SONNY’S SIDE UP: ‘Filipinos lack hard core commitment to democracy’

Osmeña as OIC mayor of Cebu City (Photos: CDN archive and Junjie Mendoza)

JOHN Osmeña’s profile in the Senate’s website refers to him as the august chamber’s “Lone Ranger”. The tag was in reference to “his independent mindedness and taking fearless stance despite overwhelming odds”.
But the 79-year-old former senator, congressman, Cebu City OIC mayor, vice mayor, councilor and Plaza Miranda bombing survivor is not just about ready to ride into the sunset.

Wearing a checkered shirt and blue jeans, the now mayor of Toledo, a third class city in Cebu’s west coast, was busy poring over state papers when Cebu Daily News was led into his office at the Commercial Village.“Oh, unsa man?” the gray-haired Osmena snarled at this journalist who covered him when he was serving his third tour in the Senate.

His face lit up when told that we’ll neither be tackling Toledo nor the rough and tumble state of local politics as CDN is after his thoughts and recollection of the 4-day revolt 28 years ago.
Osmena paused  before saying: “my version of the EDSA story was the one used in Sandra Burton’s book. Do you know Sandra Burton? You google her.”

(Editor’s note: Sandra Burton was the Hong Kong Bureau chief of Time magazine who accompanied Ninoy on his final journey home. She became famous for her reportage of Philippine affairs during the anti-Marcos period.)

Osmeña’s role in the anti-Marcos struggle is too eminent to be relegated to the dustbin of history.

“EDSA was the breaking point of a people that suffered 15 years of the kleptocracy of Marcos and all violations of human rights particularly the restriction of freedom. It was the one, final volcanic explosion that led to the liberation of the Filipino people from dictatorship,” he said.

Like an old warrior, Osmeña went on to mine his still crystal clear memory bank, punctuating his serious narration with laughter and mockery of some personalities and occurrences in the standoff.

‘Young Turks’

Osmena, together with his “kumpare” Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was one of the so-called “Young Turks” in the Senate in the tumultuous period when President Marcos was supposed to be finishing his final term.

His Senate seat however, came with a heavy price. Osmeña was among those who were nearly killed after grenades were tossed on the stage of a Liberal Party rally in Plaza Miranda.

A Free Press account said: “LP senatorial candidates Edgar Ilarde and John Osmeña were badly wounded. Their damaged legs nearly had to be amputated. Ilarde may not be able to walk for six months to one year while Johnny may be bedridden for about four months. Ilarde’s right leg was severely fractured while John’s leg’s artery was severed and his leg bones splintered.”

Cory meets with her close allies Tony Cuenco, Nene Pimentel, Monching Mitra and brother, Peping Cojuangco as Carmelite nuns look on. (Photos: CDN archive and Junjie Mendoza)

Public sympathy

The resulting public sympathy propelled the LP slate to a 5-3 victory in the Nov. 8, 1971 elections. Osmeña placed third  with 4.6 million votes in a race topped by Jovito Salonga.
Osmeña, and his fellow winners in 1971, did not get to finish their term after the Senate was shuttered when Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972.

Osmeña, as well as many opposition personalities, fled the country as Marcos jailed those who went against him as they were perceived as threats to the dictator’s “New Society”.
Fast-forward to 1983, Ninoy was assassinated as he returned home from exile. Osmeña was among the first political exiles to return to the country to help in the fight against the Marcos dictatorship.
Fuente Osmeña rally

Before the virtual powder keg that is EDSA exploded on the night of Feb. 22, 1986, Osmeña joined key opposition leaders in a noon civil disobedience rally at the Fuente Osmeña.

“We were on the stage together with Marcelo Fernan, Inday Nita Dalus, Antonio Cuenco and Democrito Barcenas, among many others. I was seated one person next to Cory. Neptali Gonzales was between us.

“It was Belinda Cunanan (a newspaper columnist) who whispered to me about what was happening in Manila, where Juan Ponce Enrile already broke away from Marcos.

“We were very nervous. We didn’t know what the military in Cebu will do. Senator Neptali was speaking, eh ang tagal tagal matapos. They asked me to kalabit his puwet so he will stop talking. Cory told him, ‘tapusin mo na ‘yan!’” Osmeña said.

“This was about 2 p.m. We knew Cory must hide already. But Cory will not go into hiding until Kris finishes her movie. Because Kris wanted to go to the movies instead of the rally. So we waited until 4:30 in the afternoon.”

As they nervously  waited, the US consul in Cebu arrived and offered to take Cory to Manila on board a US Navy ship that was already anchored in the port of Cebu. Cory turned down the offer and said it would not be good for her to return to Manila in an American ship.

Military camp

The opposition leaders dispersed with Cory being secretly led into the Carmelite’s convent in Mabolo by Antonio Cuenco and Peping Cojuangco while Osmeña and some others went to the house of Tootsie Quisumbing in Lahug.

“We didn’t  realize that the military camp was just over the fence. If the military decided to take us out, the soldiers would just have easily jumped over the fence,” he said.

John Osmeña’s profile in the Senate’s website refers to him as the august chamber’s “Lone Ranger”. The tag was in reference to “his independent mindedness and taking fearless stance despite overwhelming odds”.

But the 79-year-old former senator, congressman, Cebu City OIC mayor, vice mayor, councilor and Plaza Miranda bombing survivor is not just about ready to ride into the sunset.

Wearing a checkered shirt and blue jeans, the now mayor of Toledo, a third class city in Cebu’s west coast, was busy poring over state papers when Cebu Daily News was led into his office at the Commercial Village.
“Oh, unsa man?” the gray-haired Osmena snarled at this journalist who covered him when he was serving his third tour in the Senate.

His face lit up when told that we’ll neither be tackling Toledo nor the rough and tumble state of local politics as CDN is after his thoughts and recollection of the 4-day revolt 28 years ago.

Osmena paused before saying: “my version of the EDSA story was the one used in Sandra Burton’s book. Do you know Sandra Burton? You google her.”

(Editor’s note: Sandra Burton was the Hong Kong Bureau chief of Time magazine who accompanied Ninoy on his final journey home. She became famous for her reportage of Philippine affairs during the anti-Marcos period.)

Osmeña’s role in the anti-Marcos struggle is too eminent to be relegated to the dustbin of history.

“EDSA was the breaking point of a people that suffered 15 years of the kleptocracy of Marcos and all violations of human rights particularly the restriction of freedom. It was the one, final volcanic explosion that led to the liberation of the Filipino people from dictatorship,” he said.

Like an old warrior, Osmeña went on to mine his still crystal clear memory bank, punctuating his serious narration with laughter and mockery of some personalities and occurrences in the standoff.

Osmena, together with his “kumpare” Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was one of the so-called “Young Turks” in the Senate in the tumultuous period when President Marcos was supposed to be finishing his final term.

His Senate seat however, came with a heavy price. Osmena was among those who were nearly killed after grenades were tossed on the stage of a Liberal Party rally in Plaza Miranda.

A Free Press account said: “LP senatorial candidates Edgar Ilarde and John Osmeña were badly wounded. Their damaged legs nearly had to be amputated. Ilarde may not be able to walk for from six months to one year while Johnny may be bedridden for about four months. Ilarde’s right leg was severely fractured while John’s leg’s artery was severed and his leg bones splintered.”

The resulting public sympathy propelled the LP slate to a 5-3 victory in the Nov. 8, 1971 elections. Osmena placed third with 4.6 million votes in a race topped by Jovito Salonga.

Osmena, and his fellow winner in 1971, did not get to finish their term after the Senate was shuttered when Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972.

Osmena, as well as many opposition personalities, fled the country as Marcos jailed those who went against him as they were perceived as threats to the dictator’s “New Society”.

Fast-forward to 1983, Ninoy was assassinated as he returned home from exile. Osmena was among the first political exiles to return to the country to help in the fight against the Marcos dictatorship.

Before the virtual powder keg that is EDSA exploded on the night of Feb. 22, 1986, Osmena joined key opposition leaders in a noon civil disobedience rally at the Fuente Osmena.

“We were on the stage together with Marcelo Fernan, Inday Nita Dalus, Antonio Cuenco and Democrito Barcenas, among many others. I was seated one person next to Cory. Neptali Gonzales was between us.

“It was Belinda Cunanan (a newspaper columnist) who whispered to me about what was happening in Manila, where Juan Ponce Enrile already broke away from Marcos.

“We were very nervous. We didn’t know what the military in Cebu will do. Senator Neptali was speaking, eh ang tagal tagal matapos. They asked me to kalabit his puwet so he will stop talking. Cory told him, ‘tapusin mo na ‘yan!’” Osmena said.

“This was about 2 p.m. We knew Cory must hide already. But Cory will not go into hiding until Kris finishes her movie. Because Kris wanted to go to the movie instead of the rally. So we waited until 4:30 in the afternoon.”

As they nervously waited, the US consul in Cebu arrived and offered to take Cory to Manila on board a US Navy ship that was already anchored in the port of Cebu. Cory turned down the offer and said it would not be good for her to return to Manila in an American ship.

The opposition leaders dispersed with Cory being secretly led into the Carmelite’s convent in Mabolo by Antonio Cuenco and Peping Cojuangco while Osmena and some others went to the house of Tootsie Quisumbing in Lahug.

“We didn’t realize that the military camp was just over the fence. If the military decided to take us out, the soldiers would just have easily jumped over the fence,” he said.

Osmena said he was tasked to secure the other opposition leaders.

“I was asked to seek shelter for Nene Pimentel, Monching Mitra and Neptali Gonzales. And this was still Martial Law, it was extremely dangerous for people to aid us. We found houses in Mabolo, Guadalupe and Lahug where we distributed them.”

In an era where the Internet and cellular phones were even beyond imagination, the people that night were glued on transistor radios that were relaying broadcast reports from Manila.

The next day, Feb. 23., the opposition leaders fetched Cory from the monastery. A military general approached them and offered them protection. The officer said there would be no troop movements in Cebu as the local chain of command was paralyzed with the tug-of-war between the Marcos forces led by chief-of-staff, Gen. Fabian C. Ver and the rebels led by Enrile and Ramos.

Osmena said they were able to borrow three private planes to fly Cory and the opposition leaders from the Lahug airfield (now the Cebu IT Park) to Manila.

“Just as they were closing the door of the Cessna, Monching Mitra was telling me to go with them, ‘Hali ka na! Panalo na tayo! Ano bang gusto mong cabinet position?’” Osmeña remembers, laughing aloud at how Mitra could still “think of such things in the middle of the mess.”

Osmeña said he did not hop on the plane as he didnt want Cebuanos to think that he was running away. He turned to the American consul who was behind him and told him that it would be wise to notify the US Embassy that Cory and her group were arriving on three planes.

“So they scrambled US jets in Clark (air base) to provide security just in case Marcos got wind of it and decide to shoot them down.”

With Cory in Manila, nothing much happened in Cebu after that, said Osmeña. “We were walking and driving around like free birds.”

On February 25, Mitra, who was his colleague in Congress and in the infamous Plaza Miranda bombing, called him up and asked him to fly to Manila to witness Cory’s oath-taking at the Club Filipino in San Juan.

“I had a front row seat when Cory took oath. But of course there was no photo of me, naturally all the photographers were focused on Cory. (Ernesto) Maceda is photographed at the back as if he had something to do with it,” he said.

(Editor’s note: Maceda was a Marcos presidential assistant who headed the agency from where the Department of the Interior and Local Government was formed. He was in the rival Nacionalista senatorial slate in the 1971 elections. Maceda later on broke away with Marcos and joined the opposition ranks. He became Cory’s environment minister before getting drafted, together with Osmena, as the administration party’s candidates in the 1987 senatorial elections.)

Day 1 of Cory’s presidency, opposition leaders packed the Cojuangco Building in Makati which became the de facto Malacanang. They were scrambling for positions.

“Ang bagal bagal mo,” he said quoting Mitra, who was named agriculture minister, as telling him.

“I was the only Osmeña in Cebu then. Si Tommy was hiding in Los Angeles. Serge was in the US, Lito was not politically inclined. But I told Nene Pimentel who was doing local governments, ‘Ne gusto ko mayor ng Cebu ha.’ Nene said ‘O sige, sige.’”

“I told him buhati nako ug appointment. He said ‘Ahhh naay makinilya diha pag type diha.’ And so I sat down on the typewriter and typed my own appointment.”

When he came back to Cebu, Osmeña said he had to break open the door of the Office of the Mayor.

He served 11 months as Cebu City’s OIC mayor.

Looking back, Osmeña’s major realization is that the Filipinos “lack hard core commitment” to democracy.

“We accepted Martial Law readily. But I think we have learned our lesson. Now I hear Bongbong Marcos is running, I doubt if he will win. The phrase “Never Again” will be a battlecry.” / with inputs from Managing Editor Ares P. Gutierrez