political patronage and quid pro quo accommodation — the conflict rages between noble conviction and metastasized greed and profligacy of the highest order. It ultimately depicts the fight between good and evil.
With Chavez as the author, noteworthy is the exciting manner in which the story is woven. It could be a scathing report on the downfall of the current administration, which would make the book as topical as today’s headlines. Despite the present-day morass depicted in his book, the courage of a few good men spells a nation’s true birthright: to transform a blighted culture to one brimming with hope for the future.
It indeed is an exciting book. Blurbs were written by six well-known personalities, and because of the compelling nature of their statements, it is my privilege to quote them hereunder:
Randy David, professor of Sociology at the University of the Philippines: “This is a riveting account of the Filipino nation’s dysfunctional institutions. Frank Chavez draws from his long experience as a trial lawyer and former Solicitor General to produce a compelling portrait of decadence in our time. In measured prose, he weaves strands of real events into the filter of satirical fiction. The composite corrupt characters he depicts are all recognizable. We can smell their rot on every page. But heroes come forward when we least expect them. And so, rather than endorse an attitude of knowing cynicism, the author ends his story on a note of sheer faith in new beginnings: This blighted nation can be made whole again.”
Pete Lacaba, poet, writer, screenwriter: “Like one of the characters described, from Iron Man, Superman and Batman packaged into one, Frank Chavez is legal eagle, social gadfly, and now newbie litterateur rolled into one. His first novel is a literary cocktail of documentary realism, investigative journalism, political satire, activist teach-in, law-school lecture, travelogue trivia, historical tidbits, and courtroom drama, mixing memory and desire, desperation and dreams. It is, at the same time (if one may be allowed to mix metaphors), an indictment penned by a justice leaguer contemplating a landscape perpetually blighted by corruption and injustice.”
Domini M. Torrevillas, columnist, The Philippine STAR: “Frank Chavez has assumed another role — from that of fiery trial lawyer defending journalists beleaguered with libel suits during the martial law years, to that of controversial Solicitor General, and then to sensitive novelist. In Blighted, he makes his searing commentary on the present state of affairs in this hapless country that he loves so well, damning corruption and abuse of the poor by the rich and powerful, law enforcers, and members of the judicial courts. It is a travelogue, courtroom drama, a series of lectures on the political-social condition and on convoluted minds and temperaments rolled into one. The novel does not bank on sexual undertones but on harsh realities to draw readers’ attention. That Frank Chavez would turn to the novel as his genre for truth-telling makes us the better for it.”
My first interaction with Frank Chavez dates back to 1990. Being the official of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) that initiated and supervised the demonopolization and liberalization of the telecom sector of the country after the Peaceful Revolution in 1986, it was my responsibility to draft the first enunciations of the DOTC in this effort. After tedious discussions with the private sector of the country then, we issued Department Order 87-188 in 1987, which spelled out the DOTC initiatives: the short-term goal of accelerating telecommunications development, and the long-term goal of alleviating the abysmal telephone density of the country then.
It was Frank who argued the case for the government in the landmark case of PLDT v. National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). I was Usec. for Communications then, and the late beloved President Corazon C. Aquino made me concurrent chair of the NTC. The decision won by then Solicitor General Chavez was an outstanding victory for our demonopolization efforts. It was the brilliant former Justice Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera, my role model and sorority sister, who penned the decision dated Oct. 18, 1990. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court then was the late Claudio Teehankee. It was well known in legal circles that after Frank Chavez argued the case, Chief Justice Teehankee, known for his wit, said, “Where did this Chavez come from? Is he from Ateneo?” Since the Chief Justice’s alma mater was Ateneo, and when he was given the answer that Frank graduated from the UP College of Law, the Chief Justice responded by saying, “He’s the only UP graduate that can argue like an Atenean.”
Frank Chavez became our hero! This was the first judicial support for the demonopolization and liberalization efforts of the DOTC and the NTC.
He graduated cum laude, Bachelor of Laws, from the University of the Philippines in 1971, was a bar examiner for Remedial Law in 1985, and was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of the Philippines for law and human rights. He served the people as the youngest ever Solicitor General of the Philippines from 1987 to 1992, during President’s Aquino’s term. He is a founding partner of the Chavez Miranda Aseoche Law Offices, and the founder of Operation Clean Hands, Inc., an anti-corruption association of lawyers. Utilizing the art of litigation, he has contributed no less than 70 cases to Philippine jurisprudence through decisions promulgated by the Supreme Court.
Among Atty. Chavez’s numerous distinctions is the recently conferred “Tribune of the People,” a lifetime achievement award given by the National Union of People’s Lawyers and the Senate minority bloc led by Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., Sen. Manuel B. Villar and Sen. Francis Pangilinan. The conferment was in recognition of his unwavering fight these past 38 years for freedom, justice, human rights, honesty in government service and constitutional advocacy — espousing public interest cases and the cause of the poor, the needy and the oppressed.
Frank is lucky to have an extremely supportive wife, Jean, with a marriage that has survived the test of time. He’s got three daughters: Katrina, a dentist, graduate of UCLA in the US; Stephanie, a lawyer from UP; and Ingrid, a graduate in fashion merchandising and brand management in Milan.
There are other fascinating facets to the Chavez persona, but I am certain one phase of his life from which he has drawn great strength were those days when, as a student, due to lack of finances, he was unable to purchase a single law textbook but still managed to graduate cum laude; when, as a self-supporting student he worked as a printing press proofreader; and before this, in 1967, as a student demonstrator, with fortunately an avocado tree nearby. While in hiding with his compatriots, he survived on avocados for a couple of days.
With quite a number of fence-sitters in our midst these days, let me borrow a line from Thoreau: “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor, and act!”
Indeed, we all have to bear in mind that “our goal in life must not just be the perfection of work alone, but the perfection of a life.”
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