President Diosdado Macapagal has crossed the bar into eternity.

Throughout his public life -- from the beginning to the end of his presidency and beyond -- this man of humble origins who rose to occupy the highest office of the land kept full faith with the highest and noblest aspirations and ideals of his people.

He did not abuse his office.

He did not enrich himself or his family while in office.

He did not oppress his people.

He did not betray the people's trust.

A Bulletin Editorial aptly said: "Every nation has to have institutions to fall back on. More precious than historical monuments are role models for the present and future generations to emulate. We have such a living role-model in the person of former President Diosdado Macapagal."

In his inaugural address as 5th President of the Republic, President Diosdado Macapagal called for a return to theold values that strenghten the moral fiver of our nation including simplicity of living.

During his entire public life President Macapagal practiced what he preached.

The free press called him a "ruthlessly honest public official."

No less than the late President Ramon Magsaysay once said, "I like Dadong because he is honest and a man of the masses." In his memoirs, "A Stone for the Edifice," President Macapagal wrote: "...I regard integrity and a capacity for self denial as the prime requisites for the presidency.

In recounting his childhood, Diosdado Macapagal spoke of those years of terrible hardship, poverty and hunger.

He was never ashamed of his humble beginnings.

San Nicolas in Lubao where he lived in his parents nipa hut was a slum, perenially damp from the floods of the Porac River.

His father who did not finish high school was without a steady job. His mother who could hardly read and write knew no trade except as an occasional laundrywoman.

At times, the boy Diosdado Macapagal also stayed with his maternal grandfather in his shack in Gutad, Floridablance where the latter was a share tenant on less than a hectare of riceland.

His deprived youth notwithstanding the boy Diosdado Macapagal graduated from the elementary grades as class valedictorian, went to law school and in 1936 topped the bar exams.

But Diosdado Macapagal never forgot his origin and his roots.

He made the promotion of economic and specially social justice the cherished goal of his presidency.

In advocating land reform, Diosdado Macapagal was way ahead of his time.

As a legislator and as president, he knew that land reform was anathema to the landlords who dominated congress.

Against strong and unrelenting landlord opposition, he fought hard and tirelessly for land reform and the abolition of tenancy.

In the end of August 8, 1963, in what he described as "one of the happiest moments of my life," President Macapagal publicly signed into Law Republic Act No. 3844 abolishing tenancy and prescribing a program converting former tenants into lessees and then into landowners.

In striving for social justice, Diosdado Macapagal framed his anguish and deep concern for the common man in the following questions:

"Indeed, why must there be such disparity between the rich and the poor? If the essence of life and nature is justice, why should it be that while some men leave uneaten so much food at their banquet tables, others try to pic out what to them is ameat from the garbage pile?

Why should it be an opulent man smugly sit in his limousine witha cigarette in his mouth, while a lean and hungry man trudges the highway looking for a job, fearfully keeping away from the speeding limousine and picking up a cigarette butt on the sidewalk for his smoke?

Why should it be that some men's lives are saved from the most deadly disease, being able to pay the fees of medical specialists, while the children of the poor die of the most harmless ailments, being unable to pay even the quack doctors?

Why should it be that the scions of the wealthy roman around the capitals of the world, enjoying wonders, while the peasant near the hills is born, lives and dies without even knowing the modest brightness of Manila?

Why should it be that a few have so much and many so little of the bounty that God Almighty has provided for all?"

As a democrat, President Macapagal's adherence to constitutional democracy was always unflinching and without reservations.

When he lost the presidency in 1965, he dutifully turned over the office to his successor. He would brook no deviation from the constitutional order and the popular mandate.

In 1972 when Martial Law was declared, he immediately came out strongly opposing its imposition.

In publishing the first anti-Marcos dictatorship book "Democracy in the Philippines" during the early Martrial Law years for which he was prosecuted for sedition, President Macapagal placed himself squarely on the side of constitutional democracy and the Filipino people.

Tracing the country's long democratic tradition as one of Asia's few surviving democracies, President Macapagal wrote that his predecessors - Quezon, Osmena, Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia - " had been faithful to and bolstered the democratic system initiated by the Malolos Congress in 1898."

He added -- "Had Marcos carried on this fidelity to democracy, it would have been further stabilized and vitalized as a strong tradition under his successor and under later leaders towards full maturity and vigor."

A nationalist with personal pride in the Filipinos' yearning and struggle for freedom and independence, President Macapagal did not wait for the revolution's centennial celebration to set right the historical record. During his term, he started the celebration of our national independence on June 12, the date our national freedom was proclaimed in 1898.

In the field of international diplomacy, President Macapagal's leadership and statesmanship preserved peace in the region during the Sabah dispute in the sixties.

Long before the formation of regional associations, President Macapagal was the architect of the Maphilindo Federation of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. This federation eventually paved the way for the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) which has now emerged as one of the most vibrant regional association.

During President Macapagal's administration, the Philippine economy which was second only to Japan ws ready for take-off. Certainly it was not then the "sick man of Asia" -- very far from it.

A doctor of economics, the President believed that to industrialize and stimulate exports, Filipino producers needed more access to raw materials. Thus the President liberalized imports early in his term as he believed that competition, not protectionism, was better for the economy and the public.

And let us not forget that when President Macapagal left the presidency, the government coffers had resources far exceeding its liabilities.

The foreign debt which ballooned to more than US$600 billion at the end of the Marcos regine was less than US $600 million when President Macapagal's term ended.

In fact, at the end of President Macapagal's incumbency, agriculture's gross domestic product (GDP) was at its highest, inflation was at its lowest and there was hardly any trade deficit.

By any standard, an enviable economic performance.

Last year, in a dialogue with municipal officials, barangay captains and youth leaders, I asked the assembly whom among the former presidents they most admired.

Josemarie Dogelio, a young man of 18 years said: "Diosdado Macapagal."

Joemarie was not even born when Diosdado Macapagal's presidency ended.,

And since this presidency happened some 35 years ago, one would think Diosdado Macapagal and his accomplishments would have long ago been forgotten and consigned to the dust bins of history.

Yet to many of our countrymen including the young like Joemarie Dogelio of Dao, Capiz, because of his landmark accomplishments in the field of social justice and land reform, because of his deep and abiding commitment to the upliftment of the common man, because of his unquestioned honesty and integrity in public office, President Macapagal's life and times is like a beacon to all who seek inspiration and comfort in these troubled times.

Thus even 35 years after his presidency, Diosdado Macapagal continueds to have a cherished and honored place in the hearts and minds of his countrymen.

To paraphrase President Aquino in her tribute to Diosdado Macapagal several years ago --

"I might have said that we are honoring a great President which he was but that is a lesser achievement than to be what Diosdado Macapagal was and will always be, a great and good man."

From a grateful nation and from this Senate we bid President Diosdado Macapagal a fond farewell. May he now receive his just rewards and in peace rest forever in the bosom of our Lord.


by Senator Alberto G. Romulo, Privelege Speech, April 22, 1997