‘He lived his life to the fullest’

NAGA CITY — Thousands of friends and admirers of the late Sen. Raul Roco trooped yesterday morning to the Peñafrancia Basilica Minore here to bid him farewell.

From the Ateneo de Naga University chapel, Roco’s remains were brought to the Basilica Minore for the concelebrated funeral rites officiated by Nueva Caceres Archbishop Leonardo Legazpi, assisted by Bishops Prospero Arellano of Libmanan, Camarines Sur and Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon.

Roco, 63, died last Friday at St. Luke’s Medical Center after a long bout with prostate cancer, after which his remains were brought to the Sta. Maria De la Sagrada chapel in Quezon City.

His body was airlifted last Monday to Naga City, his birthplace, where he had desired to be buried.

In his homily, Archbishop Legazpi lauded the sterling qualities of the late senator, education secretary and presidential candidate.

"The silence of our prayers is the silence we offer to Raul," Legazpi said, adding that Roco’s wish to be buried in Naga City is just fitting because this was "the city of his youth."

The senator’s wife, Sonia Malasarte-Roco, said during the short farewell program after the Mass inside the jampacked cathedral, "God gives life and God takes all. He gave him life and he lived it to the fullest."

She described their life together in the past 38 years as a "life full of giving, compassion and gift of virtue, working straight ahead with unwavering faith."

Though sometimes overcame with grief during her remarks, Mrs. Roco was a picture of strength and acceptance, saying she will never forget her husband’s "courage even in the fiercest pain."

Despite his hectic schedule as corporate lawyer, Mrs. Roco said her husband could "still admire the color of a flower and the melody of a song."

As a politician, she said his foremost concern was to serve with honesty and integrity and to help the poor.

She thanked Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo, a staunch Roco supporter who has declared every Oct. 26, the late senator’s birthday, as Raul Roco Day in Naga City.

"When I go back to Antipolo, when I see the gumamela flower, the fireflies at night and the rainbow, I will surely miss him," Mrs. Roco said.

Mrs. Roco was joined by Roco’s mother, Rosario "Lola Nena" Sagarbarria, 89; former congressman Sulpicio "Cho" Roco and his wife, Badette, and Raul’s six children.

Roco’s son Rex brought a tray of green butterflies during the necrological rites and freed them inside the cathedral.

Roco’s son Raul Jr. recited a poem, while his siblings recalled the happy memories they had with their father.

During the farewell program, Bobitt Roco and Atty. Lorna Kapunan, Roco’s former law partner, gave their messages.

Kapunan recounted how she was surprised when Roco accepted her as a law partner simply by asking her if she was a mother.

She said Roco had "high admiration and respect for mothers."

But what Kapunan said she will never forget about Roco was the poem he wrote to comfort her when her son died of leukemia.

Also present were Albay Gov. Fernando Gonzales, Sen. Joker Arroyo, Rep. Noynoy Andaya; and Hermie Aquino and Inday Santiago, Roco’s running mates in the 2004 and 1998 presidential elections, respectively.

It was raining hard when Roco was finally laid to rest at about 1 p.m. at the Sto. Niño Memorial Park where his father, Sulpicio Sr., and sister Lourdes are also buried.