JDV: A time to rejoice at 75

Jose de Venecia Jr. was a five-time Speaker of the House of Representatives — extraordinary feat that made him one of the most powerful figures in the local political landscape. He could have been president of the country, if fate had allowed it. But in Congress, his record as Speaker could be hardly matched; as legislator, he authored laws considered landmarks.

Among these laws are the B-O-T (Build-Operate-Transfer) law, which has become a model for other developing countries, and the formula for Private-Public Partnerships, and the creation of the Central Bank of the Philippines. The Military Bases Conversion Law turned the former American military bases on Luzon Island into thriving export zones and free ports — including Clark Airfield and Subic Naval Base, Baguio’s Camp John Hay and La Union’s Camp Wallace and Poro Point. This law included the conversion of Fort Bonifacio into the now successful satellite city and the Resort World in the old Nichols Air Base.

Mention must be made of two of JDV’s important initiatives, begun while he was still Speaker. These are the debt-for-equity program which asks develop countries to divert a percentage of their debt-service payments into anti-poverty programs, and the Philippine proposal which the UN has approved, to carry out interfaith dialogue to prevent the “clash of civilizations” and the “clash of religions.”

His law-making work was suddenly cut when his peers, including those whose careers he had built up, ousted him from the Speakership in 2008.

Withdrawing quietly from his congressional seat, he did not sit down nor mope but turned his sights, wisdom and energy to regional concerns. He has been in the forefront of a political-civic movement aimed at unifying the Asian continent, its centerpiece the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) which was founded in Metro Manila in 2000, and which now counts more than 300 ruling and opposition parties in 52 countries, in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, the Arab world, and Australasia.

He founded the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI), and the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council to assist and advise Asian governments in the aftermath of internal conflicts set off by citizens asserting their political and human rights in the Middle East.

At the reception marking his 75th birthday, December 26, with such illustrious guests as former President Fidel V. Ramos, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., national legislators, local officials from Pangasinan, and a host of diplomats and representatives of Asian political parties, JDV said the end goal of the global political parties is “to get the core concerns . . . fighting mass poverty, massive inequality, crushing debt burdens, environmental degradation in our capital and in the global councils.”

People who didn’t know about Joe’s historic peacemaking initiatives might say he is so well known and respected abroad, but is an “unsung” prophet in his country. It has been expressed that the present government appoint him as roving ambassador, in the same fashion that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was appointed for the job. JDV deserves more than that, some say. He had served as Ambassador-at-Large under President Corazon Aquino’s administration from 1986-1987 before returning to Congress in the restored democracy.

Hardly did Judge Jose Ravago de Venecia and Casimira Villamil Claveria of Dagupan City predict that their son, Pepe, born on December 26, 1936, would become a national and international figure.

Joe studied for a journalistic career. He took up journalism at the Ateneo de Manila where he edited The Guidon, which was rated one of the best college newspapers in the world by New York’s Columbia University.

After graduation, at the age of 19, he became Manila Bureau chief and Philippine correspondent for Pan-Asia Newspaper Alliance, and wrote a weekly column on Asian affairs that appeared in the pre-Martial Law Philippine Herald. He co-founded in the 1960s the Radio Philippines Network, now RPN, which pioneered in radio broadcasting in the Northern Luzon capitals of Baguio, Laoag and Tuguegarao.

His work in diplomacy began in 1966, when, at the age of 29, he was appointed Minister and Economic Press Counselor of the Philippine Embassy in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. It was in Vietnam that he conceived of and implemented the Dollar Remittance Program for Philippine overseas workers, which continues to tide the country over hard financial times. For this historic initiative, JDV was given the prestigious Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award.

Joe then threw his hat into the political ring. He was serving his first term as congressman when martial law abolished Congress. He reverted to business, pioneering projects in the Middle East and North Africa that led to the employment of millions of Filipinos worldwide. His companies engaged in port operations in Saudi Arabia, agriculture in Africa, mass housing in Iraq, and oil exploration in the United Arab Emirates. The Iraq-Iran War, however, cut short JDV’s foreign business interests. Never one to be let down by misfortune, he seized the opportunity to engage in oil exploration in Palawan.

After Marcos’ ouster, JDV ran again for a new congressional seat in Pangasinan (4th District) in 1987. He was elected five times as Speaker of the House of Representatives (1992-1995, 1995-1998, 2001-2001, 2004-2007 and 2007-2008) .

He co-founded, with President Fidel Ramos and Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus, the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), which became the ruling party for 15 years and which he served alternately as secretary general, president, and chairman and co-chairman.

Cutting a colorful figure, he crafted the “rainbow coalition” in the House of Representatives, after the Martial Law years, paving the way for the smooth passage of economic political and social reform legislation and helping create the Philippine “economic miracle” during the Ramos administration.

JDV ran for president in the 1998 elections. He came out second in a field of ten candidates, with President Joseph Estrada as winner. When Estrada went to prison, JDV’s running mate for vice-president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, succeeded to the presidency. Ironically, it was during President Arroyo’s term that he was unseated from the speakership.

JDV’s “fall” from grace may have been prevented, say some political analysts, had he dissuaded his son, Joey de Venecia, from pursuing his charge of  First Gentleman Mike Arroyo’s seeming involvement in a $329-million NBN-ZTM scam. But he went all out in support of his oldest son. In February 2008, 134 colleagues signed up to oust him from the speakership.

JDV’s support of his son’s advocacy may have lost him his political ascendancy. Blood is thicker than water, as they say. But his closeness to his family was evident in the birthday bash organized by his wife Gina. His children, including Joey, and his siblings rendered paeans through songs and remarks. JDV acknowledged his biggest supporter — Representative of the 4th District of Pangasinan, Gina, who is described as the “light of his life, joy of his life, and love of his life.”

The celebration called for no gifts, but encouraged donations to the victims of the flood victims in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City and Negros Oriental, and gifts for Rep. Gina’s projects — the Mother Theresa Orphanages in Manila and Dagupan City and Haven for Women, Haven for Children, and Haven for the Elderly. The De Venecias themselves have donated goods to the unfortunate victims of Sendong.

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