A last birthday with JdV
I was among a handful of media practitioners from Pangasinan who attended the sumptuous birthday celebration of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. at Bay View Seafood Restaurant in Pasay City on December 28, 2026. Dressed in a red shirt and red jacket, we joined the gathering without the slightest thought that it would be the last birthday of JdV we would ever attend.
The former Speaker arrived in a wheelchair, with Manay Gina behind him, graciously greeting guests as they came in. When it was our turn to shake hands, I leaned close and whispered my name. He looked at me and replied, in the same gentle and straightforward voice I had known for decades: “Ding Micua, matagal ko nang kaibigan ‘yan.” He then tapped my shoulder, and we had our photo taken with Manay Gina beside him.
At that moment, there was no hint—no premonition—that less than two months later, he would be called to join his Creator.
I say this with pride: among media practitioners in Pangasinan, I covered Jose de Venecia Jr. the longest. My coverage began during his first term as congressman of what was then the Second District of Pangasinan, composed of Dagupan and San Carlos cities, and the towns of Binmaley, Urbiztondo, and Mangatarem. He won that seat from Rep. Jack Soriano, marking the start of a long and historic political journey.
Before he became a lawyer, prosecutor, and later a judge, the late Gary Uson served as JdV’s man Friday, along with the late Fame Mejia. Both regularly invited me to JdV’s press conferences at his home in Binloc—still under construction at the time—where he patiently clarified issues and explained his positions.
When JdV was injured in a vehicular accident in Tarlac, I visited him during his recovery at Nazareth Hospital under the care of Dr. Edmundo Exconde. On another occasion, when he visited Manlelluag Park in Mangatarem, he tagged me along, as he often did with members of the media he trusted.
When Jose de Venecia Jr. became Speaker of the House, he never forgot us. He would bring us to Congress, ensuring that media from Pangasinan had access to national political events. There was not a single State of the Nation Address during his speakership that we failed to attend because of his invitation.
Today, it pains me deeply to hear that JdV has gone to the afterlife. Beyond the titles and achievements, he was a statesman who valued friendship, loyalty, and the role of a free press. For those of us who covered him closely, his passing is not just the loss of a political giant—but the loss of a long-time friend.
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