By Gonzalo T. Duque
Goodbye, Manong Joe!
When I heard the news that Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. passed away, I felt a little sadness deep in my heart. I did not know. that his last birthday party, held in Manila on December 28, 2026, was to be his last.
I have had some priceless moments with Manong Joe. The first time was when I ran against him for Congress in the Fourth District of Pangasinan right after the new Constitution took effect.
I was then the acting Vice Governor of Pangasinan. At the time, he pleaded with me not to run against him as he would have me appointed Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). I did not listen to him.
After that congressional election, came the local election where I was elected vice governor of the province.
When former President Fidel V. Ramos became a candidate for President, Manong Joe advised me to run for reelection as Vice Governor of Pangasinan under former Governor Aguedo Agbayani to form a formidable ticket against the Colet-Baraan team.
His advice came through an intermediary in Manila.
Again, I refused the offer and instead ran again against him as Congressman of the Fourth District of Pangasinan under the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino banner under then House Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr.
Ramon Mitra was a fellow Bedan. And so, with Colet and Baraan, both lawyers.
I lost miserably.
When Manong Joe became the Speaker of the House of Representatives—a national position—it should make me respect his power and mandate because he has occupied the fourth-highest position in the land. Then, I agreed with him.
You know what happened? During his speakership, he appointed me as a consultant in the House of Representatives, representing the education sector.
I was then president of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU), representing Lyceum Northwestern University. It was during that time when I was his consultant on education and president of PACU that Manong Joe helped our college become a university.
Macky Samson, president of the Luzon Colleges, was assisted by Manong Joe, for their school to also attain a university status.
Thank you so much, Manong Joe for the kindness you have shown to us.
There are still many other things that Manong Joe had done for our country, like the creation of PhilHealth and the passage of the Migrant Workers Law, where our embassies all over the world were mandated to open their doors to our Overseas Filipino Workers.
Our Filipino workers abroad were then called Overseas Contract Workers. Under the new Migrant Workers Law, the nomenclature Overseas Contract Workers has been changed to Overseas Filipino Workers.
By the way, the Legal Assistance Program for our OFWs was also created under the said law authored by Manong Joe.
If I have to mention the other pivotal legislation he has introduced in Congress, it will take me one week to do it.
And this I will not do because Speakers at a necrological service in Manong Joe’s honor will have their turns to speak about his legacy as a lawmaker.
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I am glad that the Mother and Child Hospital will finally be constructed in Dagupan City on the site where it was originally intended.
The site in Barangay Pantal is really conducive to house the hospital because the land area donated by the Fernandez family is one hectare. So, in the future, more facilities can be introduced in the area.
As of the moment, I see no hindrance to the realization of the project. With a super majority in the Sangguniang Panlungsod and the political will of Mayor Fernandez!
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The impeachment circus now going on in the House of Representatives is becoming a war of perceptions.
The impeachment cases against BBM have been dismissed due to alleged absence or lack of substance. But despite the dismissal, the public perception against the impeachment of Bongbong has been very, very negative.
On the other hand, the impeachment filed against Vice President Sara Duterte will go on up to the time it is tried in the Senate.
At this time, there are moves to remove two to three senators from the minority so the desired number of nine opposition votes will not be reached.
But wait a minute. The number to impeach the Vice President is 2/3 of all the members of the Senate. It means that out of the 24 senators, 16 should vote to impeach Sara.
Even if you remove the other minority senators—Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva and Chiz Escudero—the impeachment against the vice president will fail.
The irony is that Sara continues to gain public support while Bongbong’s popularity continues to plummet,
Let’s wait and see. We live in an interesting time.