Ex-Senate President Jovito Salonga laid to rest 

Former Senate President Jovito Salonga, one of the country's noted statesmen, was laid to rest on Wednesday next to the grave of his late wife, Lydia, at a Pasig cemetery, a report on GMA News TV's "News TV Live" said.

Family, friends, and some government officials like Budget Secretary Florencio Abad attended the funeral rites at the Pasig public cemetery for the former Senate leader, who succumbed to cardiac arrest on March 10 at age 95.

Salonga was laid to rest before 1 p.m.

City officials led by Mayor Maribel Eusebio paid tribute to Salonga while students lined the street leading up to the cemetery carrying little Philippine flags and "Welcome Jovito Salonga" banners.

Before his father was laid to rest, Salonga's son, Esteban, recalled during a necrological service the former lawmaker's life as a lawyer, politician, democracy fighter and statesman.

A separate on GMA News TV's "Balitanghali" quoted Esteban as saying that his father was a corporate lawyer before jumping into politics in 1961 when he defeated rivals from two political clans for a congressional seat in Rizal.

Salonga was a member of the Liberal Party, which once considered him as its vice presidential bet in the 1969 elections where Ferdinand Marcos made history as the only reelected president under the 1935 Constitution.

Salonga did not feel bad about the decision of the LP to drop him for "someone America wanted" to challenge Marcos in that election, Esteban said.

Esteban added his father understood that his party was greater than his ambition.

Salonga's son also recalled his father's realizations after the latter nearly lost his life during the Plaza Miranda bombing on August 21, 1971.

Plaza Miranda was the scene of a bloody LP campaign rally which was bombed by still unknown suspects, leaving most of the party’s stalwarts badly injured.

Esteban said his father survived for a reason as it gave him a chance to fight the Marcos dictatorship as a senator.

Salonga topped the senatorial elections held in 1965 and would repeat the feat in 1971 and 1987, the only person in the history of Philippine politics to top the senatorial race thrice.

As Senate president from 1987 to 1991, Salonga steered the chamber in passing laws on social welfare and anti-corruption.

He also successfully steered the votes that eventually led to the rejection of the continued stay of the US military bases in the country. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News